Welcome to the Breakfast Optimist Club of Kalamazoo – BOCK

Optimist Mission:

By providing hope and positive vision, Optimists bring out the best in our youth, our communities, and ourselves.

Get-Togethers:

Club Get-Togethers are on most Thursdays  from 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. EST at Michelle’s Restaurant, 677 Romence Road, Portage, MI 49024 (see map below) and online via Zoom.

Be a first time visitor. The club pays for your breakfast.

No Get-Together when Kalamazoo or Portage Public Schools are delayed or closed due to weather.

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Essay Contest, January 2023:

The youth in our community are invited to participate in the annual Optimist International Essay Contest. The contest is designed to give young people valuable experience in expressing their thoughts in a public forum and compete for local and Michigan District prizes. The application form (link below) contains detailed essay guidelines.

The 2023 essay contest is open to anyone under the age of 19, as of October 1, 2022, and who has NOT yet completed secondary school or its equivalent.

For the 2023 essay contest the topic is: “Who is an Everyday Hero that Brings out the Optimism in You?”

Cash prizes at the club level are $500 for first place, $250 for second place, and $100 for third place. At the Michigan District level the prizes are college, university, or trade school scholarships. The first place prize is worth $2,500, second place is $1,500, and third place is $1,000.

The deadline for submitting the essay and completed application form electronically is 5:00 p.m. EST on Monday, January 31, 2023.

Submit your essay as a PDF file or Microsoft Word document.

Select the green Essay Application button below to download the essay contest application PDF file (file size = 2,652 KB):

Essay Application

Once downloaded, use Adobe Acrobat Reader DC to open and complete the PDF application file.

The application completion requires a digital signature. If the PDF application file is opened in most browser programs, such as Google Chrome, the signature field disappears. Here is a link to a PDF file (355 KB) that discusses this issue, where to go to download Adobe Acrobat Reader DC if needed, and how to create a digital signature, OptimistEssayApplicationPDFformSignature.pdf

 Email your essay and completed application form to [email protected]

Optimist Activities:

The Optimist Creed:

Promise yourself –

To be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind.

To talk health happiness, and prosperity to every person you meet.

To make all your friends feel that there is something in them.

To look at the sunny side of everything and make your optimism come true.

To think only of the best, to work only for the best, and to expect only the best.

To be just as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are about your own.

To forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future.

To wear a cheerful countenance at all times and give every living creature you meet a smile.

To give so much time to the improvement of yourself that you have no time to criticize others.

To be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear, and too happy to permit the presence of trouble.

 

Inspirational Quote:

“Optimism is a strategy for making a better future. Because unless you believe that the future can be better, you are unlikely to step up and take responsibility for making it so.”―Noam Chomsky

Google Maps, Thursday Get-togethers, Michelle’s Restaurant: