Des Plaines Optimists Announce 60 For 60

The Optimist Club of Des Plaines will celebrate its 60th anniversary on November 18th, 2014 and to mark that event has announced an initiative called “Sixty For Sixty.” The non-profit children’s service organization plans to host, sponsor, or support 60 events or groups by that day.

“We wanted to honor those gentlemen who began this club all those years ago “said Optimist President Ruth Del Re and this seemed like an appropriate way to do it. It’s a tremendous undertaking, but our members never shy away from hard work.”

The club regularly offers local youth the chance to win $2,500.00 college scholarships in the Optimist International Essay and Oratorical contests, hosts an annual fishing derby and kite fly, shows family friendly movies at Lake Park on Friday evenings in summer at Lake Park, and offers financial support to local organizations including Boy Scouts, youth sports, and others.

Program Chair Chris Ladner said “Our club turning 60 makes us one of the longest serving clubs in Illinois. It’s a large number that needs to be celebrated in a large way.  I’m hoping that this program not only attracts ideas from current membership on new ways to serve youth, but brings in new Optimists as well, so that they can discover the community and camaraderie that comes from service to others. We plan to publicize each of the 60 things we do on Facebook and our website as well as in the print media.”

The clubs meets the first and third Thursdays of the month. People interested in attending a meeting can contact Ladner at chrisladner56@yahoo.com or visit the club’s website at dpoptimist.org.