NC Optimist Club creates memorial scholarship

There are many ways to recognized outstanding members of your Optimist Club or others who demonstrate the values in your community set forth by the Optimist Creed. The Balls Creek Optimist Club decided that a memorial scholarship was the best way to honor one of theirs.

This week, the Balls Creek Optimist Club announced the Larry Teague Memorial Scholarship has been established for any graduating student who has participated in an activity of the Optimist Club.

Mr. Teague was a charter member of the Optimist Club established in 1971. Over the years he served in many capacities including club president and he coached baseball and basketball in the Optimist Club sports programs. With this scholarship, the Optimist Club recognizes his service as a mentor and community leader as well as an outstanding Optimist. His memory will live on.

If you live in the Balls Creek, North Carolina area contact De Batchelor at the Bandys High School for more information.

Thanks to the Balls Creek Optimist Club for the photo. 

Big Kid Award goes to Mary Williams of Boone, NC

In North Carolina, the Boone Optimist Club has a tradition of honoring a local person for the impact that they have had on children over their lifetime. The recognition is known as the Big Kid Award.

This year that very special honor went to Mary Williams. For twenty-seven years, she has worked with students with special needs in the Watauga County school system. She's written and received grants totaling a quarter of a million dollars in order to start-up and maintain programs for this special population.

One of the most successful programs involves about 400 families each year as special needs parents are matched with other special needs parents to create a bond where they can share mutual experiences and learn from one another. Most of all, the "Parent to Parent" program provides a support system for parents, families and individuals with disabilities.

Most recently, she's started "Coffee Talk" where the special needs students are taught meaningful skills from shopping to making and serving coffee and accompanying items. During "Coffee Talk" events, the students raise funds which are then contributed to the adaptive PE program and other nonprofit causes in the area.

It sounds like Mary Williams has a big heart to match her newly granted "Big Kid" status. On behalf of all Optimist Club members, allow me to say, congratulations!

Photo and story contributed by the Boone Optimist Club.

Students perform the Respect Rap

Technology specialist Hal Sandick (HalTeach) at FPG Elementary School in Chapel Hill, North Carolina has a message to share with you from the students at his school. That message is respect.

"I give it to you. You give to me. You gotta treat people respectfully," sing the Fearless Lions. I think you get the picture. Now listen to the rap: Respect Rap.



Music Sunday at Experience Optimism is pleased to offer this example of creative teaching that goes above and beyond what the students expect. Setting character education to rap music, and allowing the students to tell the story in their own way and then to share it on YouTube for friends, family and the world to see is what online education should be about. For privacy reasons, the young artists aren't identified, but they know who they are. Good job students. And thank you Mr. Sandick.

Optimists "Stuff the Bus"

Serving New Hanover County schools
North Carolina

The Optimist Club of the Port City joined in with the Communities in Schools campaign to help students return to school with the supplies they need. Now in its eighth year, businesses, individuals and service clubs help "Stuff the Bus."

Buses were located at Walgreens, Walmart and Office Depot stores. Last year more than $60,000 worth of supplies were donated. This year, the Communities in Schools program hopes to top that amount.

Optimist Club President Andrew Nettleman believes this program is important because it  "[helps] kids get started in the right direction early on in life so they are not running into the same issues others in the community face later down the road."  Read all about the project at New 14 Carolina.

With good timing or forethought, Project Stuff the Bus took place on a government sponsored tax-free weekend allowing more supplies to be purchased for students.

Prior participants may apply

The school year is almost over and high school seniors are making plans for their next big rite of passage: graduation. But before they graduate, many are seeking scholarships. Some might say it's a last minute attempt to "cash-in" on their good records; however, Optimist Clubs seem to seek out students who may not always be the top candidate for a prize so that they can give them the recognition and a boost when needed.

Take the Optimist Club of Washington, NC for example. They have scholarships available for students with 2.5 GPA or better who have participated in high school or Optimist sports programs.

