Great news, Ames Jaycees. You can finally watch commercials again. The political ads are done.

But — our elections aren’t quite done.
This Saturday, you’ll be asked to vote for the 2009 Board of Directors for our chapter.
Inside this newsletter, you’ll find job descriptions for all of the positions available. I strongly encourage you to read them and consider running for office. If you really want to know what it’s all about and what time factors and responsibilities come with the positions, we have plenty of members who have served in these positions that can help give you a true understanding of the job. Please ask me if you have questions about being on a board!

Social hours begins at 5:30 p.m. The election will begin promptly at 6 p.m. You must be there on time — or early! — to part of this important process.

Because timing doesn’t always work out, The Iowa Jaycees’ annual Local Officer Training (which is for 2009 officers, directors and all general members) will be held Saturday, Nov. 8, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Again, you are strongly encouraged to attend. There’s great training for those interested to serving the Ames Jaycees next year — and there’s awesome general member training.

Beyond elections, we must finish this year strong. With that comes a challenge from our 2008 Iowa Jaycees President Mark ‘Goob’ Lowry. It will not be an easy challenge to achieve — but I have faith and confidence that as a chapter we will strive to aim high and achieve these goals.

As of today, the Ames Jaycees have 75 members. When Ames accomplishes the following, the Iowa Jaycees will provide the beverages and munchies for party just for you at All-State to celebrate 2008!

1) End the year with a minimum of 100 members

2) Advance members at least 20 Degree movements.

3) Have at least 8 members attend the Local Officer Training School in Ames on Nov. 8.

4) Make a minimum 2 visitations to other chapters between now and Dec. 15.

5) Have at least 10 members, including two First Timers, attend the Year End All State Convention in Marshalltown, Jan. 31. With your successes, all of you will want to be there to see what Year End awards Ames may receive!!
6) Complete your chapter’s 4th Quarter Evaluation and submit your 2009 Offi cer Roster by Dec. 15.

We can meet these goals and uphold the standings we have on the state and national level.

We have some great projects coming up and I hope to see you all there.

Proud to be
an Ames Jaycee,

From Your Secretary

Degrees of Jaycees? What’s that? Well, I am glad you asked! The Jaycee degree program is an activation tool for our Ames chapter and you, the members. It’s a way to monitor progress and produce well-rounded members. All you need to do to participate in this is go about your Jaycee life. The chapter records attendance at events and participation in the degrees are tracked from that. There are 10 degrees and 3 phases to these degrees. The 3 phases are: Involvement, Experience, and Leadership.

Involvement: This includes degrees 1-3, and helps newer members participate in orientation and community awareness.

Experience: Degrees 4-6 build experience by assisting other members activate and creating a stronger chapter by recruiting new members.

Leadership: Degrees 7-10 require the member to use their experience to help train and lead within the chapter.

Each even numbered degree has a requirement to recruit a new member.
There is another degree program out there that is meant to help activate and bounce those newer members to get involved in the Jaycees; it’s called Springboard! All new members are automatically enrolled into this program. It has a number of requirements that can help new members move 3 degrees within 1 year.

The next newsletter article will show where people are in the program, and recognizing those outstanding members who earned 10th degree! If you have any questions about any requirements, what your degree status is, or what you need to do to move degrees, feel free to contact me at sec@amesjaycees.com.

From Your Membership Director

Crush Party

The Ames Jaycees hosted a very successful Crush Party on Sept. 16. The party was located at Olde Main Brewing Company.

A crush party is a tool for Jaycees chapters to invite prospective member from within our community. It is an evening of socializing and learning. This meeting allowed new people the chance to meet Ames Jaycees. We are able to share our experiences and explain what the Ames Jaycees are doing to better our community.

We sent out 56 invitations to people in the Ames community. There were six prospective members who came out to visit with us. I was also glad that so many Ames Jaycees members came out and shared their experiences as a Jaycee.

At the end of the night, after great food, conversation and door prizes, we signed 4 new members. So please welcome to the Ames Jaycees family, Andrew & Emily Heaton, Maria Salas, and Robert Beyer. Thanks again to everyone who helped make this Crush Party a great success.

It’s been an amazing eight months for the Ames Jaycees. We’ve had alot of successes and we have a lot to be proud of. And in a few weeks, we’ll find out the final numbers from Ames on the Half Shell. If you gave your time to Ames on the Half Shell this year, you’re invited to a appreciation party — to be held Sept. 12 at the Quality Inn and Suites. Shannon will be sending out more information soon, but plan to be there Friday night. From what I hear from Shannon, it’s going to be a good time.

Yes, Ames Jaycees. We really are No. 1!!! I’d like to give a huge thanks to Shannon Bardole, who stepped up at the last minute to chair Ames on the Half Shell. She’s done an amazing job and has a great night planned for an appreciation party. I hope to see you all there. Thanks for everything, Shannon!

