Let’s Go Racing

September 25, 2023

This week we navigated our way through turn four and are heading for the conclusion of the Race to the Finish. Several clubs are continuing to add members in the final days of the Optimist year, with the goal of placing in the top three positions for most members added and percentage of membership growth since July first. The level of excitement is continuing to build, just as in any race … like this one in Dubai.

As the race to the finish nears its conclusion, Arlington Athletics of North Texas is leading the most-members-added category with 32. Mallard Creek of North Carolina West is now in second place, having added 20 members this quarter. And Lapel, Indiana, and Fredericksburg, Texas, are hanging on to third place, with 17 new members each.

It’s an impressive race so far for Jonesboro, in the Tennark District, which has increased its membership by 82 percent. The Dundalk Optimist Club, of Maryland-South Delaware, is holding down second place with a growth rate of 32 percent, followed by the Cambridge Southwest Optimist Club in Midwest Ontario at 31 percent. Las Vegas Northwest, of Pacific Southeast, and Minnesota Valley, of the Dakotas, Manitoba and Minnesota District, are close behind with 25 percent growth.

The top prize in the race is $1,000 for the Club adding the most members. The Club with the highest percentage of net membership growth during the period will also collect $1,000.

There will be cash prizes for second and third place in both categories. To qualify for the prizes, the racing rules require that all new members added during the race be paid members through the start of the 2023-2024 second quarter (January-March 2024). Any club not falling into the top three positions of each category will be placed in a random draw for one of two additional cash prizes.

Questions about the 4th Quarter Incentive program can be sent to membership@optimist.org.

Editors Note: Due to the end of the Optimist Year September 30^th, the final unofficial report on the Race to the Finish will be delayed a few days next week.