Encyclopedia Dubuque
"Encyclopedia Dubuque is the online authority for all things Dubuque, written by the people who know the city best.”
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Affiliated with the Local History Network of the State Historical Society of Iowa, and the Iowa Museum Association.
OPTIMIST CLUB
OPTIMIST CLUB. A international organization of nearly 3,000 chapters with more than 80,000 members, the Optimist Club was founded in the United States in 1919 in Louisville, Kentucky. The first Optimist Club was established in Dubuque in 1953. In 2023 there was a morning (52 years old in 2024), noon (70 years old in 2024 ), and evening (55 years old in 2024) club along with a Junior Optimist Club at STEPHEN HEMPSTEAD HIGH SCHOOL. (1)
Of the three local clubs, the Noon Club is perhaps the best known. Annually the club sponsors its Salute to America by placing 2,500 American flags throughout the community on Memorial Day, Flag Day, Independence Day, Labor Day and Veterans Day. Other accomplishments have included establishing STORYBOOK HILL CHILDREN'S ZOO AND THE MIRACLE LEAGUE OF DUBUQUE baseball park. The club annually donates an estimated $45,000 to about twenty-five youth organizations. (2) This money is collected from local businesses who rent the flags for $50 displayed on their property. (3) Other local groups help the Optimist clubs erect and take down the flags.
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Source:
1. Hogstrom, Erik, "Bright Outlooks," Telegraph Herald, February 11, 2024, p. 1C
2. Steinbach, Chris, "Noon Optimists Celebrate 70 Years," Telegraph Herald, August 26, 2023, p. 2A
3. Hogstrom