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Optimists: Community service, cheerful touch
With so many bad things happening in the world these days, and with pessimism running higher than gas prices, one might naturally wonder how an organization like the “Optimists” is faring.
Judging from the sunny disposition expressed in a local coffee shop last week by three members of The Greater Mankato Optimists Club, all is well. Optimists Alex Taylor, Al Clennon and Tona Gillispie agree that the local chapter, in less than a year of existence, is holding steady.
The glass is half-full, not half-empty, said Taylor, who points out that first-year chapters typically lose up to 50 percent of their members in the first year. This group started with 31 members, and now there are 28.
Taylor, a relative newcomer to Mankato who arrived from Wisconsin a little more than two years ago, said, “The key is getting the right group around the table to forge ahead.”
Joining Taylor around the table recently were fellow Optimists Clennon and Gillispie. All three can confidently be described as ... well ... the right group. They are contagiously optimistic souls.
Not that you have to have a sunny disposition to become an Optimist, which at its core exists to benefit young people. But as Taylor said, “at our meetings we really do try to have fun.”
The cynical reporter seated among them had to test their optimism quotient. What about Iraq? What about global warming, for starters?
“We’re not political,” answered Gillispie, a retired schoolteacher. “That’s why we stay optimists.”
“In Minnesota, a little global warming isn’t a bad thing. ... In moderation,” answered Taylor tongue-in-cheek.
Humor aside, Taylor, Clennon and Gillispie acknowledge they’re as concerned as anyone else about what’s wrong with the world. But they agree that — just like your mother always told you — complaining doesn’t make it any better.
“It’s not that we’re ignorant. It’s not that we can put a smile on our face and everything’s going to be OK,” Clennon said.
“You can whine or complain. Or you can join our organization,” added Gillispie.
The Optimist International organization is dedicated to making a positive difference in the lives of area youth. In less than a year, the Mankato chapter has (among other things) raised money for school supplies for underprivileged families, donated nearly 300 pounds of food and funds to the ECHO Food Shelf, begun a fundraising program for Kids with Cancer and contributed to Special Olympics. In 2008, the group plans to help with a youth art show, Envision 2020 and a green space Scout project.
Taylor, Clennon and Gillispie unapologetically seek new members. After all, more members ultimately means more kids can benefit from Optimist programs.
“The thing that I like about it,” Clennon said, “you can’t help but feel optimism when you’re working with kids. We want to give these kids something so it helps them become a better person. We’re not going to change the world, but if you can help a kid, it makes you feel pretty good.”
Taylor, Clennon and Gillispie talk and act as if optimism is, for them, a personal lifestyle choice. When asked if their spouses would agree, Taylor — whose wife joined the organization herself — has a ready answer.
“She would say I’m painfully optimistic. There’s a fine line where enthusiasm and optimism cross,” he said.
But is every Optimist as optimistic as these three?
Well, the local chapter does (or did) have one cynical member, they agreed. “But,” said Taylor, “since he joined the Optimists he has said — and even his wife has said — it has made him a little more cheerful.”
Doug Wolter is night news editor of The Free Press. To contact him, call at 344-6384 or e-mail at dwolter@mankatofreepress.com.
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