Dear Editor,
Haunted Hillner / Lockwood Optimist Club;
I’d like to give a “SHOUT OUT” to the Lockwood Optimist Club on “another” successful Haunted Hillner Halloween event this past Saturday. As a volunteer helper (I’m a member of the Heights Optimist Club), I again got to witness the tremendous effort and unselfishness by the Lockwood Optimist Club’s dedication to the Lockwood Community, the Lockwood School and particularly to the YOUTH of Lockwood.
The Lockwood Optimist Club was chartered in 2019. What this dedicated group of individuals, everyday people, have brought to Lockwood and to Billings, should not, and does not go unnoticed. The Lockwood Optimist Club, is one club of the 45 clubs in the AMS&NW District (Alberta, Montana, Saskatchewan, and Northern Wyoming District), and in five short years has become a well-recognized club throughout the District.
The games, the very, VERY, popular barrel train, (which is used regularly around Billings), the Haunted Scare Booth, the popcorn, the ice cream, the FREE Hot Dogs, Chips and Water, much donated by community sponsors, much purchased by the Club, all make for a great event.
Two other points I’d like to bring up. The event itself is an opportunity for the families and their children to take part in. The smiles, the costumes, the thank you’s I personally heard from the parents “and” the children for the event, for the food, for the effort of the Lockwood Optimists are too numerous to highlight individually.
Secondly, I’d like to make a long-term point into the future. I remember as a boy, growing up in a small town in southeast Montana, ISMAY, (I still call home), I distinctly remember the community family events with my parents and still long-time friends. My point: These kids, be it brothers/sisters or just best buds, in 50 years will still have fond memories of Haunted Hilner, riding in the barrel train, or simply remember their mother and dad taking them there and what fun they had as a family.
Those still reading till the end, if you live in Lockwood, if you want to get involved in something MEANINGFUL and FULFILLING, please consider becoming a member. They meet regularly every Wednesday morning at 6:45 a.m., at the Yellowstone Coffee and Canvas, for one hour in order to have time you need to get to work. Do yourself a favor. Just check it out to make an informed decision for yourself and for your community!
Again, KUDOS, to the Lockwood Optimist Club!!
Edward O. Hoem
Billings, MT
