Our History
The Optimist Club of St Thomas

The Optimist Club of St Thomas was officially chartered in 1947 under the sponsorship of the Downtown London Optimist Club and then Incorporated in 1956 #81650. The St Thomas Optimist Club has been a prominent service organization in St Thomas for 70 years and is dedicated to the promotion of programs and projects to benefit area youth.

Club members enjoy a high level of fellowship and all make a concerted effort in fund-raising endeavors to support, sponsor and deliver a wide range of youth service projects such as the annual Optimist Oratorical Contest, Youth Appreciation Week, Optimist International Junior Golf Championship, and the annual Optimist Santa Claus Parade which is typically on the second last Saturday night in November.

The St Thomas Optimist Club has been well represented in Optimist International and is honoured to be the home club of Past Optimist International President Norm Shipley, Past Vice President's Art Derrough and Brian Clements and Optimist International Committee Member Ray Stanley.

The St Thomas Optimist Club was formed by people like you, people who live in and care about our community, it's youth and our way of life. Come and join and become a part of this great organization.

​Club Meetings are held on the 2nd and 4th Thursday of each month from September to June at The Back Alley Bar and Grill.

Join Our Club

 REEL OPTIMISM

The St Thomas Optimist Club has submitted a video entry to the 2018 Optimist International "Reel Optimism" Contest. This years theme is "LIVING THE CREED"
On May 11, 2018, finalists will be announced and you will be able to vote on Facebook, Twitter and the Optimist International website. You can vote daily until May 31st.
A $1,500 grant will be awarded to the winning club to be used to support local youth projects. It is our hope that our club will be a finalist. More information on how to vote will be posted here soon.

What Optimist Clubs Do

Optimist Clubs are dedicated to "Bringing Out the Best in Kids" and do their part through community service programs. Since each Club is autonomous and run by members in their community, Optimists have the unique flexibility to serve the youth of their area in any way they see fit. Optimist Clubs see a need in their community and react to it.

Optimist International officially sponsors several International Programs: the Childhood Cancer Campaign, Internet Safety, the Optimist International Junior Golf Championships and the organization's scholarship contests (Essay Contest, Oratorical Contest and Communication Contest for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing). In addition, Optimist International encourages involvement in several other community activities:

• Respect for Law/Promotion of Non-Violence
  Youth Appreciation
  Youth Safety

Optimists conduct 65,000 community service projects each year, spending $78 million in their communities. Annually, six million kids are positively affected by Optimist programs.