Building Our Community and Lifelong Friendships

This weekend, I attended the wedding of two fellow Jaycees. The groom, Bob, is what we call a rooster -- a member who has reached the age of 41 and "aged out" of our development organization. He is also a member of the JCI Senate, which is a lifetime distinction and keeps him involved beyond his "age out." He met his bride, Jen, at a state Jaycee event. Jen, another long time member, is currently serving as a Director on the JCI Greenfield board. They began dating and started many a "date night" volunteering at a local event before heading on for the evening.

It's no surprise that two people with common interests and a shared view of service to their communities would be drawn to each other or end up married. The part that amazed me was looking around the crowd as we gathered at the reception. Jen and Bob chose to have a small, intimate celebration with just family and close friends — and over half of the people in attendance were current or former Jaycees. At one point in the evening, the DJ asked all Jaycees to come to the floor. People from all over the state and from a myriad of backgrounds hit the dance floor to do a ridiculous dance, but we laughed through the whole thing.

Everyone who has been fortunate enough to have a buddy or two who can make a fool of themselves on the dance floor with you or tell a "remember when" story that can make you laugh until your sides hurt knows how priceless that is. As you've moved on from childhood to college and into your adult life, do you still find those kinds of friendships? When was the last time you had a place where you found 20 people like that? The Jaycees gives us that opportunity. Obviously, we will not be best friends with every member of the Jaycees. But we do find a camaraderie among our membership that I have never experienced in another adult setting.

Is your life missing some time with people you actually WANT to be around? You probably won't find it at the bar. Maybe you'll find it at work. But if you are the type of person who sees problems in the world and wants to help fix them, I'm willing to be you'll find it in the Jaycees. Come check us out and see for yourself.