What a turnout for the Optimists Club Christmas Party! We're about to start our white elephant gift exchange.. Wonder what will be the most stolen gift?

Your Lebanon Optimists are donating $500 towards Shop with a Cop. We hope you'll contribute as well and help our Lebanon Police Department make sure as many kids as possible have a wonderful Christmas!

One of our own, Dala Johnson from the Lebanon Police Department, telling your Lebanon Optimists about "Shop with a Cop" which is a wonderful program where Lebanon's Finest gather up money to take Lebanon's less fortunate kids out shopping to get Christmas presents for their families. What a generous and loving act completely in tune with Lebanon's connectedness and the Christmas Spirit!

Whitney Wolfe, the 2018 COMP-Northwest Class President, telling your Lebanon Optimists about her life's journey that has kept her in Oregon to come to Lebanon's own medical school. Whitney has lead an amazing life, including overcoming a major trauma from a car accident, and her radiant optimism is a great example of how wonderful our med students are!

Please welcome our newest member of your Lebanon Optimists, Tyler Grove from the Boys and Girls Club!

Correction: these great students are Lebanon High School students! They completed an internship at COMP-Northwest under the tutelage of Dr. Brion Benninger. Here, Molly Benjamin is presenting how they developed the use of the Sectra anatomical display to better teach high school students about the human body. Great stuff!
-Live by Faith - Act in Love-

Kendall Crawford from COMP-Northwest is here with her mentor, Dr. Brion Benninger, telling your Lebanon Optimists about the amazing medical knowledge that our medical students are not only learning but creating! Our awesome med students are going to change the world! How lucky are we that they are starting in & with Lebanon?

It's official! Our wonderful Secretary Leah Wolfenbarger is now a lifetime member of Optimists! Thank you, Leah, for everything that you do!

Here is Janelle Detweiler, the Superintendent from East Linn Christian Academy, a private K-12 Christian School that has been educating the kids of East Linn County since 1982. Their open and accepting education based on Christian principles, along with their amazing staff and students, makes ELCA a wonderful place for our kids to develop!

Amanda Emmert and her colleagues from COMP-Northwest telling your Lebanon Optimists about National Rural Health Day, a day dedicated to raising awareness of the health issues facing rural communities and showing appreciation for those doctors and medical professionals that choose to serve the wonderful rural communities that rely on them. COMP-Northwest will be holding a Rural Health Fair on November 21st in the Walmart Parking Lot, so come down to learn more about Healthcare in your community and to show out doctors and future doctors that we appreciate them!

Greg Rowe from the Linn County United Way telling us about the wonderful Dolly Parton Imagination Library which gets young kids reading better, earlier by making sure less fortunate families still get a variety of children's books to inspire our kids towards a love of reading. Contact us to figure out how to support this wonderful cause!

Congratulations to Lynda Palmer and Leah Wolfenbarger! Lynda received the President's Citation for her dedication to the Optimists Club of Lebanon and her hard work on projects like the JOYA awards. Leah has been awarded a Lifetime Optimists Membership has a thank you for her hard work and many contributions she continues to make as our Secretary. Please join us in thanking these two wonderful women for their commitment to our Community!

Marty Cahill, the Chief Operations Officer for Samaritan Hospital, telling your Lebanon Optimists about the great expansions coming to our hospital. These upgrades and expansions will help Lebanon handle the increasing number of hospital visits as well as expand the services our community's hospital can offer. More great growth coming to Lebanon!

Marie Jennings from the Family Tree Relief Nursery that takes local families going through difficulties and helps them grow stronger with preschool and toddler programs as well as parenting classes. Last year, they helped out over 20 families!

Please welcome our newest member, Rose Dixonbarry!

Kelly Odegaard Administrator for the Oregon Veterans Home in Lebanon telling your Lebanon Optimists all about what makes the Lebanon Veterans Home one of the most modern and progressive Veterans Homes in the nation! This wonderful facility that is taking care of our veterans has already started making community partnerships and is on track to fill their homes in half the time they originally protected. Go have lunch at their canteen and see what is happening at the Veterans Home!

Lebanon Optimist Wheezy telling your Lebanon Optimists about her travels to Optimists International conferences and how awesome our club is doing!

We are proud sponsors and supporter's of kids athletics here in Lebanon, and that of course means we love supporting Pop Warner! The plant was given to Gateway Imprints (now owner and operator of Grava Graphics as well) who was at tonight's opening ceremonies supporting the kids as well. Thank you to everyone supporting Pop Warner and let's have a great season!

Dr. Dreibeblis from COMP-Northwest telling your Lebanon Optimists about the 5 keys to health and wellness: 1) Nutrition 2) Sleep 3) Hydration 4) Stress 5) Exercise. She gave us great insights on how to be at our best! Did you know that sitting at a desk for 8 hours a day is worse than smoking? We didn't!

We're also within 2 members of our goal of 100 members! Who's going to sign up and help us meet our goal and get the Lebanon Skate Park a $25,000 donation from Jim and Heather McDaniel?

