Optimist Club of Jasper, 50th Anniversary Celebration

Celebrating 50 years of Optimism in Jasper with the Optmist Club of Jasper chartered on Jan. 6, 1976 with Bob Boyles as Charter President of the Club.

Bob's wife Deb attended the event along with Beth Seidl (wife of our 3rd President, Paul Seidl).

The President of Optimist International, Tom Kendo and his wife Jennifer (from Dayton Ohio) was the keynote speaker talking about the FUTURE of Optimism. Our Indiana South District Optimist Governor Monica Wallace and Governor-Elect Jim Tribble were also in attendance.

After a fun social hour connecting, we had a GREAT meal catered by Oink, Inc.. We opened the program with the Optimist Creed and invocation by Ron Fuhrman (Lt. Governor of our Zone 6 and strong Optimist supporter from the Santa Claus Club) followed by a program with remarks and awards by current President Paul Eckert and Past President Melissa Eckert.

Melissa received special recognition as Optimist of the Year for the Indiana South District from Governor Monica Wallace. Stan Stewart (Past President, Governor and International VP) presented a jovial presentation on the key activities of our Club and a challenge for the FUTURE. All past presidents in attendance were recognized and a group picture taken. There was a total of 19 Past Presidents with us (2 from the Luncheon Club). After the motivational keynote presentation by OI President Tom, Josh Gunselman (Optimist Member and Jasper Director of Community Development and Planning) representing the City of Jasper, spoke about the importance of the Optimist Club to our community in the future.

MC for the evening, Kent Reying, reinforced the message of the evening... Thank you for sharing this important evening with us as we celebrate a “Half a Century of Hope, A Future Full of Promise”. As part of Optimist International founded over 100 years ago, we have a rich legacy to protect and build upon. With a current membership of 135, we have the fellowship of friends, the satisfaction of working together in community service. We have our dreams and our future to share as we move into our next century of service to the Jasper community. We’re proud of Jasper. It is a privilege to be a part of this city and its people. And, as members of the Optimist Club of Jasper, we are especially proud of the way we have faithfully served our community for fifty years!

The celebration closed with the Optimist Creed and additional social and mingling time.

Special thanks going out to the The 50th Anniversary Celebration Committee: Paul Eckert, Melissa Eckert, Kent Reyling, Suzanna LInderman, Jessie Dwyer, Stan Stewart, Jim Jahn, Les Lorey, Larry Streicher, Justin Dwyer, Kelly Kluesner, Paula Reyling

Note that this is the BEGINNING of our 50th Anniversary year. We will be doing many more events promoting our history and reinforcing our FUTURE plans to carry on to the next 50! LINK to the 50th Celebration images taken by John Ackerman