April events

Sharing the vision in April

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 22:04:15 -0500

Ralston Jaycees, we have had an amazing month in April!

In the Business area, we had a Business After Hours event at Papio Fun Park, which allowed us to learn about that local business and do some networking with the Chamber. We are having a Business Tour of "Sign-It", a sign making company located on 84th & L Street. Finally, we ran another MAC fundraiser, exceeding our normal income for those projects!

Within the International area, we had a visit from Masae Okada, from Japan, who with Jennie Hovey made us a great meal of Nabe soup and ice cream with sweet bean curd on top (it's much better than it sounds!). We also had our 1st Quarter Convention in Hastings, in which Michaela Greisen won 1st place in Jaycee Idol! I won first place in Masters Speak-Up, Missy Gilbert won second and Teresa Hoffman won third in Write Up. The chapter is currently third in the Parade of Chapters program, which is especially competitive this year.

We accomplished a lot in the area of Community in particular this month. We helped a former Ralston school teacher named Kelly Hogan by attending a benefit to raise funds for her. We participated in the MS Walk, providing both walkers and donations. We had several members attend the Chamber Luncheon where Mayor Groesser gave his State of the City report. We had a great SURE Clean Up- a lot of people's trash was found to be treasures, including several antique sewing machines, working computers, bikes, and televisions.

Also in the area of Community, we helped the La Vista police department conduct training exercises which simulated an active shooter emergency. This type of emergency preparedness training falls under the Citizen Corps Program that the U.S. Jaycees recommends we get involved in.

Finally, we had excellent attendance at our AMM/JAMM social at the Penthouse Lounge and our FAC at the Varsity in April. We also got a chance to see HUGE kites being flown in La Vista for the Kite Flying Event (I hope next year we can do this in our very own Ralston, and take a larger part in it!).

All in all, we're doing great as a chapter. We realize that everyone can't make it to everything, but we try to offer enough for folks to make it to what they can and have some fun!

Chad Sherrets
JCI Ralston President
2008: Share The Vision

Sharing the vision in February

Wed, 5 Mar 2008 07:59:57 -0600

February has come and gone, and it was a great month to be a member of JCI Ralston.

We had a few opportunities to help others this past month. We sent members to help the Lincoln Jaycees with their annual Casino Night fundraiser. We worked with the Ralston Lions Club to help them raise funds at their Chili Feed. Our Super Shooters was a big hit, where we hosted nearly 50 kids from the community for this youth competition.

We also had members helping our own chapter in February. This included selling concessions at the Martina McBride concert, as a fundraiser for our operating expense fund. We had our first Long Range Planning Committee meeting in a long time; this is a group of members who are looking at the future of the chapter, identifying potential problems and finding solutions.

We also expanded our horizons by participating in the 2nd annual Ralston Idol contest. Our Board of Directors attended a region LOTS training in Fremont to help them get on track for a great year. Finally, we attended the Fish Fry at St. Gerald's church, which was a great family-oriented project that let a lot of us catch up with each other.

March is shaping up to be a very active month already! Keep an eye on the website to find out what's going on and join in the fun!

Chad Sherrets
JCI Ralston President
2008: Share the Vision

Sharing the vision in January

Fri, 1 Feb 2008 09:56:18 -0600

January just wrapped up here in Checker Land, and what a month it’s been!

My trip to the Leadership Summit in Tulsa was amazing. I had the opportunity to learn from leaders all over the United States and North America. We shared ideas and networked (which is just a fancy word for making new friends, heh).

While I was in Tulsa, the chapter was busy at the Nebraska Jaycee convention in Grand Island. We won 3rd place in the Parade of Chapters! This is a huge accomplishment as we were ranked 6th previously. A big congrats goes out to Missy, the Board, and the members for working hard to get that.

We had our End of Year Banquet to give our thanks to the 2007 officers and welcome in the 2008 board. We reflected on a great year where we learned a lot and had a blast.

We had a successful CPG work project (any project where CPGs are completed is a success!) and a financial investment training to learn how to prepare for the future. Additionally, we had a visitation to the Omaha Jaycees FAC as well as their TOYO Banquet.

Did I mention we have our new website yet? ;)