Peoria Jaycees: 1990's - Page 2
In 1997, the Peoria Jaycees changed their Adopt A
School from Blaine-Sumner to Calvin Coolidge.
In April of that year, the Peoria Jaycees along with Community Now!, a community
service volunteer organization of Caterpillar employees, sponsored a Peoria
mayoral debate between Dave Ransburg and Lowell “Bud” Grieves. The event was
broadcasted by WEEK-TV.
In August, the Jaycees entered the Arthritis Foundation Mini-Grand Prix. That
first year saw a poor turn out of the Jaycees Racing team, including a mishap
that saw a Jaycee racer involved in an accident with race announcer Laurie
Adams. Eric Gengler, the driver of the kart, careened into a hay bail, which
sent Adams cart-wheeling into the air. Fortunately, Adams was not seriously
hurt. The following year, the Jaycees participated in the event again, this time
bringing home first place hardware. However, to this day, jokes are still made
regarding the Jaycees rookie year at the race.
In 1998, the U.S. Jaycees voted to change the Jaycee fiscal year to the calendar
year. While this was an unpopular decision in the Peoria chapter, it was decided
to change the chapter's fiscal year to the calendar year so that it could stay
in sync with the national organization. Consequently, the executive board
officers only served seven months from June to December 1998.
In April of 1999, the Building Fund hit a milestone by reaching a market value
of over $100,000. With the Building Fund increasing in value, the Peoria Jaycees
moved to delegate a 4-person committee to manage the building fund. In May of
1999, the chapter approved the first such committee, appointing Mike Buckley,
Dennis Owens, Rick Owens and Steve West.
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