1998 is a year none of us will soon forget because of the Ice Storm. While some Optimist Club events and meetings got cancelled because of it, members of our club kept busy helping their families, friends and neighbours in any way they could.
In March some members of our club helped out other Optimists at the Tri-Star Sports/ "Say no to drugs" event held March 8th at the Jacques Lemaire Arena in Lasalle.
On March 15th we helped out the Muscular Dystrophy Association by participating in the St. Patrick's Parade.
From April 9 to 11, many of our members helped decorate easter eggs at Zeller’s in Carrefour Angrignon.
Our signature event of the year was our annual Easter Egg Hunt, this year held at Carrefour Angrignon where over 200 children enjoyed a variety of games and had fun looking for plastic eggs, later exchanged for candy, prizes and toothbrushes.
Sears donated a bike as our grand prize.
Thanks to all the members, volunteers and sponsors who helped make this event a huge success!
In April, members of our club participated in a Bowl-a-Thon in Deux Montagnes
In June, our Club was involved in the Allion School Citizenship Awards. Joe Quinn went to the pep rally and was quite impressed by the way the activity was organized as well as by the dynamism of the children. André Asch and Sylvie Cajelait went to the 6th grade graduation ceremony to give away the medals our club provided for the event. It was very rewarding to see the pride shown by girls and boys when they came to the front to get their medalsand it made us proud for us, as Optimists, to be part of the event.
Also in June, we participated in a Bike Safety event at Cooney Park in Verdun
Our 3rd annual fundraising event at the Comedy Works was held on June 18. It was the biggest crowd ever. Close to forty people came with us to see the young performers in action. A few of them were quite impressive and were applauded with enthusiasm by the crowd.
On August 15th we had fun participating in the Safety on Wheels program at the Dawson Community Center Street Festival
Due to a strike in Verdun, the Halloween activity sponsored by the Verdun Optimist Club was held at Dawson Centre. Again this year, we were part of the event and we gave candies to a lot of children who didn’t look too disappointed by the change of location.
On November 28th, several of us participated in the Lieut. Governor's Bowling night in Lachine.
In December we participated in the Opération Nez Rouge program as described on page two.
Our annual Christmas potluck dinner was once again graciously hosted by Huguette Poirier-Asch. We ate well and had a great time.
All in all, it was quite a year. Our club continues to be active with well above average attendance at events and meetings. Let’s hope 1999 is even better!
(contributions from Sylvie Cajelait, Joseph Quinn and Gary Tompkins)