TERRE HAUTE —
A Terre Haute Optimist member hopes to charter a new club focused on one goal — helping Ryves Hall Youth Center.
An organizational meeting for the club, likely to be named the Ryves Optimist Club, will be held at 6:30 p.m. today in the cafeteria at Ryves Hall, 1356 Locust St. Charter members will be established at the meeting.
“Ryves is in a depressed neighborhood, and 95 percent of the children being served are under the poverty level with some of them being homeless,” said Dennis Bialaszewski, a former lieutenant governor of the Indiana South District-Optimist International and a member of the Terre Haute Noon Optimist Club.
“The new club is to meet monthly, not with an emphasis on socialization, but on collecting ideas for projects and completing those projects,” Bialaszewski said. “Many of the Optimist clubs try to serve multi-purposes. This club will have a singular purpose to help with the attendees of the Ryves Youth Center and spill over to help the needs of the neighborhood also.”
An initial application fee of $40 will be collected to become a charter member. Indiana South District-Optimist International governor Kathy Underwood will be present at the organizational meeting as new officers will be nominated and selected, as well as time and day of future meetings.
Bialaszewski served as a past chairman of a Clothe-A-Child drive for the Noon Optimist Club, which clothed more than 700 children. He said a previous drive had “about 150 names supplied by health professionals of students who qualified who did not show up for the drive and could not attend.”
“Why did they not attend? There are several reasons. Some come from homeless families, some come from families without cars and some maybe could not afford the gas,” Bialaszewski said. “There is just so much to be done. The Ryves neighborhood is so depressed and with children in such need, I think there needs to be a club with a singular purpose.”
A meeting on May 25 was held to see if there was sufficient interest for the club, Bialaszewski said. The North Vemillion Optimist Club and Plainfield Optimist Club will be the two sponsoring clubs for the start-up Ryves club, Bialaszewski said.
“Ryves provides educational opportunities and recreational opportunities and they feed the children,” he said. “Many other Optimist clubs help Ryves Hall and they should get credit for doing that. I am not trying to cut off any support currently given to Ryves,” just add to its support, Bialaszewski said.
The new club can start on several projects, Bialaszewski said, such as seeking a grant for a reading program for kindergarten to third-grade students; getting a new sound system for the center; and paying for players to participate in a regional tri-sports event, such as a pass-dribble-shoot contest.
He also hopes to start an activity such as a project called, “Avenue of the Flags,” where the club buys U.S. flags, then rents them out to businesses or individuals for a set fee. Volunteers put out the flags on certain days, such as Flag Day or Fourth of July, then picks them back up after several days.
“It can instill patriotism into the Ryves youth,” he said.
Bialaszewski will remain a member of the Noon Optimist Club, as optimists can be members in multiple clubs. His wife, Marsha, a member of the Clay County Optimist Club, also will be a member of the new club.
Bialaszewski is a professor of management information systems at Indiana State University, where he has served for 27 years. He is also director of Apha Iota Mu, a management information systems honor society. He is also on the state board of directors of the Indiana Thoroughbred Breeders and Owners Association.
Howard Greninger can be reached at (812) 231-4204 or howard.greninger@tribstar.com.
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Dennis Bialaszewski
Discussion
New club optimistic it can help Ryves area
Organizer hopes club can help kids, community
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