CHARLES WILES PRESIDENT-ELECT OF OPTIMISTS

Charles R. Wiles of Cape Girardeau has been elected president-elect of Optimist International, one of the world's largest service-club organizations.

Wiles will serve as president-elect of Optimist International for the year beginning Oct. 1. He will become president during the 1993-94 year.

As international president-elect, Wiles will be a member of the board of directors and will plan the international program for 1993-94.

A member of the Optimist Club of Cape Girardeau since 1973, Wiles has held a wide range of club, district and international offices. He is also a member of the Noon Optimist Club of Cape Girardeau.

In 1975, Wiles was named Optimist of the Year in the Optimist Club of Cape Girardeau. As club president in the 1978-79 year, he earned the Distinguished President's Award, reflecting his club's outstanding accomplishments in membership growth and community service.

He received the 50-member Recruiting Award in 1982, reflecting his personal dedication to membership growth.

Wiles served as governor of the Missouri District in the 1982-83 year and earned the Distinguished Governor's Award.

At the international level, Wiles was elected international vice president for 1987-88 and 1988-89 and served on the board of directors. He was chairman of the New Club Building Committee for two years, and also chaired the Leadership Development Committee. He has been a member of the Public Relations Committee and the Convention Committee. Currently, he is the chairman of the Membership and Attendance Committee.

A native of Jonesboro, Ark., Wiles is professor of marketing at Southeast Missouri State University. In 1976 he started MARCON Enterprises, an advertising agency and ad specialty firm that he sold in 1989.

Wiles is a member of the American Academy of Advertising, the American Marketing Association and the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce. He was a charter member of the Cape Girardeau Tourism Committee and helped plan the first Riverfest and was a charter member of the Southeast Missouri Museum Board.

He is a vice president of the Southeast Missouri Council of the Boy Scouts of America. He is the adviser to the Lamda Chi Alpha Fraternity and the Marketing Club at Southeast.

Wiles received the Go-Getter Award from the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce in 1978 and Membership Awards in 1979 and 1985.