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History of the Norfolk
Jaycees
The Norfolk Junior
Chamber of Commerce was founded in August 1924
by a group of young men
who were dissatisfied with the lack of an opportunity
to express
themselves in community affairs. They elected an attorney,
Michael B. Wagenheim, as their first president. An intensive membership drive
was
launched immediately, and the roster of members grew to over one
thousand
with a full-time secretary and a full-time assistant.
Elaborate offices were
maintained in the Bank of Commerce Building on
the thirteenth floor.
In 1939 Norfolk
was the leader in establishing the Virginia Jaycee organization.
It was
one of eight chapters that elected Tom Baldridge, a member of the
Winchester-Frederick Jaycees, president.
Until this time
some of the projects held by the Junior Chamber included the backing of
the elimination of toll calls from Norfolk to Ocean View, establishment
of the
Norfolk Voters Club, the installation of uniform street signs, advocation of a
municipal airport, partial tax pay plan for the city,
and a merchants
and manufacturers exhibition.
In 1941, a Jaycee
Air Show was held in Norfolk. This show attracted thousands
of attendees and managed to sign up 250 applicants for the Army Air
Corps.
Another 350 men were signed up for the Army in a “dugout” booth
in downtown Norfolk. Also, War Fund and War Bond drives were very
successful.
In April 1975, the
first Easter Sunrise Service was held at the Norfolk Botanical Gardens.
In 1979, the Jaycees ran bingo for almost a year
to raise funds for an SPCA van.
In 1984, the
Norfolk Jaycees voted to approve the admission of women to the chapter.
In August of 1984 the United States Supreme Court ruled that Jaycees had
to allow women to join as full members. Gerry Roth, the first female
President
of the Norfolk Jaycees, and a former Virginia State President,
offers some insight
on some of the changes the local chapter needed to
embrace under this new climate.
“I joined the Jaycees shortly after the
Supreme Court ruled that excluding
women was unconstitutional and that
women should be allowed to join.
For the most part, women were welcomed
into the chapter. The President,
Jim Blassingham, and Membership VP,
Gary Bonnewell, did everything they could
to get everyone involved. In
fact, they did such a great job that the
Norfolk Jaycees were recognized
as the best chapter in the state that year.
As the years went by, there
were weddings and changes to programming
of the ‘new chapter’. A couple
of changes included ‘Spa Day’ and a
guest speaker at Valentines Day from
a dating service.”
Annually, the
Norfolk Jaycees run upwards of 40 projects.
Listed here are some of those projects:
The Norfolk Jaycees supports the Azalea Festival by sponsoring the United Kingdom
float in
the Parade of Nations. Each year the chapter sends campers to Camp
Virginia Jaycee, a camp for mentally and physically handicapped persons
fully supported by the
Jaycee chapters throughout the state. The chapter
has participated in the
Stockley Gardens Arts Festival for Hope House, Save
the Bay Day, and St. Columba
Ministries to feed the hungry. They have
taken the children of Big Brothers
Big Sisters to Busch Gardens and the children of the Salvation Army
Christmas Shopping. They have renovated the playgrounds of
Norfolk, planted and groomed
the gardens at
the Ernie Morgan Environmental Action Center, and adopted St. Paul's
Boulevard in partnership with the Keep Norfolk Beautiful programs.
They work with the children
of Tarralton Community Center to bring
sports competitions to them
including Pepsi’s Pitch, Hit and Run and the
Gatorade Punt, Pass and
Kick (which will be held in August).
Past
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