As we wrap up our summer, it’s time to look to our fall and winter projects. We have Run, Punt, Pass, September food drive, Crush Party, new member orientation, Holiday Food Baskets, Holiday Tour of Lights and a potential poker tournament. It’s time now to step up to be part of these committees — as most of the project chairs have been identified. These are some of the community service projects that the Ames Jaycees are most known for. Did you know this is our 77th year running Holiday Food Baskets? With the planning that went into last year’s project, this year is set up to be even a greater success.

On top of these projects, we’ll be holding our meetings on the first and third Thursdays of each month, and we’ll be scheduling Friday After Work socials on the Fridays of off meeting weeks. The last meeting had an awesome turnout. It was great to see you all there! I encourage you to submit meeting topic ideas to Charby — whether its special guests and speakers or other ideas for individual development. We’re here to plan meetings that you’re interested in. Please feel free to share your thoughts with Charby and I.

It’s important to start looking ahead — beginning to consider what your level of commitment will be next year to the Ames Jaycees. Nominations will be opening soon for elections to the board of directors. If you know now that you don’t have time for that commitment, consider holding a director position. Directors are not required to attend board meetings, but are essential members of the Ames Jaycees leadership. We’ll also be organizing the 2009 Ames on the Half Shell leadership soon. Remember — it’s so much easier if you plan sooner rather than later!
I truly believe that service to humanity is the best work of life. And this year has helped me to be a better leader. I know I have a lot to learn, but I thank each of you for the opportunity to lead this chapter.

I’d like to encourage each of you to attend October’s Iowa Jaycees convention. It’s Oct. 3 and 4 in Des Moines (it’s nice and close!). All State conventions offer a great opportunity to meet Jaycees from around the state and learn from top trainers. You’ll find more information about this on page three. Take advantage of what the Iowa Jaycees has to offer and join us in Des Moines.

The October convention will also highlight the 2008 Outstanding Young Iowans and we will vote for our 2009 officers of the Iowa Jaycees. Fall convention is always my favorite — and those who attended last year will back me up. Right, Ben?

Proud to be an Ames Jaycee,

Ames Jaycees It’s time to celebrate!

Half Shell is done! 10 weeks,and only a little rain. A pretty successful season, I must say! Want to know how successful?

Come to the Ames on the Half Shell Appreciation Party for the announcement of the total that the project raised this year.

The party will be held on Friday, Sept. 12 at the Quality Inn & Suites in place of the FAW.

We have our own hospitality suite right across from the swimming pool. The night will include good food, good drinks, good prizes, recognition of our great committee, and a celebration of what our chapter accomplished this summer.

Be watching for more information to come soon.

Shannon Bardole
2008 AOTHS chair

FROM YOUR INDIVIDUAL DEVELOPMENT VP

Happy September Ames Jaycees!

With all the summer activities winding down, that can only mean one thing, FAW’s are back on the schedule. What is an FAW? It an acronym for Friday After Work. We schedule one on the Friday nights opposite the weeks we have a membership meeting. Make sure to pay attention to your weekly email announcements from President Peggy on where the location will be next. If there is an establishment in particular in the Ames area that you would like to have an FAW please don’t hesitate to let anyone on the board know.

It has been a successful summer, AOTHS once again made a substantial profit, fireworks went off without a hitch and the float trip was fun for all those who attended.

Looking forward to the month of October, both meetings will have some time dedicated to local candidates running for public office. This will be your chance to ask questions to the candidates. One night will be Democrat candidates while the other will be Republican candidates.

For all you new members out there, in the next month or so we will also be having a new member orientation so you can become better acquainted with the all that goes on in the Jaycees.

FROM YOUR STATE DIRECTOR

What’s Going on Ames?

All-States are a great way to get to know other Jaycees from around the state. They are currently held each quarter and individual awards are given at each all-state. The July All-State was held in Toledo and there were over 100 attendees for the weekend. We had some great training in emergency preparedness including the citizen corps. We also had some training in the areas of CPR and the central Iowa drug task force. Below is a list of awards that the Ames Jaycees came home with following the July All-State!

Here is a listing of the Ames award winners from the July All- State:

10th Degree Jaycee Recognition: Peggy Nitchals
10th Degree Jaycee Recognition: Shannon Bardole
New Member of the Quarter: Kelly Junge
New Member of the Quarter: Chris Bennett
Local Member of the Quarter: Todd Hugen
Individual Development VP of the Quarter: Charby
Local President of the Quarter: Peggy Nitchals
State Program Manager of the Quarter: Shannon Bardole

The Ames Jaycees were also awarded with the following:

6th Place in the Parade of Chapters – Programming
6th Place in the Parade of Chapters – Overall

We are looking forward to another great all-state on Oct. 4- 5. There is some great training lined up as well as some fun social activities. There will also be a chance to help give direction to the Iowa Jaycees in the future by way of elections for the 2009 Iowa Jaycee Cabinet and with other voting opportunities. If you have any questions please let me know. The All-State will be held in Des Moines and the cost is just $55 for the conference. The Ames chapter helps cover the cost of the room so the cost to you is just $5/night for the hotel room. Please also see the fl yer that is included with the newsletter.

Thanks and see you soon!