Enthusiastic Jaycees win several awards
The McMinnville Jaycees returned with a bevy of awards from the second quarter Tennessee Jaycees conference held recently in Nashville.
“I’m very proud of our chapter,” said Jaycees president Harrison Woodlee. “It’s great to see so much enthusiasm out of our chapter and to have that enthusiasm recognized.”
The Jaycees, or Junior Chamber of Commerce, is a national organization for men and women between the ages of 21 and 39. Its purpose is to give young adults the opportunity to develop personal and leadership skills through service to others. Chartered in 1939, the Jaycees have always worked for the betterment of Warren County by conducting projects which benefit those less fortunate, as well as the community at large.
Awards won at the state conference by the local chapter include conducting the top community service project, the annual Jaycees’ Easter Egg Hunt. Other club awards include first place in the debate competition and first place in the shooting competition.
Jared Smith, president of the Tennessee Jaycees, presented Presidential Pens of Excellence to Woodlee and fellow local member Vanessa Hillis. Woodlee was honored for outstanding growth of the local chapter (currently at 83 members, with 21 new members this year), while Hillis was honored for her work with the Jason Foundation, a Jaycees teen suicide prevention program.
Woodlee was also honored as the Local Chapter President of the quarter.
He invites the public to support the Jaycees and their worthy endeavors next month by stopping frequenting their fair food booth, which will be serving, in addition to hamburgers and the like, dishes from Applebee’s.
Their fair booth is the chapter’s biggest fund-raiser of the year, he said, the proceeds of which go to fund such projects as providing a Christmas party – complete with gifts – for approximately 100 underprivileged children in Warren County. Money raised at the fair booth will also go toward helping Camp Discovery, a Gainsboro camp for mentally challenged and handicapped children, as well as funding the annual Shannon Moore Leadership scholarship.
Woodlee added anyone interested in becoming a member of the Jaycees can call him at 668-7136 for more information.