H- Greensheet For March 13 2008

PROMISE YOURSELF Optimist Club of Coronado Post Office Box 180251 Coronado, CA 92178-0251 March 13, 2008 There are more old drunkards than old physicians. François Rabelais

Jim Alley, President Pres.08-09 Leslie Crawford VPs-Irish Flynn & John Bowen Stu Powell, Secretary John Freeman, Treas. USNA ’45 Publishers A group that’s too noble for fear www.sportsfiesta.net

Meetings at 7AM on Thurs at Coronado Yacht Club What lovely weather. And what a nice group of citizens eating curds and whey down at the yacht club this morning. Jim Cartwright supervised the change making so you know that was done well. And, after some discussion about the approach or passing of the hour, President Jim struck the bell and we stood for prayer. Irish Flynn had scoured the internet for just that right message to send skyward. This one had the virtue of a simple rhyming scheme. And John McKechnie, who must figure that his spot in Heaven is already reserved, praised the brevity of the prayer. Al Aegerter entoned the pledge to the flag. Jim Alley gave us two jokes about old guys who start fires and floods to fund their retirements. His deep thought for the day was: A jury is a group of 12 persons chosen to decide which side has the best lawyer. Lance Massey told us to come down Saturday to check out the new parking lot at the nether end of the Amphib Base. And while you are there pick up some trash on the highway. The event starts at 8 o’clock Saturday morning. And we always finish a bit after nine. Try it out. The saw grass and the rabbits are in bloom. Leslie Crawford will be President de jour next week when Jim will be catching those 40 pound bass at Clear Lake. The fishing stories will come home with him. Next week we will learn all about finding mines in Iraq. I think that sheep are under contract for this work. Don’t anyone tell Peta that I said that. We got a second warning about the nearness of the Spring Concert (on Sunday, 30 March) and the Spring Fling (on Sunday, 30 March). The concert is in the new high school auditorium. The fling is at the golf course. Don’t mix them up. Fliers will be provided with you bulletin. Buy your tickets from BJ Adelson for the Concert. Make your reservation with Steve Slack. Charlie Ahern won the 50-50 and took home, or should have taken home $48. But Charlie tossed his winnings into the Youth Fund. I didn’t think that we were allowed to do that anymore. Does Gooch give tax receipts? Thank you, Charlie, on behalf of the yuths. Sam Walker has been in the club 33 years as of this meeting. He makes Caroleen Williams at 17 years and Jack Larison at 19 short hitters. Congradulations to all. And I want to pass on the news that Caroleen will be going off on her globetrotting nation building at the end of the month. She says that she is off to Egypt this time. Good luck, Caroleen, and bring back a good story and some pictures for another program. Your board of directors continues to give away your money. Two hundred fifty to girls’ softball, and $500 to the boys’ lacrosse program. Bret Gary was passing around a clipboard with dates for helping to score the lacrosse games. I hope that he got it filled out. Make sure that you give it a look next week. Pat Kelly told a bunch of old Irish jokes and then he an Irish Flynn put on green hats to sing “When Irish Eyes are Smiling”. Tom Meadows said that we sounded like angles. Someone look at Tom’s coffee. Clint Coneway introduced Tom Trimble who is a naval reservist and a project manager for L3 Corporation. Clint works with Tom’s company to provide simulator training to surface warfare personnel in navigation and ship handling. The Navy owns bridge training mockups at most homeports and Tom’s group provides the instructors to get the training into the young minds of junior officers and enlisted bridge watchstanders. Clint reminded us that we only have 278 ships in today’s navy. That doesn’t allow much opportunity to develop shiphandling skills or practice those bridge routines that are suppose to be your bread and butter at sea. The surface officer training courses have been cut severely, and so these training simulators have become an important part of learning the trade. Tom told us that the Navy is moving to electronic charts. Imagine that! Anyone who every tried to run a graded anchoring exercise off San Diego using the copula