Grant Program
The 2024 Fall Grant Program Application is now closed. Our spring 2025 Grant Program will be available approximately in mid-March of 2025.
Flags for Kids Program - 2025
Informational Flyer:
Subscription Form:
Essay Contest
Oratorical Contest
College Scholarships
Outstanding Student Citizen Program
Optimist Winter Fest
2nd Saturday of February, every winter, Depot Park skating rink, 12:00noon to 3:00pm. Skating, hot chocolate, DJ music, smores with campfire and kids games. All families are invited and it's FREE!
Club President's Page
From our 2024-2025 Club President Rick Karlewski:
Thank you for visiting the Clarkston Area Optimists Club website! I encourage you to explore all of the pages here and learn about all of the activities we provide and support within the greater Clarkston area, then consider joining us. Having a positive, optimistic attitude has been shown to lead to a longer life as well as slow the aging process!
There are many reasons to become an Optimist and it begins with do you want to be a better person? Do you want to live in a better community and a better world? Optimism, and being an Optimist can lead to not only a better life for a prospective member, it can lead to a better life for multiple people. When we change the perspective of an adult or a child to optimism, they in turn can change their family. A family can then change a neighborhood. A neighborhood can change a community which can then change a city, a state, a nation and ultimately the world.
There is a branch of mathematics called chaos theory and within chaos theory there is a concept called the butterfly effect. This states that a butterfly on one side of the world can cause a tornado on the other side of the world due to the ripple effect of just flapping it wings. It explains how a small fluctuation in one part of system can generate a huge difference in the later outcomes. While not looking to cause a tornado, I would like to leave you with one thought:
Let us, as Optimists, be the butterfly that flaps its wings and ultimately changes the world for the better!