On Sept. 27, 1984, a group of 39 residents came together to start up what is now the last remaining service organization in South Sioux City.
The Morning Optimists have been meeting every Wednesday, bright and early, at 7 a.m. to put their efforts together to help the community, focusing on our youth and some of the needs that they have.
The Optimists International service organization has been around for more than a century, and a group of its members in Sioux City came across the river to start a chapter here in South Sioux City.
The officers and board members of the newly-chartered club included Steve Gragg, Greg Heil, Jim McBride, John Mahler, Roger Spencer, Wally Beerman, Bill Engel, Pat Brady, Rick Voss and Russ Messerlie.
The Optimists were a male-only organization until the late 1980’s, and women have been a part of the group since that time. Gloria Oorlong was the first woman to join the South Sioux City club in 1987.
While the South Sioux Morning Optimists have had as many as 70 members over the years, the core group stays active in a number of activities that support the community’s youth and those who work with our kids, including the school system.
“I moved here in 1975 and was working in Sioux City for a number of years, and I thought it would be a good way for me to get to know the community I was living in,” said current president Diane Schoepf, a retired insurance agent who worked at F&M Bank for more than 20 years before retiring recently. “I got involved and have loved being a part of it.”
The club’s charter membership helped set the table for the group’s success in the community over the last 40 years. One of those charter members, Mick Everett, is still involved four decades later and said he remembered the club’s beginnings.
“ I had friends who belonged to the Sioux City Optimist club and they wanted to build a new club in South Sioux,” he recalled. “They contacted me about recruiting some names to build the club. They had several breakfasts over in South Sioux and eventually got our club built.”
Everett remembered a number of fun events that the club held over the years, from Haloween haunted houses to your appreciation banquets.
“There are two that stand out for me personally though,” he said. “One was our club establishing the Just Say No Club for fifth-graders in South Sioux. This club was started to educate and inform these kids about the dangers of drugs. We made it fun for them with monthly activities and speakers. I even received a lifetime membership in the South Sioux PTA for my work with the club.
“The second thing for me was organizing monthly summer All-Comer track meets for kids and adults,” he added. “We did this for a lot of summers. And with the help of many Optimist members we were able to put on pretty successful and fun meets.”
Everett said the experience of being part of the club has had an amazing impact on his life.
“Being an Optimist for so many years has had a positive influence in my life. It has given me great pride that I and a lot of other members have contributed to a much needed part of our society. That is the betterment of our youth who will be and already are the leaders of tomorrow,” he said.
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