MONROE - The Monroe Morning Optimists Club may be most renowned for the cheese curds it sells at Cheese Days and the Green County Fair, but the community service organization has also been a longtime leader in offering programs to area children.

The group spearheaded the Youth in Flight Young Eagles event at the Monroe Municipal Airport held in September. They also offer a TriStar skills basketball event, a bicycle rodeo every spring and a fishing clinic in Monticello each summer.

Patrick Bodell, an advisor and board member on the Monroe Morning Optimists Club who formerly served as president, said the organization has given $60,000 to the community this year.

"All of the money from the cheese curds sale from Cheese Days and the Green County Fair goes directly toward youth activities and programs," Bodell said.

Some community members may not know, but there are two Optimists clubs - the Morning Optimists Club that meets at 6:30 a.m. every Thursday at the diner at Pleasant View and the Noon Optimists Club that meets at noon Tuesdays at the Swiss Alps Restaurant.

"It's two separate clubs, but we work really close together on a lot of activities," Bodell said. "We do a lot to help each other out. The reason a Noon Optimists Club was started in the 1990s was because some people couldn't make the morning meetings."

A job at Synqronus Communications brought Bodell to Monroe. A business contact helped him get involved with the club and he's now served on the board for eight years.

"I probably wouldn't be in a service club if I wasn't asked by someone," he said. "That is how people join service clubs. A friend takes them by the hand to a meeting. That is why we have really great service organizations in Monroe and Green County - because of people who do that."

There were more than 100 children who participated in the Youth in Flight Young Eagles event at the Monroe Airport. The event gave children a chance to have a glimpse of what it's like to be a pilot.

"This really is a big deal to get kids interested in aviation," Bodell said. "They can see what it's like to be a pilot."

There were 100 children that participated in the TriStar basketball skills event. In conjunction with the Green County YMCA, the Morning Optimists Club hosts a Healthy Kids Day and a bicycle rodeo each spring where a bicycle technician checks the pressure in the tires, reviews safety features like wearing a helmet and explains road signals. There were 10 new bicycles given away during this year's event.

The Morning Optimists Club also offers skating parties for third through fifth grade students from Monroe, Black Hawk and Juda in February at the Roller Den in Monroe and sponsors an oratorical essay contest.

The organization gives donations at the request of children for certain projects and youth events.

"We like to impact as many kids as possible," said Cindy McKeown, president of the Morning Optimists Club. "The money always goes towards the kids."

Looking ahead to next year, McKeown has some ideas about future programs. She and other Morning Optimists board members are working in committees to form plans for additional events.

McKeown said the Morning Optimists hope to partner with other service organizations to do even more work. She is keeping communication lines open with the Noon Optimists club.

"We are building that bridge between the two groups," she said. "For a while, I'm not sure if we were working together as close as they wanted. We are trying to work together more."

The next big event is preparing for Cheese Days. McKeown said the Morning Optimists club makes $40,000 to $70,000 a year selling cheese curds at the fair and Cheese Days.

"We have built some reserves in case we have a Cheese Days that is not as banner," McKeown said.

McKeown said she gets satisfaction from helping out children in the community.

"It's good to be there for the kids," she said. "When kids come back and tell us what the donation meant to them and tell us about the experience, that is what it's all about."