Meanwhile, Christmas tree sales in Billings, MT are strong

Far away, in Billings, Montana, the Magic City Optimist Club Christmas tree lot was faring well. They also said that tree sales were up this year and are thankful for how the project will benefit many in the community including various youth projects like the YMCA After School Youth Rally Room the Special Children's Camp and the Boys and Girls Club, among others.


KULR-8 Television, Billings, MT

Bike shop helps more than riders

I first learned about the Great Falls, Montana bike program last year. Organized by the PM Optimist Club of Great Falls, the program allows riders to rent a bicycle for as long as they need it (months, years) for only $2.00. The only catch is that they make minor repairs and return it when they are through riding it.

This year I discovered that the program helps more than just the riders. The bicycle technicians and rehabbers are overcoming challenges of their own. Working at the Optimist Bicycle Repair Shop is therapy for five lucky clients at the Center for Mental Health.  Watch the video to find out more. 

To rent a bike, stop by on Saturday mornings, 9:00 to 12:00, 3301 Central Avenue, Great Falls, MT.

Video credit: KFBB.com

Golf tournament makes parking easier

In regional golf news, the Great Falls Tribune in Great Falls, Montana reports that the Uptown Optimist Club Golf Tournament was a success.  They raised more than $10,000 and involved many local movers, shakers and regular folks in the process. Awards were given as well as kudos and praise and a great number of people got to find out a little bit more about what Optimist Clubs do.

Over the years, the Optimist Club has raised more than $210,000 and donated it to local charities including the Childhood Cancer Campaign. This year, the beneficiary sounds a little different as the Optimist Club is retaining the money to buy parking lot striping machines.

Now that is awesome! In an earlier post I commented long and hard about an Optimist Club is part of the economic development program for a community. While parking lot striping machines may not be as glamorous or heartwarming as giving to something like the Childhood Cancer Campaign, it is something that the community needs to make Great Falls a better place to live.  Many parking lots are managed and return money to the owners, often a branch of another economic development entity, and then that money goes towards more community improvements.

Thanks to the Uptown Optimist Club for not being afraid to make an unglamorous donation. Your community is a better place to live because of your well-rounded efforts.

A look at on-your-honor bicycle programs

Denver, Colorado played host to the Optimist International Convention this year and two weeks after the fact, Optimist Club members from around the world are talking about what a great convention city Denver proved to be.  Our accommodations at the Sheraton were well suited to our group and everyone loved the 16th Street Mall area and the ability to take a walk to dining and shopping. I agree that it was a great experience.

Part of the fun of having our convention in different cities is getting to learn more about them. During the opening ceremonies, the director of the chamber of commerce told us about the business, health and environmentally friendly attributes of the state and Denver in particular. The rail and bus system is well used and just added was a  shared community bicycle program. With the bike program, healthy riders could pick up a free bike in one area of town, ride to their meeting or shopping destination and leave the bike or pick it up afterwards and return to work. The on-your-honor system makes it easy to get around. 

Having that program in my mind made me take notice of the Yellow Bike Program in Great Falls, Montana. Organized by the PM Optimist Club of Great Falls, the Yellow Bike Program began like the Denver program, an on-your-honor system.  According to Bill Beckett, President, PM Optimist Club, that program didn't work for them. "We kept finding the bikes in the river, " he said. 

So they revamped the program into an organized, practically free loaned-bicycle program that runs out of the PM Bike Shop. For a $2 registration fee, anyone can borrow a bike on the condition they promise to make minor repairs to it for flat tires and such while it is in their possession.  If major damage occurs, they can return it for another bike. All are asked to return them when they are no longer needed and according to Jim Edwards, a volunteer repairman at the shop, "Most people are pretty good about bringing the bicycles back." 

The bikes are donated, many of the supplies are donated and the labor is provided free of charge by the Optimist Club.  Borrowers are usually grandparents with children visiting over the summer, persons who may have lost their drivers licenses, parents who can't afford to buy bicycles for their children and persons living in the Great Falls Transition Center. 

The PM Optimist Club Yellow Bike Program has been serving the Treat Falls community for twelve years. Read more about it here. 

What is an Optimist volunteer?

The Uptown Optimist Club of Great Falls has designated a page on their website to define who an Optimist is and what an Optimist does. Take a look at the site here. Or scroll down for their take on what it means to be an Optimist Club member in Great Falls, Montana.

An Optimist is...


a volunteer joining a group of civic-minded men and women banded together in the modern tradition for progressive thought and action in community service. Community service is their byword, objective and creed, recognizing that they must contribute something to the life of the community from which they and their families draw daily benefits. There is no greater opportunity for personal participation in community affairs and service than that to be found in an Optimist Organization. Each organization assures a position of strength and prestige through its affiliation with Optimist International, a federation of groups of like-minded Optimists throughout Canada, the United States and the World.


An Optimist does…


whatever needs doing in the community. If a need exists or if something will help the community, Optimists usually do something about it. Optimists joining together perform a wide variety of services to the Youth of their communities, thus our motto “Friend of Youth.”


An Optimist Volunteer is…


One, who develops Optimism as a philosophy of life, One, who promotes an active interest in good government and civic affairs, One, who inspires respect for law, One, who promotes patriotism and works for the good of International accord and friendship among all peoples, One, who aids and encourages the development of our Youth, in the belief that the giving of oneself is the service to others, will enhance the well being of humankind, community life and the world.

Does this describe you? Then I hope that you choose to join us.  Make Optimism a part of your life by joining an Optimist Club near you.

Optimist Clubs make a difference through the Childhood Cancer Campaign

Christmas is over.  That means back to other business for our 3,000 Optimist Clubs around the world.  One of the projects that many will be involved in is the Childhood Cancer Campaign. Through the campaign, $1M has been donated to research at John Hopkins University to eliminate childhood cancers; and throughout the country, other sums have been donated to local programs, hospitals and families. 

Like all Optimist Club programs, the Childhood Cancer Campaign is directed by the club. Club members decide how money will be raised, where it will be designated in their community, and how they will interact with the families.

In January, Makenna Sivumaki of Great Falls, Montana will celebrate two years of being cancer-free.  The Uptown Optimist Club of Great Falls was there to help her and her family through treatment.  Optimist Clubs are making a difference every day through small gifts to real people and big contributions to large causes.  You can help Optimist Clubs make a difference too by joining an Optimist Club today.

Optimist Clubs join with Kiwanis for bike fair

Children in Billings, MT enjoyed a bike fair over the weekend courtesy of the Billings Kiwanis, Magic City and Riverside Optimist Clubs during the eleventh annual youth bicycle rodeo.

Children were fitted for bicycle helmets, rode obstacle courses and learned safety tips from the Billings Police Department. According to the Montana CBS affiliate, kids rode their own bikes to the event and the Optimist Club made sure that those without bikes recieved a refurbished one to take home.

What a great collaborative effort by the service clubs!