The "Manhattan Optimist Club Bulletin": Vol. 2024 #25: 3-20-24

                                               VOLUME 2024            MARCH 20         NUMBER 25

President Bill Wisdom, welcomed everyone and gave us the wonderful morning blessing, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance.  

Keep the families of Tom Claman and Bruce Spellman in your thoughts and prayers.  Our hearts, thoughts and prayers are with them all. Be kind…      

With a slight program change this morning, Bill Wisdom handed the program over to Thad Hall to introduce our Student of the Month.  Thad outlined the Manhattan High School Student of the Month Program as follows: the program recognizes Manhattan High School seniors who make a difference in their community through volunteerism and leadership of activities that have a positive impact on the MHS or Manhattan community.  The goal of the program is to inspire and encourage youth to get involved in their community in an effort to benefit others.  Applicants submit a résumé and are judged by a committee.  Recipients receive $100 to donate to the organization of their choice and are eligible for a $1,000 scholarship as the overall yearly winner.  This morning Thad introduced us to Helinna Bontrager.  Her parents were unable to attend this morning, her mother is an accountant, and her father is a mechanic as they were both working.  Helinna is an only child except for her sweet Border Collie.  Her hobbies include playing the piano and the violin, she is also involved with 4-H.  She is working at Taqueria El Aguila as a hostess, a cashier, and a server. 

At MHS, she has been involved with the MHS Red Cross Club, Key Club, Model UN, Speech and Debate Club, Civic Engagement Club where she is currently serving as the treasurer.  She placed at the regional and state levels participating in the Science Olympiad, she is a Mentor and Lead for Fremont Debate and Fremont Debate Civics, teaching middle schoolers how to debate and leading middle schoolers through a project that helps our community.  Helinna also works with Dr. Kumari at Kansas State University on the research question, “How does oxycodone affect astrocytes?”  Soon two research papers will be published. 

As for future plans, Helinna will most likely attend the University of Kansas in the Pre-Med Program.  She believes she will donate her $100.00 towards work with the Opioid Crisis.  Congratulations Helinna, we wish you the very best.

Mike Fincham introduced our guest speaker, Katharine Hensley.  Katharine joined the Museum team as Director of the Riley County Historical Museum in June 2022.  She moved to Riley County from Washington State in 2017 and brings over 20 years of experience in collections management and museum administration.  Originally from northcentral Pennsylvania, Ms. Hensler received a BA in History from Lock Haven University of Penna and an MA in Historical Preservation from Goucher College in Baltimore, Maryland.   She has managed museums in Pennsylvania, Arizona, North Carolina, Washington, and Kansas and has studied examples of museum interpretation around the world.  

In Kansas, she has worked for the Cultural Resources Division of the Kansas Historical Society, the Flint Hills Discovery Center as the Assistant Director, and as a real property inventory analyst for Ernst & Young on the Fort Riley Military Installation.   Director Hensler is a member of the Manhattan Rotary Club, a graduate of the Flint Hills Regional Leadership Program, and has served in various capacities on working and advisory boards for museums, preservation organizations, and groups supporting humanitarian efforts around the country. 

Her husband Craig Neill is an active-duty soldier in the US Army and a three-dimensional artist, and in their free time they enjoy traveling, visiting museums and art galleries, food, wine, outdoor activities, and raising and training sport and walking dogs. 

For today’s program, Strong & Sensible, Notable Women of Riley County.  Katharine highlighted the following 4 women. 

Minnie Howell Champe (1878 -1948) Minnie Howell Champe was the first African American woman to graduate from Kansas State in 1901. While in college, she was elected to the Ionian Literary Society, which focused on literature, music, and art. After her graduation she taught school in Kansas City, Topeka, and Virginia before returning to Manhattan to teach at the Douglass School. She was on the Board of the Douglass Center USO during World War II and served as Director of the Center in 1946. She was a member of the League of Women Voters.

Ola “Millie” Rexroat McDonald (1917-2017) Ola “Millie” Rexroat McDonald was born at Ogden, Kansas, but grew up on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, as her mother was a member of the Oglala Lakota nation. In World War II she joined the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs) and began flying military aircraft in training exercises. She was the first Native American to serve in the WASPs. Later she transferred to the Air Force Reserves and began work as an air traffic controller. The airfield operations building at Ellsworth Air Force Base is named in honor of Capt. Millie Rexroat.

Elizabeth Hoyt Purcell (1843-1924) When Hannah Ann Elizabeth Hoyt was born on 6 October 1843, in Greene, Chenango, New York, United States, her father, Ephraim Hoyt, was 23 and her mother, Mary Margaret Cole, was 31. She married Edward Benton Purcell Sr. on 8 December 1870, in Manhattan, Riley, Kansas, United States. They were the parents of at least 4 sons and 3 daughters. She lived in Greene, Greene, Chenango, New York, United States in 1855 and Manhattan, Manhattan, Riley, Kansas, United States in 1900. She died on 19 December 1924, in Manhattan, Riley, Kansas, United States, at the age of 81, and was buried in Sunset Cemetery, Manhattan, Riley, Kansas, United States.

Annie Pillsbury Young (1858 -1942) Annie Pillsbury’s family came to territorial Kansas in 1854. She was born in Riley County four years later. She served as Manhattan’s first woman postmaster in 1879, succeeding her father. She was a founder of the Manhattan Library Association, the group that organized the Manhattan Public Library, and a founder of the T.P.M. club, a longtime women’s club in Manhattan.

Visit Riley County Historical Society & Museum for more information about these women and so many more.

SAVE THE DATE:  Annual Spaghetti Dinner: March 23rd, please sign up to work some shifts. 
Silent Auction items can be given to Julie or Lisa Brummett.
President Bill Wisdom presented Korey Klingenberg the 2nd presidential pistachio award for his hard work on our welcome sign.
SAVE THE DATE:  Aggieville Chili Crawl, October 19
Todd Chyba announced GROW GREEN MATCH DAY will be April 22nd, more information to come.

Congratulations Jim Morrison and Mark Knackendoffel for 25 years of work and dedication to the Greater Manhattan Community Foundation: It all started over lunch between an accountant, an attorney, and an investment manager. The three of them had met for lunch several times over several years to discuss the same topic and shared frustrations. They felt it was time to do something to help people who wanted to make charitable contributions to the community but avoid the trouble and expense of establishing private funds or foundations. Then, at a final lunch in 1999, the trio decided it was time to get a group of interested citizens together to discuss the possible merits of starting a community foundation…

On Wednesday, February 3, 1999, Jim Gordon, Mark Knackendoffel, and Jim Morrison hosted a roundtable discussion regarding the establishment of a community foundation in Manhattan, KS. By the end of the same year, an executive board had been formed, bylaws approved, 501(c)(3) non-profit accreditation established, and assets of over $200,000 realized.

GUESTS:  Welcome brothers Tim and Ted Fairbanks and welcome to one of our new members, Jolene Roberts.  Thank you all for coming, you are always welcome.  

Meeting adjourned with the OPTIMIST CREED.

MARCH PROGRAMS:   Program Chairs:  Sharon Fincham, Heather Peterson & Mike Fincham

MARCH 27:   NOON MEETING: Program: Patrick Fu, Manhattan High School Robotics, Topic: “Manhattan High School Robotics Club”

 APRIL 3:  MORNING MEETING: Program:  Youth of the Month: Bergman Elementary and Flint Hills Christian Elementary School, Sharon Fincham: Coordinator 

MARCH BIRTHDAYS