After 48 years of serving Dunn County Youth, the Menomonie Optimist Club has dissolved. The Club officially closed on August 9th, after staging the Menomin Meander family bicycle ride, which was canceled because of rain.
Club membership had dwindled in recent years, and with it the funds necessary to continue signature programs. One of those, the Youth of the Month program, will continue through the Menomonie Sunrise Rotary Club, which has agreed to take over this program to honor outstanding young people from all four of Dunn County’s high schools. Each year four students from Boyceville, Colfax and Elk Mound High schools, as well as six students from Menomonie High School receive this honor.
The Menomonie Optimist Club provided a number of community service projects over its five-decade span. The Club adopted Hoffman Hills State Recreation Area early in its tenure. Among the improvements there, the Optimists built the observation tower in the 1980s, as well as a picnic shelter honoring a deceased member. In more recent years, Optimists spearheaded the restoration of an oak savanna area through planting of 800 oak trees over eight years, followed by regular maintenance work in conjunction with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and area school students each year.
For many years Optimists also provided a dictionary to every third-grade student in Dunn County, at both public and private schools. Optimists sponsored a Breakfast with the Easter Bunny in tandem with the Menomonie Lions Club annual Easter egg hunt in Wakanda Park. Support for a variety of youth-oriented organizations was also a hallmark of the Optimist Club’s effort.
The Optimist Club has transferred its various banners, files, bell and signs to the Dunn County Historical Society for inclusion in its collection.
Optimists want to thank all the corporate and other friends of the club who helped make Dunn County a special place for the youth of the community.
David Williams is a Menomonie resident and retired UW-Stout administrator.