JCI LANCASTER– LANCASTER AREA JAYCEES
ts of 2007 Highligh
Volume 1, Issue 1 January 2008
Make a difference day 2007
Saturday, October 27, 2007 marked the National Day of Doing Good– National Make a Difference Day. This is a nationwide challenge to step up and volunteer in your community. Organizations nationwide choose projects or events to better their communities and “ make a difference.” JCI Lancaster– Lancaster Area Jaycees has been hosting an annual food drive for several years as part of Make a Difference Day. This year we hosted the event in front of Kroger on Memorial Drive. Despite the cold and wind, we had a great turnout in canned and boxed goods, exceeding our totals from last year, donating 501 food items and $80.00 in cash donation to our local ComLANCASTER CITY MAYOR VISITS OUR FEBRUARY 2007 BUSINESS MEETING On February 7, 2007, our local Mayor Dave Smith came to our business meeting to discuss things we could do as a chapter to get involved in the community. His suggestions were taken into consideration and will be utilized in 2008. He was motivating and inspired the chapter to get involved in the community! It was an honor to have our mayor join us and we look forward to projects he suggested we participate in.
Inside this issue:
Job Fair and Teen Expo Adopt-a-Family Dog Shelter Supply Lancaster Festival Days Special Olympics Summer Tours Charter Night 2 2 2 3 3 3 4
munity Action Agency in Lancaster. We offered a kids fun zone as part of the event and WLRY 88.9FM broadcasted live at the event. The Lancaster Eagle Gazette came out to the event and interviewed members who were present. Hopefully you all got a chance to check out the article and pictures in the paper! Mark your calendars next year to participate in this rewarding event!
• Don’t forget! Mark your calendars for Jan 26th for our 4th Annual Charter Night at the Lancaster Inn. RSVP by Jan 15th • Show your Love– Dog Shelter Supply Drive will be held on Feb 9th– donate items and show some love • We’re on MYSPACE– come check out our page: www.myspace.com/ jcilancaster—add us as a friend!
V i s i t f ro m i n t e r n at i o n a l v i c e p r e s i d e n t, Wo l f g a n g W i n k l e r
It all started with a text message and 2 days to prepare. We had a visitor coming to town! Wolfgang Winkler, Junior Chamber International Vice President was visiting the state of Ohio and was stopping by Lancaster. With the help of Kevin Combs, Community and Individual VP 2007, we had an agenda for his day visit. Radio and TV visits, meeting the Mayor and City Council members, the Dean of Ohio University– Lancaster, catching “Transformers” with Robin, checking out Best Buy, then ending the day with the Lancaster Festival and selling glow necklaces to the community– needless to say, it was a very hectic day! It was an honor and privilege to have him visit our chapter for the day! A memorable moment for us.
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HIGHLIGHTS OF 2007
Adopt-a-family
The smiles on their faces were priceless. You had to be there to experience the overwhelming feelings of gratitude as we dropped off gifts to our Adopt-aFamily recipients. We provided Christmas gifts and dinner to a single mother and her 15 year old stepdaughter that she cares for. We also provided gifts for a 9 year old girl, whose father is out of work and was living with relatives of Kimberly Valentine. Kimberly, Kevin, and Dustyn spent a snowy morning at Walmart on December 15th selecting items for our families, along with our Junior Jaycees– David and Lanette. It was quite an adventure! Needless to say! We spent the afternoon wrapping presents, thanks to Robin, who showed up with bags full of items to give to the recipients. We had a wonderful time putting everything together and appreciate all that was donated. The families were extremely thankful for giving them the Christmas they almost didn’t have. YOUR 2008 BOARD OF DIRECTORS Kevin R. Combs– President Robin Bethel– Chairperson of the Board Kimberly Valentine– Treasurer Dustyn Dancy– Secretary Lea Carrigan– State Director DON’T FORGET! January Business Meeting will be held this Wednesday, January 9th at 7pm– at Donato’s Pizza on 920 W.Fair Avenue OFFICERS MEETING January’s Officer Meeting will be held at Roosters at 6:30pm on Wednesday, January 30th!
J o b Fa i r a n d T e e n E x p o
In March 2007, members of the Lancasand the next Job Fair for potential ter Area Jaycees set up a booth at Ohio members to sign up. We will supplying University Lancaster as part of the Job new brochures and showing off recent Fair and Teen Expo hosted by Job and photos of events and projects we have Family Services. We did have some podone in the last year. Hope to see you tential members sign all in March! up on our informaLook for upcoming information about the tion sheet, but unfortunately they did not 2008 Job Fair in your February pan out for this year. newsletter! We look forward to the upcoming year LOTS TRAINING AND LEADERSHIP ACADEMY Kevin R.Combs attended the LOTS training on Saturday January 5th– for President Training– he is excited to serve you as 2008 President. He was also recognized at LOTS for being selected as one of seven representatives from Ohio that will be traveling to Tulsa Oklahoma for Leadership Academy. Kevin is looking forward to the trainings and networking with other Jaycees from across the nation.
