A service club with a long history in Humboldt and a focus on developing leadership skills for younger people is looking for new members.
Junior Chamber International, better known around town as the Jaycees, will be hosting a trivia night at the Bella Vista Dec. 13 as part of a recruitment effort.
“We work for the betterment of our community,” said Lee Gross, the president. “If you’re wanting to be part of Humboldt and be part of the community, it’s a good way to do that.”
The organization is only open to those between the ages of 18 and 40. While some of those that age out can remain involved, they can only in an advisory role.
Events the Jaycees are involved with include Christmas tree sales and a demolition derby.
“We haven’t had the manpower to do all of the things that we’ve wanted to this year, so as part of this trivia night we’re hoping we can boost the membership for next year so we have the manpower to be able to do a few more events,” Gross said.
Many prominent people in Humboldt have gotten their start in the Jaycees including Rob Muench, Humboldt’s mayor.
“The Jaycees were a very positive experience in my life,” he said, adding the club does good good community service work while at the same time training its members to host events and run meetings. “I don’t think I would have ran for city council without the encouragement and the knowledge I learned as a Jaycee.”
The former Jaycee president said what he learned during his time with the club remains useful to him to this day.
“With the very public outpouring for the Bronco tragedy and the amount of media attention that was directed on us, I felt it very beneficial to have a lot of the training the Jaycees provided their members in my years with them,” Muench said. “It really helped me to draw on that experience when things got hectic there after the accident.”
Gross said there’s other opportunities available to members of the Jaycees.
“JCI’s part of an international organization and it’s actually a great way to travel,” he said. We have many conferences and events going on throughout the world and you can go to national conventions, international conventions and JCI International – and JCI National as well – provide travel packages for people who are coming out to those conventions.”
The current president said he’s made a lot of connections with Jaycees in other chapters.
Humboldt is the only community in the province that has a JCI club. There are many more in BC and the eastern part of the country.
“I would encourage anybody that is in that 18 to 40 age group to get a hold of the Jaycees and become a member,” Muench said. “I know that certainly over the years there’s been a number of people in the community that have gone on to run very successful businesses and have gone into public life as well with the information and knowledge they’ve gain by being a Jaycee member.”
As for the trivia night, Gross said the two major subjects of the questions will be related to JCI or Humboldt.
“You don’t have to really know anything about either one to do well at the trivia.”
The trivia night will be held at the Bella Vista Inn Dec. 13 at 6 pm.