At first, I thought what? Rewarding athletes again? And then I looked at the Club website and thought, that is an effective use of their money. The Optimist Club of Washington has quite an extensive soccer program in addition to offering the traditional Optimist Club programs. By connecting with the kids through soccer, they are able to engage students in living an optimistic lifestyle, being good students and good citizens, and they have a pool of participants for the Optimist International sponsored programs.

It's only right that the Optimist Club returns the favor to those who have supported their programs throughout their young lives by awarding scholarships to them.  That's an optimistic thing to do.

Find out about the Optimist Club of Washington scholarships here.

Fundraising With A Teddy Bear Parade

It's the first one for the Winston-Salem Optimist Club and maybe the first one of its kind. As a way to give back to the community, the Winston-Salem Optimist Club has asked the 1,100 children that participate in their club sponsored soccer program to bring a new teddy bear and walk in a parade. The teddy bears will be donated to Ronald McDonald House and other organizations with needs. Please watch the video for details.

Are you a big kid?

September 30 marks the end of the year for Optimist Clubs. Right now, Optimist Clubs around the world are holding installation banquets and thanking their members for all the work they have done throughout the year. It's a time to celebrate. 

In Boone, North Carolina, the Optimist Club celebrates their volunteer of the year with an unique award: The Big Kid Award. This award is designed to recognize an adult who has demonstrated exceptional commitment to being "a friend of youth," the Optimist Club's motto. 


“There are so many who volunteer and make positive differences in our area youth’s lives, and we saw a need to establish an annual award that would recognize these efforts,” said Jim Jordan, president of the Boone Optimist Club, in a press release. “The name ‘Big Kid’ stuck because, let’s face it, the adult most likely to make a difference in an young person’s life is probably a big kid at heart.” 


I like it. Why not start a Big Kid Award in your Optimist Club? 

New Optimist Club creates new program for children with health needs

Spurred on by the extra attention that the new Optimist Club gained from Jay Leno, I've been watching the progress of the Port City Optimist Club in Wilmington, North Carolina from a distance. After all, it is rather far away from Idaho so most of my knowledge comes from what I find in the media.

Today I was excited to see them mentioned again. I was even more impressed with why. The Port City Optimist Club has established a new fund at the Betty H.Cameron Women's and Children's Hospital at New Hanover Regional Medical Center to support children who have pharmaceutical needs that are beyond their means. The Pediatric Pharmacy Fund will assist when insurance, Medicaid, and the family's own resources are overextended.

According to president Lori Harris, they hope to inspire other Optimist Clubs to contribute and help serve all children in the area.

A new, resourceful and inspirational project from a new Optimist Club. This is real proof that new Optimist Clubs bring fresh ideas and resources to the table. Thank you!

This makes me smile

I thought it was a great story with a catchy headline when I first wrote about the Port City Optimist Club.  I smiled at the headline "Optimist Club going better than hoped" and I agreed with author Si Cantwell that 44 new members in 4 months was a great accomplishment.

Now Jay Leno has gotten in on the action.  He too thinks that headline was worthy of attention on the Headlines Segment of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. About 1:45 into the segment, after reading the headline, you'll hear Jay ask, "Really, did you think it was gonna suck? What is that?" 

I think the nod was in good taste and love that Mr. Cantwell is so positive about gaining national attention to his column Behind the Headlines in StarNews Media.

Want to know even more?  Lori Harris, the newly elected president and organizer of the Port City Optimist Club was recruited and hired by StarNews Media to coordinate their online and print marketing efforts.

Yes, this series of events make me smile.

Read the original post here: Port City Optimist Club going better than hoped.

New Optimist Club shares their full glass of optimism

Here is a headline that any Optimist International Certified New Club Builder would like to see, "Port City Optimist Club going better than hoped."

After all, we are optimists so when we start a new club project, we expect it to succeed and going better than hoped is stupendous!  After four months in operation, the new club boasts 44 members and is still growing.

