The Tazewell County Jaycees Amazing Events for 2011-2012

Our Tazewell County Jaycees chapter is very proud of our chapter in its involvement in positive activities and giving back to the area. Our President this year, Joy Williamson, External Vice-President Kimberly Weeks, Secretary Heather Winemiller, Chapter Treasurer Adam Byerly, and myself, Stella Link, as Internal Vice President are a great team regarding organizing project events and community involvement. In our chapter development span of two years, we have established Trivia Night activities that bring in lots of participants and help great charity causes in the area each month. The biggest event that has been set up for this year was the Tazewell County Wine and Beer Festival on February 25th, 2011 for which all proceeds go to benefit the Children’s Hospital of Illinois. Our chapter and the Avanti’s Dome hosted this event for the Pekin and Central Illinois region to have fun for a great cause. Local businesses are sponsored the festival and were mentioned in all the marketing material for the event as well as gain verbal recognition throughout the evening. We are doing the Wine and Beer Festival again this next year, February 24th, 2012, as volunteers only for the event.

Also, a variety of wine and beer selections will be made available for all with a fee of ten dollars in advance and fifteen dollars at the door. All members of our chapter pitched in to help make this event a success as a team, with the wonderful leadership of Heather Winemiller, whose guidance in planning and organization with ten years of Jaycees experience has helped us greatly this year. The membership of our group has also pitched in at planning meetings on a regular basis to help create every aspect of this occasion, including: drink selections, ticket selections, advertising, event documents, and other additions necessary to make it a reality. Our uplifting camaraderie has helped us to bring on new members and engage in social events ideas that we are proud of as a young chapter. Thus, the Tazewell County Jaycees have many plans to expand through social, community, and international developments, while bringing on more members through diverse activities.

In addition, another major event for the year was the Tri for Kids Sake, which is a triathlon to benefit Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Illinois, which was on May 28th, 2011. Dustin Weeks, a member of our group and past board member, has organized the Tri, stating the Big Brothers association changed his own life and benefits others in their growth from childhood to adulthood. Dustin’s leadership and creation of the Tri for Kids Sake has truly shown his dedication toward raising money for a cause that has greatly impacted him. We were very proud to be involved in helping with a triathlon that will give back to a wonderful cause in our region and will be involved again in 2012.

Additionally, our chapter has many more great plans for this coming year, including international projects involving: Camp New Hope and JCI Just Nets located out of Chicago. Both will match proceeds donated through Tazewell Jaycees involvement. We also held our regular “Rotten” Easter Egg Hunt in Pekin, IL for children, adding to our neighborhood participation for Central Illinois. The rotten eggs have slips of paper inside redeemable for prizes, which give surprises to the children involved. We have a wide variety of ways to create fun and enjoyment for our group as well as give to others through our chapter’s yearly goals.

Our major regular social event is our Trivia Night at East Peoria, Illinois’ Timeout, a local hangout spot that has given us a great following. Over a progression of attempts to bring a larger crowd, Timeout has been our most successful venue location for this hosted happening. We play rounds of trivia in teams for a local charity each month, which allows us bring in prospective members, enjoy ourselves, and give to causes that appreciate our support. Our board decides on a different charity to contribute to each month, which lets us give back to more than one assistance group throughout the year. Therefore, Trivia Nights have been our major regular social event and Timeout gives us a great place to promote our group as well as have fun with our current members. The Trivia night for October is for the Dax Locke Foundation on October 13th at 6:00 pm at EP’s Timeout. The November Trivia night is for Nothing But Nets and the December Trivia night will be for Toys for Tots.

November to Remember is also another great event our chapter is supporting as security throughout the showcase. The EAW (Elite Allied Wrestling) wrestling show and live music event with the bands Born of Silence, 95.5 GLO House Band Sextion 8, Left 4 Dead, and Mindset Evolution will be held at the Avanti’s Dome (Dragon’s Dome) in Pekin, IL. The event will be held from 6 pm until midnight on November 5th. Our chapter is having a membership booth and a booth with pamphlets as well as other information at the event. All the proceeds go to benefit St. Jude and this will be a fantastic event to gain more membership as well as support the EAW wrestlers and bands involved.

These are some of the many amazing happenings we have planned for our Tazewell County Jaycees members during this productive year of our chapter. We are very proud of all we have accomplished and are looking forward to achieving even more as our group continues to grow. For more information on the Tazewell County Jaycees, visit our website: http://www.tazcojaycees.com to see our current event schedule and learn more about our social activities. Please also visit us at our new facebook page here and click like at: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Tazewell-County-Jaycees/117331355038508 If interested in us, thank you wholeheartedly for support of our chapter. The group encourages any interested in helping the community, being involved in social events, and meeting fantastic new people. All in all, the Tazewell County Jaycees showcase positive knowledge, leadership abilities, ever growing experience and the shaping of a successful future in years to come.