Club News
Club News Decatur High School. In the fall, Club Member Steve Acton and 15 to 20 other helpers visit each local elementary school, Head Start and prekindergarten in the area, and take fingerprints and pictures of kids for our Youth ID Program. More than 2,200 kids participate each year, and more than 65,000 children have been finger printed since 1985.
The Ocean City/Berlin Optimist Club’s boat show features more than 150 vendors selling boats, personal watercraft, and more.
The boat show that works for kids by Charles Smith Ocean City/Berlin Maryland Optimist Club
The Ocean City/Berlin Maryland Optimist Club is about to hit the $2 million mark for rewarding scholarships and other honors, supported by the largest indoor boat show in its coastal region. The Club hosted its 37th annual Seaside Boat Show February 14-16, 2020. The show provides the Club with the major portion of funds needed to support a youth-identification program, scholarships and an honor student banquet, which run $250,000 per year. The show began with 5,000 square feet in the Ocean City Convention Center. Each year the event grew, and it now covers 200,000 square feet filled with vendors of boats, personal watercraft and more. The Club raises money with booths that are rented by more than 150 vendors, entrance fees paid by more than 16,000 attendees, and selling ads in the event’s program. The success of the event is clear: In May, the Club will have bestowed $2 million in scholarships since 1989. Running the show is a full-time effort from Charlie Dorman, show chairman for 30 years, and his wife Carol. The show has expanded to the point that it is the largest indoor boat show on the Delmarva Peninsula, which is made up of parts of Delaware, Maryland and Virginia on the Atlantic Coast. Several significant programs are run each year, including a scholarship program at the local Stephen 24 • Optimist
Each May, the local high school honor students are recognized at the WeXL Banquet. Students, parents, politicians, school board members, teachers and Optimist attend the banquet at the convention center. More than 1,200 attend each year. As the Ocean City/Berlin Optimist Club approaches its 50th anniversary, the members continue to support the fund raisers and programs. More than 100 kids participate in our Oratorical Contest and more than 60 enter the essay contest. More than 30 participated in the county art contest run by our club. The Boat Show is really is “The show that works for kids.”
Students use the Husky Tool Room at Roosevelt Elementary School in Keego Harbor, Michigan.
Optimist Club of Keego Harbor, Michigan by James Bugg
The Husky Tool Room is a 10-station shop located in a side room of the Media Center in Roosevelt Elementary School. It was developed through a joint effort of the West Bloomfield School District,
