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By Patrick Webb
InkFreeNews

WARSAW — On Wednesday mornings, the Warsaw Breakfast Optimist Club meets for breakfast to socialize and follow the group’s motto to be a “Friend of Youth.”

According to Charlie Wagner, the club’s current president and member since 2017, the club was started by businessmen in 1958. The club meets at the Shrine Building at the Kosciusko County Fairgrounds.

Jeff Owens, another Optimist member, added the club founders chose to meet for breakfast because of work duties later in the day. Serving breakfast also encouraged membership and is covered by dues.

According to the club’s website, the first Optimist Club was started in Buffalo, N.Y., in 1911. Optimist International, founded in 1919, oversees the broader organization and local club charters.

Wagner said he joined because “I was at a point in my life where the world seemed a little sketchy, and I needed to do something to make it a better place.”

Wagner shared as president of the club, he moderates meetings and delegates tasks, which he described as a learning experience.

“I was never much for public speaking, so standing in front of 80-90 people for me is gut-wrenching,” said Wagner. “I’m getting better at it.”

According to the club’s website, the group hosts 20-25 service events a year for a positive impact for youth.

Events include Art in the Park at Central Park during the first weekend of September, where children make art, a food drive in competition with the Kiwanis and Rotary service clubs for the Salvation Army Food Bank and the City of Lakes Car Show.

The club also assists with scholarships and grants.

At the Wednesday, May 22 meeting, club board members presented a $3,000 grant to Combined Community Services’ Tools for School program, which helps students to prepare for the school year.

One program the club offers, according to Wagner, is Student of the Week. According to Wagner, teachers at local schools nominate students who’ve excelled academically. Students are given the award at a club meeting, which they can add to their resumes, Wagner said.

“Seeing those kids here and the expressions and joy when we present that reward, that’s very fulfilling for all of us,” said Wagner.

Gina Voelz, a member since 2011, joined after visiting when her daughter was a Student of the Week. Voelz said she enjoys giving back with the Optimists and singing with the Optimist Singers.

For Voelz, being a “Friend of Youth” means “positively giving back to the community.”

“The activities that we do with the young people in the community, it’s so rewarding,” said Dr. David Haynes, another member of the Optimist Singers.

Haynes grew up in Greencastle and traveled by Plainfield as a child, where he recalled seeing a billboard for the local Optimist Club. That inspired him to join the Warsaw Optimists in 1972, which he said was “good fit.”

“What is the future of our community, if it’s not our youth?” said Haynes. Haynes added many members of the Warsaw Breakfast Optimist Club worked with youth, whether as teachers or in local businesses.

“Warsaw is outstanding in acknowledging and looking to the future for our children,” said Haynes.

Martin Becker, director of the Optimist Singers, joined in 1991 after he was invited by his friend, the late Phil Eherman.

Becker worked with youth as a band director at Warsaw Community High School. After he retired, “I felt like this was a good outreach for me into the community,” he said.

Eherman, Becker’s predecessor at WCHS, started the Optimist Singers, which consists of members who perform songs for events, such as for Memorial Day and Christmas.

“I was a former high school teacher, and it was a way that I could stay in touch with youth and give back to the community,” said Ott Schroeder, who moved to the Warsaw area and joined the Warsaw Breakfast Optimists in 1994.

Schroeder described the club as a family, such as how members participate and support projects.

“It makes you feel good after those projects are done, that we came together as a group and did what was good for the community and the youth,” said Schroeder.

Shari Benyousky joined in 2018, and described the club’s community and humor as “wonderful.”

She shared that giving back “makes you feel like you’re helping this community to be a better community.”

Benyousky added participating helps to “realize there’s a lot of gaps with kids,” such as resources for some school clubs, which the Optimists are able to help with.

Paul Finley, the president-elect of the Warsaw Breakfast Optimist Club, said he appreciated being able to give back to the community. He added that service clubs such as the Optimists face challenges with membership.

Finley shared when he was 12, his father passed away and community members stepped up to help his family. Being a Warsaw Optimist is a way he can give back, he said.

Benyousky said she’s met people with the Warsaw Breakfast Optimists she wouldn’t otherwise have, which helps her learn of community needs.

Past guests to the Warsaw Breakfast Optimist Club’s meetings include leaders, such as former Indiana Gov. and Purdue University President Mitch Daniels, said Finley. Former Warsaw Mayor Joe Thallemer has also visited.

During the May 22 meeting, the Optimists received “feedback” from a fourth grade class at Lakeland Christian Academy, who went on a field trip thanks to an Optimist grant. The class sent a picture of the trip.

“It does make you feel good when you get that feedback and picture of a bunch of kids smiling and having a good time, and know that we were able to help provide that for them,” said Finley.