I recently attended our monthly Jaycees (Junior Chamber of Commerce) meeting. In the meeting we were electing new board members. I was nominated for the Membership Development Vice President position and accepted. Shortly there after it was voted on and I did get the position. My official first board meeting in my new title and responsibilities will be in the middle of January 2007.
The Jaycees is a great opportunity for young people, between the ages of 18 and 40, to build the bridges of success for themselves in the areas of business development, management skills, individual training, community service, and international connections. We focus on helping the local community by participating in or running projects, festivals, and events. This year, our chapter nominated a local school teacher for the Ten Outstanding Young American’s (TOYA) award. Deb Perryman won at the regional, state, and national levels, and was named as one of the Ten Outstanding Young Americans for 2006. Deb Perryman, is a Science Teacher at one of the local High Schools (EHS) and created the EHS Nature Trail and Outdoor Classroom to provide her students with multi-sensory labs utilizing 30 acres of campus open space for hands-on science training; she founded the Poplar Creek Watershed Planning Committee and as a citizen scientist has collected data, written reports, lobbied legislature, raised funds, and served on committees of several environmental efforts as well as being 2004-05 Illinois Teacher of the Year.
My experience in the Jaycees started in the early 90’s in Pittsburg, CA. It was a charter chapter with 25 members. I was the Community Development Vice President (CDVP) for the Pittsburg Jaycees. We hosted many events and helped with others. One of my favorite events was the Annual Seafood Festival. Hundreds of thousands of people would come to town for the event. It was our job to “police” the pit area for the offshore boat races. The following year we also handled the VIP shuttle service for all of the celebrities coming in and out of the pits and festival with four vans running back and forth. We were able to meet Mr. Arneson “The fastest man in offshore boat racing”, “Jon” from the TV show “CHiPs”, the Budweiser Girls and more.
The money we raised by working or hosting events went to help charities throughout the town. After about six months as CDVP, I was nominated to be President of the chapter, which I held for one and a half terms.
I would highly recommend anyone who is between the ages of 18 to 40, to join your local chapter of the Jaycees. Even though I travel a lot and cannot make it to every meeting or function, I still do what I can when I can. There are many great things my local chapter is doing, and I’m sure yours is too. So why not seek them out and see if you can help?
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