D o g s h e lt e r s u p p ly d r i v e
On Saturday December 15th, we took supplies to the Fairfield County Humane Society that were donated from community members. We set up two collection sites for donations, thanks to Alicia La Follette, at Ultimate Look I and II salons. We had a great turnout in donations and the Humane Society was extremely grateful. We will be sponsoring another dog shelter supply drive on February 9, 2008 at the Fairfield County Dog Shelter, next to the Humane Society, where community members can drop off items for donations. We should also have location sites, like Ultimate Look, for people to drop off at also. The shelter is always looking for blankets, towels, bleach, food, bowls, or monetary donations. Mark your calendars and show your love this Valentine season!
VOLUME 1, ISSUE 1
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Lancaster festival
This years Lancaster Festival was held the week of July 19-28. We worked three nights at the festival selling glow necklaces. One of the nights we were assisted by International Vice President Wolfgang Winkler. Our sales totaled over $300 with the help of members of our chapter, chapter visitors Joe Callison, Kristi Chilcote, and Carrie Montgomery, along with Wolfgang. We also spent a Saturday of the festival working the Festival Fair Day for children. Kevin and Kimberly managed the Bounce House most of the day, with other members– while Dustyn helped with the Flower Pounding Station. We enjoyed watching Eleanor Hood, a director of the Festival, run around on her golf cart, we kept calling her “Hot Rod”. It was a fun day for the children and we were glad to be a part of it. Lancaster Festival ended with a bang, Jo Dee Messina, country artist singing her hit songs– Kevin and Dustyn attended the concert and ended the week with some good tunes. We look forward to this years upcoming festival and hope it won’t rain again!!
S p e c i a l O ly m p i c s 2 0 0 7
In May 2007, we participated in the Special Olympics held in Amanda, OH at Amanda Clearcreek High School. Despite the heat, members Kimberly Valentine, Kevin Combs, Dustyn Dancy, and Robin Bethel came out to help manage the softball throw section of the Olympics. Along with those memsmiling faces and help those with special needs in such a glorious event. It is a rewarding experience. Mark your calendars this year and if you make it to any event, make it Special Olympics!
“Special Olympics would not exist today– and could not have been created-without the time, energy, and commitment, and enthusiasm of its volunteers.”– www.specialolympics.org
bers, we had a few potential members join in the fun. It was great to see the
Wat e r p l a n t a n d o h i o s tat e h o u s e to u r s
In June and July of 2007, we decided to explore our local community and reach out to state level by taking tours of the Division of Water located in Lancaster and the Ohio Statehouse located in downtown Columbus. Both tours were big turnouts, attracting nearly 10 members to both tours. The tours were informative and gave us insight into the community and state in which we live in.
JCI LANCASTER– LANCASTER AREA JAYCEES
P.O. Box 973 Lancaster, OH 43130
Dustyn Dancy– Secretary and Newsletter Editor E-mail: jcilancaster@hotmail.com
The Jaycee Creed
We Believe: That faith in God gives meaning and purpose to human life; That the brotherhood of man transcends the sovereignty of nations; That economic justice can best be won by free men through free enterprise; That government should be of laws rather than of men; That earth’s great treasure lies in human personality; And that service to humanity is the best work of life. -Authored by C. William Brownfield
Taking Care of Business in 2008!
TCB
Check us out on the web: www.lancasterareajaycees.org and myspace.com/jcilancaster
We are part of the Chamber of Commerce now!! In December 2007, we became a member of the Commerce– Chamber of Commerce– you can find our events listed on their home page! This is a step in the right direction, involving our local community members with our chapter and events. Check it out!
4th annual Charter night 2008
JCI Lancaster-Lancaster Area Jaycees 4th Annual Charter Night will be held on Saturday, January 26, 2008 at the Lancaster Inn, located at 1858 N. Memorial Drive, in Lancaster. The event will be held from 6pm- midnight. The cost is $15.00 per person, which includes a buffet dinner, with dessert, soda, tea, or punch. Any additional beverages can be brought into the event. Attire is business casual. Please RSVP for this event by January 15th. After January 15th, the cost will be $20.oo. This year we are doing something a little different, along with swearing in our new officers, we will be honoring two local community members for their outstanding contributions to our community. This year, officers selected Carol Wagner from the Community Action Food Pantry and Diane Bresler of the Amanda Clearcreek School District for her contributions to the Annual Special Olympics held in Amanda, Ohio. These special members of our community will be presented with an appreciation plaque and dinner with us! We hope that you all mark this important event in your calendar and RSVP to reserve your spot. You can contact Kevin R. Combs at 740-205-2209 or Kimberly Valentine at 740-215-6835. Lets get the party started for 2008 and dance the night away!!