The secret to the Port City Optimist Club in North Carolina is probably the two secret weapons shown in the picture.  Andrew Nettleman and Lori Harris are dedicated to the project and they bring "a glass-half-full" attitude to the club. In fact so much so that combined, their attitude is a full glass and they have named their first fundraising event "The Full Glass: A Toast to Optimism." To be held on June 3, the event will feature wine tasting, hors d'oevres, entertainment and an auction.

Both Lori and Andrew had positive experiences growing up with Optimist Clubs and youth oriented projects.  They are bringing that same enthusiasm to the Port City Optimist Club with youth safety and internet safety programs, health access for teens, and looking forward to a large-scale mentoring project for youths.

What an inspirational story.  Here's hoping for more new Optimist Clubs with youthful people sharing the same optimistic spirit.

Find out more about the Port City Optimist Club and the Full Glass fundraiser here. 

An SEO tip for Optimist Clubs

This is not a negative post.  I am not hater of sports and I understand that some Optimist Clubs are more actively involved in sports programs than others.  From an awareness standpoint I would like to point out that Optimist Clubs generally provide more than sports for their communities and the children that participate in the sports programs.  So if the home page of your Optimist Club website looks like this one, please rethink your design.  Use your home page to promote your club, your purposes and what unifies 3,000 Optimist Clubs around the world: With hope and positive vision, Optimist Club members bring out the best in children.  

Then create a blog, or a number of blogs, to promote each activity like this fabulous soccer program coordinated by the Winston-Salem Optimist Club and link them back to your website.  Your home page defines your club.  Do you like what it is saying? 

Promoting good government

When Optimist International first began promoting Youth Appreciation Week, they designed it to correspond with one of the purposes of the organization: To promote an active interest in good government and civic affairs.

While I compliment and enjoy seeing so many clubs recognizing children for doing the right things, leadership, scholarship, and sports, I was very impressed to see this program in Albemarle, North Carolina that does it all.

The Albemarle Optimist Club Youth Appreciation program recognizes children in a progressive manner beginning with elementary school children.  Chosen for their leadership skills, the students shown here participated in the youth in government program and shadowed Albemarle City government officials for the day. Fifteen eighth- grade students were also selected to be a part of the youth in government program.

The week was complete with a celebration of the students at the Annual Youth Appreciation dinner where students, parents, teachers, counselors, city council members and Optimist Club members were on hand to show their respect.

Photo courtesy of the Albemarle Optimist Club.

Optimist Clubs help others succeed through outreach

Optimist Clubs do a lot of outreach.  Some might call their involvement with community service projects other than their own sponsorship or partnership, but when I saw the Garner, North Carolina Optimist Club website using the term outreach to write about the organizations they regularly engage with, I thought, what a great way to express what we do.  Outreach is the act of extending or connecting the goals and purposes of one group to another in order to reach a wider population. 

Does your club reach out and help others by providing volunteers, time or support?   The Garner Optimist Club has identified their 2010 outreach activities to be:

• Relay for Life
• Camp Invention
• Boys and Girls Homes of North Carolina
• Camp Rainbow
• Garner Police Department

For their own projects, the Garner Optimist Club manages a clubhouse, sponsors the Optimist Interntional Oratorical and Essay Contests and coordinates baseball, basketball and golf programs for children.  They conduct four fund raisers to help them accomplish their goals. 

Outreach.  Does your club actively help others accomplish their goals?  You may already practice outreach.  Please tell us about it.

Gallop and Gorge for the community

The Gallop and Gorge Thankgsgiving Day Road Race has become an annual event in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.  This year, despite foggy weather conditions and with more than 1,000 present at the 8:00 a.m. start, the race attracted more runners than ever before.

