In its 45th year of serving the Alma community, the Alma Optimists are beginning their 2017-18 year a little differently.
At the club’s Oct. 17 dinner meeting, Alma Optimists inducted their first female president.
With the assistance of Centre Wellington Optimist Jim Dandy, longtime Optimist Jean Broadfoot was inducted as president.
Broadfoot is looking forward to continuing the work of the Optimists in the community during her tenure.
Outgoing President Rob McKay introduced members of the Drayton Heights Empowerment Day committee: students Mandy deVries, Emma Gillespie and Natasha Huberts and teacher Andy Speers.
The Alma Optimists have supported Empowerment Day since its inception in 2014.
Empowerment Day is a day set aside for 5,200 students across the Upper Grand District School Board to meet at the Sleeman Centre in Guelph to hear motivational speakers who encourage students to make a positive difference in the world.
The day, organized and hosted by the students from Drayton Heights Public School, is also an opportunity for the students to develop leadership skills.
The 2018 Empowerment Day – themed “One Day or Day One, You Decide” – will be held on May 3. Tickets for the event sold out in 24 hours.
Opening and closing the event will be the Neema Children’s Choir of Uganda. The choir performed at Drayton Heights’ graduation ceremony in June.
On Oct. 17, confirmation was received from Jen Bricker, who grew up with the motto “never say can’t” and was born with no legs and her heart on the wrong side of her body. An aerialist and acrobat, Bricker will perform an aerial routine on Empowerment Day.
Former broker turned motivational speaker Leon Logothetis will share his journey around the world on a bicycle. Logothetis relied on the kindnesses of strangers on his journey and has since repaid some of those kindnesses.
Michel Chickwanine of the Republic of the Congo, was a child soldier who desired change. Those changes will be part of his presentation.
Also on the list of presenters is a mystery guest whose identity will not be revealed until Empowerment Day.
Prior to the event a Google classroom will be set up for teachers and students with the aim of making the day more than just a field trip.
McKay showed a video presentation on the history of the Optimist organization.
The first Optimist club formed in Indianapolis, Indiana in 1916. Between 1916 and 1920 a creed, logo and Optimist magazine were created. A Junior Optimist Club was formed in 1920, along with the first Canadian club in Toronto.
During the Second World War, Optimists International organized a scrap metal drive for the war effort.
Bike safety week and Youth Optimist week began in 1959. In 1970, a Junior World Golf tournament took place, along with hearing testing and education and an annual essay contest was organized. In the early 1980s over five million young people were reached by Optimist clubs.
Also at the meeting, President McKay announced the Alma Optimists have discontinued their annual spelling bee. The focus will now be on advances in technology with a proposed robot competition at Alma Public School in the near future.
