Waterloo Optimist Club - Waterloo, IL

03/26/2026

Tickets are now on sale for Beer B Que on Saturday, June 6th! You can do online tickets, OR you can visit Stubborn German Brewing at 119 South Main Street in Waterloo for paper tickets. Paper tickets are cash only, and there are no service fees!

$35 Combination Homebrew & BBQ tasting (price goes to $45 on June 1)

$20 Designated Driver option (no beer), (price goes to $25 on June 1)

$10 Junior Pitmaster: Children 6-12 BBQ only tasting (price goes to $12.50 on June 1) (under 6, no ticket needed)

The Waterloo Optimist Club and The Ferm Homebrew Club are teaming up to host the 7th annual Beer-B-Que Competition!!

03/15/2026

The raffle and meat shoot are still scheduled for today. If the weather gets rough for shooting, we have plenty of prizes to win inside. I’m ready for a great day and hope you are too! See you down at Fountain Inn.

02/19/2026

WATERLOO OPTIMIST CLUB SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATIONS ARE OPEN!
Please click these links for more details. Forms need to be printed and turned into your High School Counselor's Office no later than Friday, April 10, 2026, at 3:00 PM.
Academic:
https://form.jotform.com/260255426590154
Vocational:
https://form.jotform.com/260254637924158
PLEASE SHARE!

01/29/2026

WATERLOO OPTIMIST CLUB SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATIONS ARE OPEN! We're proud to hand out several scholarships again this year for academic and vocational students.

This scholarship is open to students of Waterloo High School, Gibault High School, and homeschool students residing in the Waterloo School District only.

Please click these links for more details. Forms need to be printed and turned into your High School Counselor's Office no later than Friday, April 10, 2026, at 3:00 PM.

Academic:
https://form.jotform.com/260255426590154

Vocational:
https://form.jotform.com/260254637924158

PLEASE SHARE!

01/16/2026

Save the Date!
Saturday, June 6: Beer B Que
Sunday, June 7: Car Show

We're shaking things up a bit for 2026! We've hosted Beer B Que the day before Mother's Day for years, and while we've had some great weather, we've also had some (very) rainy weather. While we can't control the weather, we are going to try to change our weekend to hopefully get away from the 'rainy' season. We're moving the Beer B Que to the first Saturday in June AND we're going to have our annual Car Show the next day, on Sunday!

You can spend your entire weekend in downtown Waterloo June 6-7. We are looking forward to these events, and hope you are, too!

12/16/2025

THANK YOU for your support in 2025! We are all sold out of Christmas Trees. We hope you enjoy them and they make your Christmas bright!

12/05/2025

We have lots of great trees left! We're open this weekend, or if the hut is unmanned, you can grab a tree and leave payment in the paybox. Thank you for your support!

12/04/2025

We love when we're included in holiday traditions! This family comes EVERY year to buy their trees from us - we really appreciate their support!

We're located at Ella K’s Bridal at 725 North Market Street, Waterloo, IL.

Hours:
Sat: 9am-7pm
Sun: 9am-6pm
Monday-Friday: 6-8pm

If you want to pick a tree up outside of those hours, grab your favorite and please put money in the drop box at the hut. We can deliver trees as time allows when the Optimists are at the lot. If we are on the lot, we will also help you net/bag and load your tree! The lot will be open until we are sold out of trees.

11/24/2025

The Christmas Tree Lot will open on Saturday (11/29)! We're located at Ella K’s Bridal at 725 North Market Street, Waterloo, IL.

Hours:
Sat: 9am-7pm (Except on 11/29, the hours are 10am-7pm)
Sun: 9am-6pm
Monday-Friday: 6-8pm

If you want to pick a tree up outside of those hours, grab your favorite and please put money in the drop box at the hut. We can deliver trees as time allows when the Optimists are at the lot. If we are on the lot, we will also help you net/bag and load your tree! The lot will be open until we are sold out of trees.

Thank you for your continued support! All proceeds go to benefiting local youth. This is a great fundraiser for our Club and we love seeing the same people come back every year for their tree, and meeting new faces, too!

10/19/2025

Today is a great day to sign up for our 5K Competeitive Run and Fun Walk!! Follow the QR code to sign up online!

10/16/2025

The Waterloo Optimist Club invites you to join us for the 22nd Annual Optimist Hallowrun 5K Competitive Run & Fun Walk!

📅 Date: Saturday, November 1, 2025

⏰ Start Time: 8:00 AM (Race Day Registration 6:45–7:30 AM)

📍 Location: Rogers Elementary, 200 N Rogers St, Waterloo, IL

Registration is $25 if postmarked by October 15 ($30 after). All entries received by October 15 will get a guaranteed race T-shirt.

🏆 Awards for 1st, 2nd, 3rd place in each age group + overall male and female winners.

🎉 Attendance prizes & fun for the whole family!

💙 Best of all — Entry fees will be donated back to you or your child's sport & school of choice (see registration form for participating schools).

👉 Register Online Here: https://waterloooptimist5krunwalk.itsyourrace.com/register/

We hope you’ll come out, have fun, and support our community youth programs.

See you at the starting line!