By Alaina Loughridge TYBEE BEACHCOMBER | SEPT 2017 25 Tybee's Only True Beachfront Restaurant & Bar! Sip a margarita at our Crusty Seagull Margarita Bar while sampling our "worldly street food menu". 404 Butler Avenue (Inside the Beachside Colony) Tybee Island, Ga. 912-712-2750 ext 2 The Tybee Island Optimist Club In my never ending quest to supply Tybee Beachcomber readers with ongoing happenings here in our happy land, I have stumbled across a real treasure - The Tybee Island Optimist Club! For years I have seen their billboard by the water tower and wondered if they actually existed or if there was just a super happy person out there wanting to put a smile on faces with their optimism. So, making a call to my person in the know, I got the scoop on this club. Read on … The Optimist Club is the real deal! They are an international club with chapters worldwide. Their club motto is “Bringing out the Best in Kids” and they do their part through community service programs. Each club is autonomous and run by members in their community, which allows them to have the unique flexibility to serve the youth of their area in any way they see fit. They were originally formed here on Tybee in 1950 for men only. The rules have since changed, thankfully. The Tybee Club has met at the Sunrise Restaurant since way back, when it was called the Dragon Palace, and continues that tradition meeting there on the first Thursday of every month at 6:30pm. Currently the Club has 20 active members: CaRita Connor is the President; Bernie Goode is the Vice President; Marty Barrington is the Secretary and Jane Patnode is the Treasurer. Over the years, the Optimists have supported a variety of children’s events via fundraisers, such as a weekly spaghetti dinner and yard sales, with their biggest yearly event being the Bike Sale. Bill Brown would collect and repair broken down bicycles and the Club would sell them. It was the Club’s main event until Bill’s passing. Bill Brown left money to the Club and the funds were promptly donated to our local Maritime Academy for the benefit of our kids there. The Club also donates to the Children’s Christmas Party Parade, Vacation Bible School, church youth groups, Fresh Air Home, Burton’s 4-H Center, as well as to the Tybee Post Theater. The Optimist Club is still going strong and benefitting our little community after all of these years! However, they need new blood (young-up-andcomers) to take over and bring in new ideas and pizzazz. It truly is a wonderful organization and I encourage one and all to go to a meeting and get to know more about this club and what you can do to help. Mark your calendars for the first Thursday of the month!
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