Brain Bowl: This event is made up of Colorado-Wyoming youth in the 7th and 8th grades. This year, there were 700 students participating in teams of five. The student's teams are asked a series of questions in the morning and finalists battle it out in the afternoon. It is very competitive and fun for all. The Optimist clubs throughout Denver make up the readers and the scorekeepers.

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Bicycle Safety: We have merged with Lutheran Medical Center for this project. Kids are given helmets, the Optimists tune up the kid's bikes and show the participants how to maintain their bikes, and share safety time for riding. There is also a bicycle Rodeo for the boys and girls which is a really good time for all.

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Carnation Festival: Each year, the Optimist Club participates in the Wheat Ridge Carnation Festival. We march in the parade, run the Dunk tank, and help out with the concessions and set-up.

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Christmas Project: Each year, we solicit donations from business partners, friends, and cooperating organizations to put together boxes of Christmas presents for distressed families in the Wheat Ridge area. We collect names and a few days before Christmas, we have a Gift Wrapping Extravaganza. It has been described as organized chaos, but it is truly a blast for all those involved. After they are wrapped, we distribute the gifts to all the families and get our own holiday reward that words cannot describe.

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Liberty Day Kids: Patriotism at it's best. In order to share the goals of our country's founding fathers with the children, (and adults), of our community, we provide local children with copies of the Constitution and Declaration of Independence and turn them loose to share what they have learned. They visit places like the Post Office, Safeway, the Wheat Ridge Recreation Center and question adults and other kids about what these two glorious documents contain. It is an exciting experience for the members of the Wheat Ridge Optimist to watch these kids get excited about being Americans.

(To go to the Liberty Day website, click here)

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Tri-Star Sports: The Optimist International Club sponsors this program for youth as a way to connect with communities across the country. We, here in Wheat Ridge, have chosen to use the basketball
venue because we are fortunate to have access to excellent counts. Kids from age 8 to age 13 are challenged to perform dribbling, shooting and passing and are judged on skill. There are first, second and thrid place awards that are presented to the best performers in each age group. When you have a chance to participate with this event, you can see that all of these kids are winners and we are proud to treat them as such.These are just some of the things we do with these fine children. We want to extend an invitation for you to come and join us. It's so fun and so satisfying for everyone! It goes without saying that these children are greatly benefited from these activities and have a really great time!