HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2013-07-04, Page 6PAGE 6. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JULY 4, 2013.Charter members recall fun times with Optimists
For 40 years the Optimist Club in
Brussels has been working to
provide opportunities for youth both
inside and out of Brussels by
fundraising, raising awareness and,
according to four of the original 35
members of the club, having fun.
With the 40th anniversary gala
dinner on Saturday night, the four
took the opportunity to reminisce
and share their memories of the
organization, its members and its
ups and downs with The Citizen.
Murray Cardiff, Don Bray, Gord
Finch and George Langlois are four
members of the Optimist Club who
have been in since day one and,
since day one, the experience has
been a lot of fun.
It was 1973 and 35 charter
members filed into the Brussels
Legion for a celebration of the
decision to create the organization,
an idea that came through Bray’s
experiences with an Optimist Club
in Moorefield.
“[Bray and his wife] went to an
Optimists event there, a dance,” he
said. “We ended up being sponsored
by that club.”
Langlois, who was named
president of that first incarnation of
the club after Bray came to him with
the idea, and later went on to
become a president again as well as
a Lieutenant Governor of the
Optimist organization.
While the story branches out from
there, with the Brussels club
eventually sponsoring the Blyth
club, the real story, for these four
men, was the fun that they had while
they were creating the organization.
Shortly after the creation of the
organization, their numbers swelled
to 65, and, while they have recently
found themselves closer to the
original 35, the consensus is that the
success of the club is due to the
young blood that was a big part of itscreation.“We wanted a younger club then,”Bray said. “The rest of the service
groups, well, they were older at the
time, we wanted something a bit
younger.”
The group all laughed saying, now
that they were the older members of
the community, there was still young
blood joining the group.
“I’d say we’re nearly half and half
now,” Langlois said. “Half of us old
guys and half young guys trying to
help out and make a difference.”
“We wanted a younger community
club,” Bray said. “The focus is really
on the youth, we wanted a younger
group focused on raising money for
the youth and we’ve definitely tried
every angle.”
Cardiff said that the group found a
good niche in the community and
that it has been incredibly
supportive.
“It’s amazing the things we can do
because of the support of the people
in and around Brussels,” he said.
Langlois echoed the sentiment
saying that a group with next to no
money had turned into an
organization that has donated a lot to
both the immediate community and
to the outer community with projects
to benefit the London’s Children’s
Hospital.
This support likely comes from
the Optimist club members’ never
say die attitude, according to
By Denny Scott
The Citizen
38. "As American as apple __"
39. Aba ____ Honeymoon
43. Fictive
47. Press against lightly
48. Eiderdown filled
50. In the year of Our Lord
52. Obstruct or block
53. A companion animal
54. Political action committee
56. Big man on campus
58. "Frankly my dear, ___"
63. American Indian group
64. Lots of
65. Life stories
67. Sour taste
68. The Phantom's first name
69. Leading European space Co.
70. Native of Thailand
71. Drive into hard
72. NY state flower
33. Central processing unit
34. Direct toward a target
35. Side sheltered from the wind
37. 6th letter of Hebrew alphabet
40. Form a sum
41. The cry made by sheep
42. Defensive nuclear weapon
44. Clan division
45. Adult male deer
46. Patterned table linen fabric
48. Subtract
49. An imaginary ideal place
51. Chuck Hagel is the new head
53. Round flat Middle Eastern bread
55. Chickpea plant
56. Make obscure
57. Pole (Scottish)
59. Cavities where spores develop
60. Vintage Auto Racing Assoc.
61. Hmong language __: Yao
62. Small head gestures
66. Point midway between S and SE
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CLUES ACROSS
1. Applies paint lightly
5. House mice genus
8. Bible's Chronicles (abbr.)
11. Old World buffalo
12. Expression of contempt
13. Levi jeans competitor
15. A small-wooded hollow
16. Donkeys
18. River in Florence
19. L. Rukeyser's TV show
22. The abominable snowman
23. Deerfield, IL, Trojans school
24. Be obliged to repay
25. Woman (French)
28. Delaware
29. Fools around (Br. slang)
31. Affirmative (slang)
32. With three uneven sides
36. Tel __, Israel city
CLUES DOWN
1. Male parent
2. Afresh
3. South American weapon
4. Set out
5. Volcano aka Wawa Putina
6. Soviet Union
7. A single piece of paper
8. A bird's foot
9. Of this
10. Restores
12. Paper adhesives
14. Lordship's jurisdiction
17. River in Paris
20. Headed up
21. Sir in Malay
25. Soft-shell clam genus
26. Mega-electron volt
27. Indicates near
30. The central bank of the US
The Citizen Crossword
Pottery
398 Queen St.,
Blyth
519-523-4276
For 40 years the Brussels Optimist Club has been providing
opportunities and funding for youths throughout the Brussels
area and beyond. Four of the charter members of the club
were able to share some of their memories and stories. From
Continued on page 7
History
left are Gord Finch, Doug Bray, George Langlois and Murray
Cardiff. The foursome are standing in front of pictures that adorn
the walls of their clubhouse showing the history of the community.
(Denny Scott photo)