A Brief History

The first Optimist Club on record was organized in Buffalo, New York, and was called the Optimist Club of Buffalo, New York. This happened in 1911, and in 1919 in Louisville, Kentucky, the International Optimist Club was born. The International Optimist Club was the forerunner of Optimist International. At present there are approximately 4,300 Optimist Clubs in the United States, Canada, , the Caribbean and Europe, with the membership of over 170,000 Optimists.

The Belleville, Illinois, Optimist Club was chartered and became affiliated with Optimist International in September, 1923. Our Club is generally referred to as the “Downtown Optimist Club.”

We have over 135 members, and we are one of the largest clubs in the Illinois district, and among the largest in the world. The club meets every Tuesday, 12:00 noon at Bellecourt Place, 120 North Jackson Strret, Belleville, Illinois. The 23 member Board of Directors meets on the third Tuesday of each month at 7:00 am.

Our Club takes great pride in the achievements and progress made in promoting the young people of our community, as well as our efforts in making our Belleville area a safer and better place to live. Each year over 30,000 of the youth in our area are served by the Optimist Club of Belleville through our activities and donations.

Statistics show that for each member in our club 180 youth are served.

 

For more information about the Optimist Club of Belleville
please send us a note including your name and phone number to:

Optimist Club of Belleville - PO BOX 636 - Belleville, IL 62222-0636