We are thrilled to provide FREE ACTIVITIES for the families of our community during Petrolia’s Canada Day festivities. We sponsor the Fishing Derby, Games for the kids, FREE draws, Plinko Game, Storybook Reading Fair and Rubber Duck Race. Our food booth is opened for breakfast, lunch & supper. Everyone is invited to come out and enjoy the day!

Every year we financially support this program that assists needy families in our community, to make sure they have a wonderful Christmas Season.

After the Christmas Parade on the first Saturday of December all children who wish to sit on Santa’s knee are invited back to the Petrolia YMCA to visit with him. We not only make Santa available to visit with the children but we give out goodie bags, cookies and a free photo of the child on Santa’s knee. The YMCA staff provide a craft area for the children to enjoy as well. Petrolia Camera Club does a wonderful job capturing the smiles of children of all ages.

What a wonderful way to celebrate the upcoming Christmas season with our community by creating a spectacular float to go along with the Town’s parade theme and/or walking the parade route handing out large candy canes to all the children waiting to get a peek at Santa.

This event brings alot of fun to the festivities at the Tree Lighting Ceremony in Victoria Park, the first weekend in December. Along with many other service clubs/organizations, we playfully compete for the privilege of winning the Chili Pot Trophy or the Silver Spoon Award. We have elves to cook our Award Winning Chili’s Secret Recipe. It is a wonderful evening and it is a pleasure to be a part of it.

Our Weekly Meat Raffles are held at Crabby Joe’s, Petrolia every Thursday Night at 6pm with 6 Draws.

Choice of: 1 of 3 – $30 Meat Packages OR 1 of 3 – $30 Gift Cards
Meat Packages & Gift Cards, supplied by Wyoming Foodland
1st Ticket drawn: Choice of Meat Package or Gift Card
2nd Ticket drawn: $5 Crabby Joe Gift Card

Tickets are $1 each per draw.

Periodically through the year we have special meat raffles for specific programs we do or support.

Thank you for supporting our club and all that we do!

We have adopted Kerr Park which is located on Petrolia Line in the east end of town. You are invited to sit on the park bench and enjoy our flower beds or watch a baseball game or bring your children or grandchildren to play on the playground equipment.

This Run is held in September, on the 2nd Sunday after Labour Day, starting and ending at the Petrolia Lion’s Pavilion. We continually support this wonderful cause by providing FREE hot dogs and beverages to all the participants. Mark this on your calendar and come out and show your support.

If you are looking for a bite to eat, just look for our Optimist Food Booth Trailer. We are busy throughout the year providing food for various events in our community…. Petrolia Fair Tractor Pull, Family Day, Petrolia Canada Day Festivities, Petrolia Barn Dance, and many more! GREAT FOOD, GREAT PRICES, GREAT FUN! If you have an event coming up and looking for someone to provide some delicious food, please contact Optimist Bruce Cox by calling 519-882-1408 or emailing thecoxfamilysix@brktel.on.ca. Funds raised support our club and all that we do!

We financially support various sports groups in our area, so various items can be purchased including team shirts, equipment etc. If you have a request, please send a letter to our club with details!

Designed to help children and adolescents who are patients in Children’s Hospital, London Health Sciences Centre. Each child receives a “starter necklace” which includes a string and beads to spell their name and they continue to collect beads to acknowledge the many challenges and experiences they face over the course of their treatment. Our District (Southwestern Ontario), is the sole supporter of this special program, contributing over $25,000.00 per year. To help fund this program our club seeks the help of members and local schools to create these unique bracelets to be sold and money raised is donated to this wonderful program.

Every year the Town offers our Optimist group the opportunity to run 50/50 draws at the Farmers Market on Saturday mornings (May to October) located behind the library. This fundraiser helps fund youth projects in our community.

This annual fund raiser takes place from January until the middle of April. We sell tickets for $2.00 each or 3 for $5.00 and with the winners drawn by lot. The prizes include both a $200.00 and $100.00 gift certificate for the 3rd and 4th place finishers respectively and a 3 minute “Run” around Heidi’s Y.I.G. store with the objective of collecting up to $300.00 worth of groceries for the 2nd prize winner. The first prize winner has a 5 minute “Run” with the goal of collecting up to $1000.00 worth of groceries.

This Run is an annual event open to all elementary schools in Lambton and Kent Counties.  It usually happens in the first week in October at the Petrolia Discovery site.  We have had on average 15 schools attend with well over 350 runners participating

Our Spring Craft & Gift Show is held the Saturday of the Mother’s Day Weekend at the Greenwood Arena Petrolia from 9am – 4pm
Our Fall Craft & Gift Show is held the first Saturday of November at New Life Assembly Church, Petrolia from 9am – 4pm
For more information contact – Deb Kohoutek at d_kohoutek@hotmail.com or 519-882-2918

Various members of our Club use their talents to create beautiful garden art out of barn board and wood. Items can be custom built for you and make great gifts for special occasions or holidays . We also use these items to donate to other service clubs/organizations for door prizes or raffle prizes so money can be raised for our community. If you know of a barn that is being torn down or have some extra wood that you are getting rid of, please contact Ted Gravelle 519-882-1255

Our Lambton Central Petrolia Optimist Angel tree is a Memorial Angel Tree. Each year for a minimum donation of $5.00 is given to have the name of your loved one put on an angel and hung on our tree for the holiday season. We have a tree lighting ceremony at Christmas in the Park in Petrolia, at that ceremony the names on all the angels are read out. After that night the tree in moved to Magermans and Rae Insurance for the holiday season and taken down after Christmas. The proceeds from this event are donated to two recipients. Recent recipients: Petrolia Food Bank, Family Movies In Victoria Hall, Make a Wish and the Optimist Pediatric Pillowcase Program.

This annual event takes place during the Petrolia & Enniskillen Agricultural Fall Fair in September. We canvass the local merchants, family and friends for possible gifts to be used to put together as prizes. During the Fair we have these prizes arranged in the Arena for the general public to come by and by tickets. For $2.00 they receive 8 tickets which that person then puts in a can representing the prize or prizes they hope to win. At the end of the weekend we pull one ticket from each can and that person is then contacted to receive their prize.

Each year we receive letters requesting financial assistance from local schools to purchase equipment, items or assist with field trip expenses.

After making a pillowcase for a friend’s granddaughter who was in the hospital, Optimist Pam Core wanted to provide comfort to all children. She brought her idea to her Optimist Club and they fully supported her vision. The Pediatric Unit at Bluewater Health, Sarnia warmly welcomed the idea and together we have been able to make a vision a reality. Upon admission to the hospital, each child chooses a pillowcases to use during their stay and take home with them when they are discharged. Each pillowcase has a tag that reads: “donated by the Optimist Clubs of Lambton County and sewn by volunteers” Since April 2013,thousands of pillowcases have been given to children in the hospital. To keep up with the needed supply, we continue to look for sewing volunteers and monetary donations to purchase the special material required to make these pillowcases. This wonderful program is currently being sponsored by the Optimist Clubs of Alvinston, Brigden, Bright’s Grove, Lambton Central-Petrolia, Moore, Oil Springs, Point Edward. If you would like to make a monetary donation or become one of our sewing volunteers, please contact:
Pamela Core
4485 North St
Petrolia, ON, N0N 1R0
pam_core@hotmail.com
519-882-0253
All contributions are greatly appreciated.