City Manager Gary Marks using his weekly optimism spot to tell your Lebanon Optimists about all the great things happening for Lebanon. To name a few: refinancing Lebanon's bonds to save tax payers $1 million; the new expansions taking place at our hospital and our Advanced Transportation Technology Center; and the groundbreaking happening on the 25th for our new LBCC Healthcare Center!

It's a great time to be in Lebanon!

Please join us in welcoming our newest Lebanon Optimists Tonya Cairo, Beth Rauch, and returning member Adam Kirkpatrick! We're going to be at 95 members by the end of the week and Jim wants us at 100 by next week's meeting. We can do it!

Dr. John Mota from COMP-Northwest telling your Lebanon Optimists about the medical research they are conducting every day at Lebanon's medical school. They have even found ways to use microwaves to prevent wisdom teeth from growing. Amazing things are happening in our town!

It's getting dang near impossible to get everyone in one picture! We're so close to getting 100 members and we can't wait to get there and earn Jim's $25,000 donation to the Lebanon Skate Park. Come check out your Lebanon Optimists every Thursday at noon at the American Legion and see why we're the happ'n'st club in town!

Look how many people are catching the Optimism! Almost 40 members came to today's meeting. It's no secret why the Lebanon Optimists is the most happ'n'st club in town and the best Optimists Club in the nation!

Linn County Commissioner John Lindsey telling your Lebanon Optimists about the American Legion Post 51 and the Legion as a whole. This wonderful Veterans centered club has its hands on every military and national celebration our community holds. Lebanon's Post 51 is a large and successful American Legion Post and they are big contributors to the Lebanon Community! If you, your father, or your grandfather served our country you can become a member. Come check it out today!

Hillary Harrison the new Executive Director of CASA of Linn County telling us about why she loves being a part of CASA and the amazing support CASA gives to kids who need help and advice as they try to navigate childcare and legal systems.

Over 40 members, not including guests, and more keep pouring in! We've met Jim's goal of 80 members and he's making his announcement of what the "significant contribution" will be!

Lebanon High School Baseball Coach Jeff Stolsig telling your Lebanon Optimists about how our Warrior Baseball Program is impacting Lebanon youth.

Ron Whitlock from the Lebanon Water Department telling your Lebanon Optimists about Lebanon's water systems, the issues facing them, and our plans for moving forward.

Pacific Northwest Optimists Governor Dick Disney is starting off our meeting this afternoon talking about the PNW Optimists and what we're doing as a greater organization.

Please welcome our newest member Barb Goering!! We're excited to have you with us, Barb!

Check out all the things that the Willamette Valley Rehab Center does for the disabled of Lebanon and call Sheree Speaks if your organization would love to help wonderful people live a fulfilling life.

Jim Branson and Sheree Speaks from the Willamette Valley Rehab Center telling your Lebanon Optimists about how the WVRC supports the disabled from Lebanon. The Rehab Center supports, trains, employs, and provides a wealth of resources & activities to help our disabled whether they are developmentally disabled or a disabled veteran.

We'll see you there on June 6th before the parade!

Dr Paula Crone of Lebanon's COMP-Northwest Medical School telling your Lebanon Optimists about the incredible journey that lead to COMP coming to Lebanon, and the exciting plans for our medical school's future.

Please welcome Lieutenant Scott Bressler and Jennifer Meltzler to your Lebanon Optimists!

What a crowd at today's meeting!

Not the full team that helped out today! We had great support from the Optimist club!! The Gazebo is cleaned up and ready for rock!! Amazing support.

Doug Phillips and Shawn Turrentine telling your Lebanon Optimists about the great progress on our new gazebo that your Optimists are building out on Academy Square. We're getting close to the final stretch and your chance to leave your permanent mark on Lebanon is running out! Get your engraved brick order in to us quickly or miss out on this chance to become a part of Lebanon's history by supporting our community's future!

We were surprised with thank you cards from the kids from the Boys and Girls Clubs to the Greater Santiam. What a nice thing from such awesome kids!

Heather McDaniel and Lynda Palmer telling your Lebanon Optimists about the JOYA (Junior Optimists Youth Attitude) awards which recognizes and rewards positive attitudes in our youth leaders. Your Lebanon Optimists also give back through a series of scholarships to Lebanon youths. Remember - Optimists are a friend of youths!

Ginger Cupit, the Second Year Class President from COMP-Northwest telling your Lebanon Optimists about her journey in to Medicine and what our medical students have to accomplish to become the doctors of our future.

Andre Mantilla, one of Lebanon's strategic planning consultants, explaining the Lebanon 2040 Community Visioning project and what it means for Lebanon. This community-wide endeavor is seeking out what ideals, hopes, and goals we share and how to grow our amazing town without losing what makes Lebanon, Lebanon.

Lebanon High Principal Brad Shreve telling your Lebanon Optimists about the MAPS program at LHS. This wonderful program, along with the AP efforts and many more great efforts, are turning the tide of Lebanon education and making Lebanon's future even brighter.