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The Noon Optimist Club of Marshall met in person on September 15 at the Hutchins Hall of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church.
The day began when optimist Richard Magrill Senior Counselor Suzan Harrison, the first to arrive for the meeting, held the door. It was a simple pleasure that hadn’t occurred since the spring of 2020 when COVID disrupted our lives. Richard inquired about Suzan’s recent move to a family home in Shreveport and the welfare of her large flock of various chickens. She said it took several hours to get them all. “I stopped counting when we hit 200,” she said. The next morning, all of the chickens, guinea pigs and geese were taken to back streets and moved to their new homes across the state line.
Next up were our September honorees, Young Texanne Maggie Truelove and Young Texan Buck Buchanan, their parents and assistant principal Nakeena Bayliss. We popped into a Jucy’s taco bar and by the time it was finally noon, optimists continued to pour in from their offices.
President Julie Brock asked the optimist John Fortune to lead the group in prayer, after which the Club pledged allegiance to the United States Flag and affirmed the optimistic creed. Julie welcomed our guests to the meeting and explained that a total of 18 young Texans will be selected this year, two every month. At the senior awards annual meeting, three young women and three young men will be randomly selected to receive $ 500 grants to use as they see fit.
Julie then passed the floor to Maggie Truelove, Young Texanne for the month. Maggie’s favorite subjects are biology and English, and her most admired teachers are Audrey Cato, who teaches advanced English-language arts, and Skylyn Potts, who teaches biology and environmental science. Her grade point average of 5,526 is the highest in the upper class.
Maggie’s extracurricular activities include honoring all states as a softball player. She was also the district’s first team in softball in 2019 and 2021. She is also President of the Starfish Society, which focuses on tutoring students in the World Cup. B. Travis Elementary School. “Travis consultants especially thanked us for our work there,” she notes in response to club questions, “and they pointed out that it makes a huge difference in student lives and is reflected in improved performance on test scores.”
Maggie is active in the Trinity Episcopal Church and also serves as the vice president of the National Honor Society and the Junior Symphony League. She plans to go to the University of Texas at Austin and then go to medical school with the goal of becoming a doctor.
The optimist Richard Magrill asked if there was a specific reason she was drawn to the medical field. “Indeed,” she said, “I had a good friend in Pre-K who got cancer; he died when we were in sixth grade. His situation led me to want to help save disease-affected lives. “
Optimist Le Ila Dixon asked, “What do you do in all your free time activities?” “Sleep,” was her answer.
In a personal message to her parents, Kurt and Jennifer Truelove, she says, “Mom and Dad, thank you for always supporting me in everything I do. I value you more than you know I love you both so much and I can’t wait to see where I go in life with all of you by my side. “
Optimist Julie then introduced Buck Buchanan as Young Texan in September. His favorite subjects are math and arts, and his favorite teacher is Jerry Eagan, who teaches advanced US history and world geography. His grade point average is 5.39 and his extracurricular activities include soccer, golf, the Interact Club, and the National Honor Society. He is very active in the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.
“I like to go hunting, fishing and golf with my friends. Probably my greatest accomplishment is getting a full scholarship to play soccer at Louisiana Tech University. ”“ Kicking is my specialty, ”he adds.
From his future plans, Buck envisions becoming an engineer after graduating from college. “But I’m not interested in becoming a software engineer,” he says, “there are already a lot of them. I think I could enjoy architecture. “
Optimist Melissa Al-Ahmadi asks him what his preferred artistic medium is, and he replies that it is pen and ink. Optimist Le Ila wonders if the club might have seen his work in the Marshall Regional Arts Council’s Mini Monet arts competition, which the club sponsored last spring. He claims that he did not take part in this competition. After further questions, he says that the main subjects of his sketches are animals and nature scenes.
(After the formal part of the meeting, he joins optimists Adam Adair, John Fortune, Richard Magrill and Ned Calvert and shares about a dozen of his sketches stored on his phone. John Fortune suggests one of them on News Messenger along with our normal photo. Richard Magrill quickly flips through the fish, dogs, pigs, etc. and asks Buck to email a duck as he has poultry on his mind based on his previous conversation with Suzan Harrison.)
Buck’s personal message to his parents Frank and Ashleigh Buchanan reads as follows: “To the people who made me, thank you. Thank you for supporting my every decision. Thank you for always helping me with anything I need help with. Thank you for always doing what you think is best for me, even if I don’t like it. Thank you all. I love you all more than you think. “
At the end of each presentation, President Julie presented a formal certificate on behalf of the club, and a photo session followed. The twenty or more present devoured a large biscuit cake lined with brightly colored autumn leaves and orange pumpkins. “It was good to see that the room was full!” Said Optimist Le Ila.
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