The race awards winners in a number of categories, but the category that prompted me to write about this particular race was the Impact category.  According to the organizers, this race and two others in a series collect fees, donations, pledges and sponsors to contribute to the Arc of Orange County, the Optimist Club of Chapel Hill, the Orange County Rape Crisis Center and the El Centro Latino.  They also collect canned food from the participants and fans to distribute to local shelters. 

Who wins at the Gallop and Gorge Thanksgiving Day Race?  Everyone who takes time to participate.  Thanks!

Say what you mean and mean what you say

I love the internet.  It allows people from different communities, divergent views, and alternate opinions to write on various topics simultaneously and often without ever being seen by one another.  Except for me - when it comes to seeing what has been published about Optimist Clubs, I'm pretty observant.  That is why this particular headline "Optimist Club prays for activism" caught my attention.

First, Optimist Clubs are generally non-denominational and open enough to understand that not all people choose prayer in their lives. But the real issue here is praying for activism?  Isn't that usually synonymous with dissent, protest or social change?  Wow, that's a pretty powerful headline.  I'd better find out more. 

Imagine my surprise when I clicked on the link and found out that the article was simply a story about the Optimist Club of Scotland, North Carolina's installation banquet.  So perhaps whoever led the blessing of the meal prayed for an active club or possibly the Optimist District governor challenged them to change, but I don't think they were promoting activism; at least not in the usual sense of the word.

My caution today. You may not always be able to edit what is written about your Optimist Club so make sure your words express your true meaning.

Optimist Clubs help Keep America Beautiful

The Optimist Club of Raleigh, North Carolina was recently recognized for twenty years of keeping the highways clean.

With more than 6,000 organizations, businesses, and groups participating in North Carolina, it might be easy for the efforts of of one group to be lost in the mix, but the North Carolina Department of Transportation makes sure to recognizes the 10, 15 and 20 year anniversaries of their Adopt-A-Highway sponsors annually.

It was important to me to see that the Optimist Club was included. Projects like this build cohesiveness in a club and are meaningful to the community. It takes a lot of commitment and a lot of volunteers to Keep America Beautiful. Thank you Optimists and others throughout the United States for volunteering.

Click on the Keep America Beautiful link to find out how your club can get involved.
Trivia question: Do you know the name of the Native American Indian from the Keep America Beautiful commercials and shown above? Find the answer in the labels for this post.

Legacy of Optimist Club service lives on

Each year the Optimist Club of Garner, North Carolina honors a beloved Optimist Club member and ensures that his legacy of serving the youth in his community lives on by awarding the Abe Wade Scholarship to area high school seniors. Receiving the award this year were Amanda Jordan and Jamie Stanton of the Garner Magnet High School. Shown with them are members of Abe Wade's family, his spouse Dena Wade, son Sammy Wade and daughter Cindy Wade.

Mr. Wade was a charter member of the Garner Optimist Club. The club has been serving the community since 1966. Optimist Clubs came together as Optimist International in 1919.

Optimist Club of Shelby, NC contributes $40,000 for universally accessible playground

Here is a big project that required using a lot of savings, but according to the Optimist Club of Shelby, NC, it was worth it. In conjunction with the Shelby Parks and Recreation Department, the Club has supported the Optimist Park which includes a ball field, recreation space, playground and picnic area.

Over the years, the equipment became worn and deteriorated so this year the ten-member Optimist Club decided it was time for renovations - $40,000 worth of playground equipment that is safer and more accessible for children of all abilities.

According to Optimist Club President Roger Wuest, the community could make a lot of improvements if other groups would dedicate themselves to similar projects. The Optimist Club performs annual fund raising activities and saves a little each year for a really big project like this, but it also required the club to dip into their savings. That savings is made up of kind donations given in remembrance over the years for and by past Optimist Club members.

With a 56-year heritage, the Optimist Club is seeking new members. They welcome the community to join them at the community barbecue held on the first Thursday of every month during the summer, 6:00 pm, Optimist Park where they can learn more and sample the park for themselves.