{"id":36790,"date":"2025-09-04T17:19:22","date_gmt":"2025-09-04T21:19:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=36790"},"modified":"2025-09-04T17:19:30","modified_gmt":"2025-09-04T21:19:30","slug":"optimist-club-celebrates-its-40th-anniversary-of-service-to-auroras-youth-with-legion-celebration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/optimist-club-celebrates-its-40th-anniversary-of-service-to-auroras-youth-with-legion-celebration\/","title":{"rendered":"Optimist Club celebrates its 40th anniversary of service to Aurora\u2019s youth with Legion celebration"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Charter member and founding Vice President Alex Ansell delivered the keynote address at the Optimist Club\u2019s 40th Anniversary Dinner on Thursday night at the Royal Canadian Legion in Aurora.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Emcee and former Optimist President Carol Bartlett introduced the amiable Ansell who was encircled by club artefacts on display in the Legion\u2019s main dining hall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ansell, who was inducted into the Aurora Sports Hall of Fame in 2014 as a community builder, reflected with fondness on building upon the service club\u2019s modest beginnings in 1985.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Kiwanis and Kinsmen Clubs had met their demise in the 80\u2019s and we needed 35 members to charter. On June 12, 1985, we chartered with 37 members and we have never dropped below that number in membership. Ken McIsaac, Neville Gynan, and George Gonsalves were there at the beginning of the club\u2019s formation and they\u2019re here tonight. After not being allowed to join service clubs, women joined our club for the first time in 1988.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ansell, 89, spoke glowingly about the significance of the current female leadership in the club and cited the Optimists\u2019 historical achievements including \u201cour continuing role in the Town\u2019s Santa Claus Parade, and getting the Mobile Kitchen up and running in 1992 with a grant from Frank\u2019s Fiesta\u2014the precursor to the Hoedown.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur Book Sales raised $140,000 for the Aurora Library and there is a room on the second floor of the Library honoring our club\u2019s contributions and legacy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The engaging keynote speaker also discussed initiatives that were developed to help the youth of Aurora and are still running today decades after their launches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur Chess Tournament has been running for over 26 years, engaging hundreds of elementary school children, and our Aurora Hockey Showcase has been around for 24 years. All in all, we\u2019ve raised over $2.5 million for the youth of our community here in Aurora.  We\u2019re going to keep on changing with the times \u2013 just as we did in the club\u2019s early years. The evidence of achievement is there\u2014it\u2019s all around us tonight in the scrapbooks, the binders, and the banners we have on display.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ever the Optimist, Ansell segued from honoring the past to predicting the service club\u2019s bright future as the energetic octogenarian concluded his keynote: \u201cAs we celebrate these milestones, let us remember our best achievements are still to come.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ansell received a standing ovation from the assembly and took his place among the fourteen former Optimist Club Presidents in attendance for a historic group photo taken by Glenn Rodger that capped off the evening\u2019s festivities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Million Mouthfuls also played a starring role in those festivities.  Dinner guests praised the catering company\u2019s tender and flavorful braised beef short rib and the Fuzion Shiraz Malbec table wine as an indomitable pairing.  They also lauded the range of flavors in the seasonal greens appetizer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chef and owner Anne-Marie Million discussed the ingredients of the starter: \u201cTonight\u2019s Summer Salad [was comprised of] baby lettuces, baby heirloom tomatoes, roasted yellow beets, shredded heirloom carrots, fresh herbs, watermelon radish, toasted almonds, blueberries, and a honey lavender dragon vinaigrette infused with local dragon fruit powder. All ingredients are sourced from local, small farms.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Million\u2019s main course also featured the fresh flavors associated with late-summer Farm to Table events in Central Ontario.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The community spirit of the Optimists has also been locally-sourced since 1985 and Thursday night\u2019s celebration of the esteemed service club\u2019s 40th anniversary was a testament to its ongoing support of local youth over parts of the last five decades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Event Notes:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n