George Mathews

I met the Optimist Club for the first time a couple weeks ago when I covered an evening sledding event at Lost Valley Ski Area in Auburn. The optimists were the men and women whipping up s’mores over a raging bonfire and serving them to the kids.

What’s not to like?

The Optimists at Lost Valley were the friendliest people you ever want to meet, but I still had no clue as to what the club is all about. To find out, I tracked down George Mathews, president of the local club.

It wasn’t hard to do – George was the one standing next to the fire and handing out cups of hot chocolate to the kids and their parents.

It was delicious, by the way.

What is the Optimist Club? An Optimist Club is a service club similar to the Rotary Lions and Kiwanis clubs, but with several differences. All these service clubs consist of civic-minded men and women who want to help their local community, but the Optimist Clubs all focus on offering projects to help local kids. The national motto of all Optimist Clubs is “Bringing out the Best in Kids.” Though there are many projects offered nationally, like the Oratorical Contest, Essay Contest, Respect for Law Week, Bike Safety Event and Computer Safety Program, the local club is not required to participate in any of these. Each Optimist Club has the freedom to design its projects based on the local needs of the community.

Meeting attendance is not mandatory, and helping with local projects is strictly voluntary. The Optimist Club realizes that your job and your family are more important than attending a meeting or function. . . . Each Optimist Club has local autonomy. It can decide what projects to do, what dues structure to adopt and what fundraising projects to sponsor. All fundraising money raised in the community stays with the local club to be used for whatever projects the club decides.

How did you find your way into the group? I first joined the Optimist Club in Abilene, Kansas, in 1976 when I was invited to one of their breakfast meetings. (I) was impressed by the projects they were doing for local kids and especially the Optimist Creed, which is recited at every Optimist Club meeting in the world. As the new store manager of the local Sears store, I had been looking to join a service organization, and had visited the local Rotary and Kiwanis Clubs, but it was the mission and members of the Abilene Optimist Club that most impressed me.

When Sears moved us to Marshfield, Wisconsin, I was a charter member of the new breakfast Marshfield Optimist Club, and actively participated in their growth and community youth projects. When the Marshfield Sears store was eventually closed, I was jobless, but remained optimistic. We eventually relocated our family to Auburn, Maine, in 1983. There was not an active Optimist Club when we arrived in Auburn, but there had been a club that had recently disbanded. After contacting the local Chamber of Commerce, I found enough interest to resurrect the local Lewiston-Auburn Optimist Club.

Where do club members hang out? At different phases of the club’s growth we met as a breakfast, lunch and dinner club. We met at several locations, including No Tomatoes Restaurant in Auburn, Governor’s Restaurant in Lewiston, the Harvest House Restaurant in Lisbon and currently at Chopsticks Restaurant in Lewiston. Our club seems to have found a home at Chopsticks. A lunch meeting has worked well for us, as the food is a buffet service, so members can meet at noon, eat, have a program and still get back to work by 1 p.m.

Who are your members? Currently our club has about 20 members, most of which are young parents with kids at home. We actively invite members to bring their families to all our events and they seem to enjoy participating. We only have three retired members, which is unusual for most service clubs. All service clubs, like the Rotary, Kiwanis, Lions and Optimist Clubs, are struggling to replace older members with younger ones. The reasons seem to vary, but many younger members do not want to commit to an organization that is too demanding of their time because they want and need to remain more flexible in their lifestyle. The demands on today’s parents are different, and there are many more opportunities to serve their youth through school, community and recreational programs. Service clubs like the Optimists must adapt.

Our L-A Optimist Club does not mandate meeting attendance and asks members to help with only two projects of their choice during the year. Family and work comes before the Optimist Club. This has helped attract and retain younger and more active members. Meeting for lunch has worked well because it does not interfere with family time for most members.

What is The Optimist Creed?

Promise yourself:

To be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind.

To talk health, happiness and prosperity to every person you meet.

To make all your friends feel that there is something in them.

To look at the sunny side of everything and make your optimism come true.

To think only of the best, to work only for the best, and to expect only the best.

To be just as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are about your own.

To forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future.

To wear a cheerful countenance at all times and give every living creature you meet a smile.

To give so much time to the improvement of yourself that you have no time to criticize others.

To be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear, and too happy to permit the presence of trouble.

George Mathews tosses a pallet on the fire at Lost Valley Ski Area during the Auburn Winter Festival last weekend.

George Mathews