The "Manhattan Optimist Club Bulletin" Vol. 2026 #33 5-20-26
VOLUME 2026 MAY 20 NUMBER 33
President Kelly Karl welcomed everyone, Bruce McMillan gave us our morning reflection and that was followed by the flag salute.
ACHES & PAINS: Please keep David Starks and family in your thoughts and prayers.
PROGRAM: Bruce McMillan introduced our speaker, Brent Sigman. Brent is the current Artistic Director for The Columbian Theatre in Wamego, Kansas. He has been in this position for three years, although he has been directing at several of the regional theatres for over 15 years. His wife of nearly 19 years is Katie, and they have a soon-to-be eight-year-old daughter, Grace. Brent has lived in Manhattan since he was a teenager, previously residing in Emporia. Brent's grandfather was an Optimist in Emporia, and he attended several meetings alongside his grandfather. Brent also was a member a long time ago in the Manhattan chapter. A yearly tradition of he and his family is to go to the Optimist Tree Lot on the Friday after Thanksgiving to get their annual live tree.
THE HISTORY: The Columbian Theatre, Museum & Art Center is a storied place, both the heart and soul of 1890s Kansas pioneer optimism and 21st century rural community renewal and development. It is a historical structure of inestimable value and a venue for the exhibition of rare paintings from the 1893 Chicago World's Fair. Step inside and learn how visionary J.C. Rogers left an unforgettable jewel on the Kansas prairie.
Why Theatre?
Builds Confidence: Public Speaking Skills, Self-Confidence, Overcoming fear of failure, Positive Self-Expression
Encourages Teamwork: Trust and collaboration, Respect for others, Responsibility to a group, Supporting Teammates
Enhancing Academic Skills: Reading comprehension, Memorization and cognitive development, Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, Stronger writing and storytelling, Improved focus and discipline
Develop Communication Skills: Speaking clearly, Listening skills, Emotional intelligence, Nonverbal communication
Promotes Creativity & Imagination: Think creatively, explore new perspectives, Solve problems, Express ideas through storytelling
Empathy and Emotional Intelligence: Exploring different perspectives and life experiences, learning to understand characters’ motivations and emotions, building compassion and empathy, Strengthening social awareness and emotional intelligence
Learn Responsibility: Be prepared to learn their material, arrive on time and support the team, take ownership of their role in a production, follow through on commitments, Contribute to a shared goal
Creates a Sense of Belonging: Friendships, Mentorship, Supportive Environment, A place where Everyone belongs
The cost of impact: It takes approximately $13,000 to run each program which includes nominal stipends for Directors and crew, scripts, Licensing Rights and educational materials, costumes, sets and other technical elements, marketing expenses and importantly, T-shirts for the kids.
So, what’s needed? Sponsorships to help offset program operating costs, provide quality education materials and educators and strengthen community investments in Arts. And scholarships to ensure Every student has access, to remove financial barriers for families and keep the programs inclusive and welcoming to ALL.
The Youth Theatre Academy will be presenting “Dorothy in Wonderland”, “Disney-Newsies Jr”, “Beetlejuice Jr”, and “The Princess who had no name”. The Final Mainstage Show for the 2025-2026 Season is “GREASE” which will be showing June 5-7, 12-14 and 19-21.
The Columbian Theatre 2026-2027 Mainstage Season will include “Hoo Haw”, “The Addams Family”, “The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe”, “Frozen”, “Bonnie & Clyde-a new musical” and “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”.
CLUB STUFF/ANNOUNCEMENTS and UPCOMING EVENTS:
Grow Green Match Day – Our match raised a total of $22,829.13 GREAT JOB CLUB!!!
Save the date: May 23rd, Bill Snyder ½ Marathon a few volunteers are still needed, please contact Kelly Karl if you can help.
Save the dates: June 1st through 6th, Instrument Drive, Gary Lloyd dropped off flyers.
Save the date: June 19th, Juneteenth celebration, looking for about 6 volunteers to hand out water and soda. (see Mike Fincham for more information)
Save the date: Oct 24th, Annual Chili Crawl (see Bill Wisdom for more information)
Sharon Fincham gave a shout out to everyone helping recognize 24 Youth of the Month students and although school will start at 7:30am starting next year, we will still be able to honor these students as arrangements will be made to accommodate our Youth of the Month Program. And here’s a special shout out to Sharon Fincham for her wonderful work making the Youth of the Month Program successful!
GUESTS: No additional guests were present this morning.
Meeting adjourned with the Optimist Creed.
MAY 27 – NOON MEETING: Program: Allan VanNahmen, local auctioneer: Topic: “Auctioneering”
JUNE 3 - MORNING MEETING: Program: Jared Tremblay, Planning Manager, Flint Hills MPO: Topic: “2nd River Bridge Study”
JUNE 10 – NOON MEETING: Program: Flag Day at Optimist Park – Catered Lunch on Clyde! Topic: “Flag Day Celebration”
JUNE 17 – MORNING MEETING: Program: Blaine Burris, K-State Baseball Athletic Trainer: Topic: “K-State Baseball”
JUNE 24 – NOON MEETING: Program: Respect for the Law
