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The Optimist Club of Athens was chartered with forty one members on July 1, 1960. Two of the most optimistic Optimists ever known, Ed Lambert and Bob Leonard of the Downtown Optimist Club of Knoxville were largely responsible for the chartering. The charter banquet was held in the Robert E. Lee dining room in downtown Athens with all the charter members and their wives present, along with many dignitaries present from the sponsoring club, zone and district. On January 12, 1978 we left the Robert E. Lee and returned to T.W.C. where we began meeting in the President's Dining Room and continue to meet at T.W.C. in the Glenn Lowe Dining Room.
The Optimist Club of Athens immediately adopted the Essay and Oratorical Contests, Respect for Law, Bike Safety programs and Youth Appreciation Week, which continue to this day after 48 years of tradition in Athens. In order to properly fund the service projects, the new club took the initiative to develop an annual "Mop and Broom Sale" fund-raiser, now in is fifth decade. The Club helped promote the transition of the Optimist International theme from "Friend of the Boy" to "Friend of Youth" during the 1970's and, soon after the bylaws were changed in the early 1980's for membership to include women, and were the first local club to elect a female president. During the 60's and 70's the club would begin to add significant local projects, such as the annual "Halloween Costume Parade and Contest", a summer picnic for adults with developmental needs - now the Tri-County Center, and adopt responsibility for the Christmas "paper sale" to raise money for the annual "Friendly Fellows Food Baskets" for the needy, and now give a total of over $18,000 in scholarships and have 21 projects that serve the youth of Athens. The Club now meets weekly with over 70 members actively involved.
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