Optimist Club celebrates nine Grade 8 students with dinner, bursaries

Nine Grade 8 students from across Fort Erie sat down to a hot meal last week knowing that someone had been paying attention to the small stuff that made a big impact.

The Fort Erie Optimist Club hosted its annual youth appreciation dinner Thursday at the club hall on Gilmore Road, bringing students, parents, teachers and town representatives together to recognize young people chosen by their schools for something that rarely makes trophy cases: the way they treat the people around them.

Each school selected one student and each student went home with a club certificate, a $50 bursary and a pin from the town.

Candace Cashman-Weiss, the Fort Erie club’s acting treasurer and trustee, told Fort Erie Radio teachers and principals are asked every year to look for students who represent the Optimist’s highest values.

“They choose the most optimistic student, whether it’s how they are with the other students or how they are with their class or whatever it may be,” said Cashman-Weiss.

After the homemade lasagna dinner prepared by Optimist Club volunteers, students and teachers shared their stories of optimism and kindness. Hearing why each student was picked is one of the main reasons volunteers keep showing up to put it together.

“To me, it’s fantastic to hear that these kids are so kind and so understanding and so sweet to everybody,” Cashman-Weiss said.

The dinner itself costs the club around $500, not including the $450 in bursaries. Lucille Cashman, president of the Fort Erie Optimist Club, said that investment is worth it because the night does something that a lot of events miss: it lets kids see clearly that the adults in their lives are watching, and that kindness counts.

“It’s important for these kids to know that there is a place that Optimist has and that their teachers or principals are teaching them Optimist ways,” Cashman said.

She also spoke about the trust families place in the club across all its youth programs, from the appreciation dinner to dances and holiday events like Fantasyland at Christmas and Breakfast with the Easter Bunny.

“Everything that we do, we do for these kids and the parents,” Cashman said. “When we do the dances, the parents drop them off and they leave them with us, so they trust us to be able to take care of them.”

The Fort Erie Optimist Club is marking its 50th anniversary this year, originally established with a mission built around hope and support for children in the community. Anniversary celebrations are still in the planning phase.

The youth appreciation dinner is one program among several the club runs on a mix of volunteer effort, hall rentals and bingo proceeds. The club also awards bursaries each year to graduating students from Greater Fort Erie Secondary School and Lakeshore Catholic High School.

Nine students were recognized, one from each participating school:

• Briayden Buonocore, St. Joseph Catholic Elementary School
• Victoria Colbourne, Stevensville Public School
• Imogene Reitboeck, John Brant Public School
• Maverick Kropf, Our Lady of Victory Catholic Elementary School
• Dylan Cirasolo, Saint Philomena Catholic Elementary School
• Dan Corneille, Peace Bridge Public School
• Morayo Olowoyeye, Saint George Catholic Elementary School
• Henery Dill, Garrison Road Public School
• Dev Trivedi, Fort Erie International Academy

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