Our History
The Optimist Club of Lindsay has served the area since 1971. Founded on principles created by Optimist International, the club promotes its credo, “A Friend of Youth”, by devoting all efforts, energies, and funds to and for the betterment of youth in the City of Kawartha Lakes. Members meet the first and third Thursdays from September to June.
The Club offers activities that support the youth of the City. During the winter months, a recreational dodgeball evening for youth in grades 4 to 6 is offered on Monday nights for eight weeks. In May and June, a recreational soccer program is offered for eight weeks for youth of all ages under 17 years, a program that has grown from 50 participants in 1984 to over 600 participants in 2023.
In addition, the Club provides funding to support several programs offered for youth by other organizations in the City of Kawartha Lakes – Boys & Girls Clubs Kawartha, Ross Memorial Hospital, the Flato Academy Theatre, Kids Interactive Arts Program, and the secondary and post-secondary youth leadership scholarships. Most recently, the Club provided funding to assist with enhancements on the Trans Canada Trail, the construction of the new walking oval at Kinsmen Park for the Queen Victoria Public School community, and the development of the outdoor disc golf course at Memorial Park in Lindsay. On request, the Club also assists youth who are pursuing opportunities at provincial and national levels in areas of arts, culture, and athletics.
To support its contributions to the community, the Club sells Christmas trees throughout December and hosts a dodgeball tournament for adults every spring.
The Optimist Club of Lindsay is particularly proud of the new Optimist Soccer Park (3 regulation sized fields) on the 13-acre site located east of the tennis courts on St. Joseph Road. The park includes parking and pathways that community members have used extensively since the park opened in the summer of 2013. During the summer of 2019, Club members invested over 1000 hours of volunteer labour to construct a storage pavilion to complement the park. This exciting multigenerational park project is proving to be a wonderful resource for all citizens of Lindsay, young and old.
Our Creed
Our Members, Past and Present
Board of Directors (2023-2024)
President - Andrew Rafton
Past President - John Green
Secretary - Jim McKechnie
Treasurer - Wayne Alldred
Directors - John Hassan, Carl Kimmett, Jack Kyle,
Charlie McDonald, Pat Murphy, George Pineau
In-Memoriam
No longer with us, the following members contributed to Bringing Out The Best In Kids during their years as Lindsay Optimist Club members.
Ted Griffin (1991), Clarence Henry (1996), Tom McConomy (1998), Gene Gignac (1998), Doug Nichols (2000), Bruno Boucek (2003), Bert Gilligan (2005), Bob Bowin (2007), Herman (Bill) Simon (2008), Tony Verbik (2012), Dale Toombs (2013), Ed Waterhouse (2013 ), Ron Tucker (2014), Eric Bourgeois (2015), Dudley Farr (2016), Mal Hickson (2019), Albert Bullen (2019), Dave Auger (2019), Tex Bagshaw (2020), Tom Hannah (2021), Rodger Smith (2021) , Bill Huskinson (2021), Frank Bayley (2022), Jim Mantle (2022), Ross Smyth (2023), Bruce Beatty (2024)