Summer has arrived…Mowing grass, camping, swimming, hiking, mowing grass, biking, baseball games, mowing grass, and all kinds of fun things to do!

May was so busy for our Optimists. We set up a “pick a ducky table” at the Jump Into Summer event at South School where we gave out free tickets to all the kids to use for the bouncy houses.

Next was our bake sale at Picket Fence. Recently we received a matching grant from Optimist International. We picked Picket Fence for our recipient as they help so many developmentally disabled kids and young adults find jobs and sell items at their store. Our International matched whatever we made at our sale. The matched amount given to Picket Fence was $924.00. Thank you Chillicothe for always supporting our bake sales.

Our annual garage sale and silent auction that we held at the Casting Club was a great success! We had so many items and as always, there were no prices, just a donation. Thank you all for the thousands of items you brought for the sale and for your generous donations! These monies go to fund our IVC high school scholarships each year. Each May, we give out three $1,000 scholarships. Scholarship Recipients this year were Trevor Blunt and Caitlyn Gillette, and the Optimist Trades Scholarship went to Makai Ogburn.

Watch for us selling our flags the second weekend of the month…we will be out at some of the intersections and in some of the businesses.

This June, our Chillicothe Optimists will be celebrating 40 years as a club with awards and a picnic at Shore Acres Park. We are happy to celebrate being part of such a vibrant, active club that has done so much for our youth, and look forward to serving our wonderful community in the future.

Teachers picked to receive checks this month are; Britini Foyer at South, Stephanie Thompson, and Bret Stahl at Mossville. Each teacher will get a check for $50 to use in their classrooms.

If you would like to become involved with our club....Our breakfast meetings are the first and third Saturdays at Grecian Gardens at 8am. Come join us!

Until next time....stay Optimistic!