Optimist Clubs are about addition

Mayor Dave Bieter

I attended the Boise Noon Optimist Club meeting today. That's not that unusual save for the fact that they now only meet twice per month at noon. The other weeks they meet in the evening so that all members have an opportunity to participate.

Joining the club today as the guest speaker was Boise Mayor Dave Bieter. He spoke of the economy and shared the good news that there has been a substantial upswing in building permits in Boise and Ada County. He said that the unemployment rate for Boise was low and while that is a good statistic, it might also be a troubling statistic because many of the jobs that have been created are minimum wage jobs. He also hinted at a major announcement to be coming soon in the new business attraction arena and bragged about the new facilities being developed at Micron.

During his presentation he made several interesting comments that compare his philosophy to that of an Optimist Club. First, he said he was a former Optimist football player and because of that, and the ongoing development of the football program, he will always have a soft spot in his heart for Optimist Clubs. Next he talked about how he believed that it was a city's responsibility and a mission of service clubs to always be adding to the quality of life of a community. Quoting his first-grade daughter, he reminded us that we should never subtract.

But the quote that struck me as unique and worth repeating came near the beginning of his presentation. It describes why we have informational programs at our meetings and why people like to make presentations to Optimist Clubs. "You circulate in this community in a positive way," said Mayor Bieter.

That's right; words shared at an Optimist Club meeting reverberate and lift and inspire others, more than those who attended. Optimist Clubs truly share their positive vision with others and that positive vision, among other things, does more than add to our quality of life. It multiplies.