Category: Jaycees

School and the House of Horror

October 25th, 2007 · · Illinois, Jaycees, Mount Vernon, School, Technology 2 comments - Tags: ,

School is still going well. Comm 1101 is fine I think. OS and CSCI 1101 are A’s I’m pretty sure. I did manage to get my first C in Networking today though. Overall, it shouldn’t affect my grade for the class, but it is a bit unnerving. Once I’ve done some hands-on with the routers I think I’ll have the commands down. Right now it’s all theory. I can learn theory, but practical application is better.

The HoH 2007 is going great. We made our budget back by our fifth night (last Saturday), and it’s clear-sailing from here on out. Hopefully the rain and temperatures will keep cooperating like they have the first two weekends. Volunteers all seem to have something going on this weekend, but we should have enough people to carry on.

Long time, no updates

October 15th, 2007 · · Illinois, Jaycees, Mount Vernon, School One comment - Tags: ,

Sorry everyone. I have been extremely busy with real life and haven’t had time to update the ol’ blog. To summarize quickly: mid-terms, House of Horror, kids, homework, etc.

The HoH is doing pretty well after the opening weekend. We ran over 300 people through total. Granted, there have been years with 400 in one night, but Halloween is two weeks out and this was the first 3 nights.

Needless to say, I hope the next two weeks keep up this decent pace, and hopefully blow it away.

WDML did a live remote for us on Friday night, and it was awesome. They had us on air better than every 15 minutes and made us sound great. Saturday was the killer night with about 180 people coming through. Sunday was slow, however we expected it to be that way.

More to come soon, my break is over at work. Time to get back to updates and configurations!

It has begun…again.

August 5th, 2007 · · Jaycees, Mount Vernon One comment - Tags: , ,

Saturday we built the large walls for the second third of the House of Horror. It was hot as heck and most of us didn’t do much. The guys who did work busted their humps though.  No one sat around and did NOTHING, but some of the guys did a lot more than the rest of us.

After that day, I was already burnt out and needed to take today to recouperate. Sad, but it was hot and exhausting. The best news is that everything seems to be fitting well. The paths for hallways are lining up well, and should give people their money’s worth of entertainment.

We have a long road until we’re finished and ready for victims, but it shall come and all shall be victimized.

Kids’ Alley at Salute to Freedom

June 27th, 2007 · · Illinois, Jaycees, Mount Vernon No comments - Tags: , ,

In one week the Mount Vernon Jaycees will bring back Kids’ Alley to the Salute to Freedom. For the past several years there has been little other than concessions and fireworks at the Salute. Different people have conflicting stories about why the Jaycees gave control of the Salute back to the city/Tourism Bureau, but we are back with entertainment for kids this year.

We have created skee-ball, tic-tac-toe, a basketball shoot, ducky pond (for small children), face-painting, dart toss/balloon pop, and a frisbee throw. There should be no shortage of activities to keep the kids busy until the fireworks display begins at dusk.

There will be prizes given to every participant, with larger prizes for successful participants. There will also possibly be a trade-up option where 3 small prizes can be traded for a medium, and 3 medium prizes for a large prize. We have yet to firmly decide if we will offer the trade-up option yet.

Thankfully, we did spend more on prizes than most people will expect. There will be no super-cheap “spider-ring” prizes at our booths. Everyone will get a prize, and we believe they are good prizes.

The games will cost $1/each/try. We believe that is a fair cost to have some entertainment and a guarantee you won’t walk away empty handed.

We were just informed this evening that we will have a handmade American flag afghan to be raffled off as well. Tickets for this drawing will be $1/each as well, or 6/$5. It is a little warm for an afghan right now, but it does look nicely done.

That’s my summary of the Jaycees activities at the Mount Vernon Salute to Freedom on July 4th. We will open with the gates at 5PM and stay open as long as we have prizes, or until the fireworks display starts.

Jaycee Week – The Wrap-up

January 28th, 2007 · · Jaycees No comments

Wow. That was just amazing. For the past week we Jaycees have been busting our humps to get an event-per-day done in celebration of Jaycee Week. Mayor Keen proclaimed Jaycee Week in Mount Vernon with us in his office on the Friday before we started. From there, we hit the ground running.

Sunday morning we arrived at VCC in Mount Vernon to attend their morning service. We were treated to their modern praise and worship. The message that day was from Don Tucker who had recently been to India visiting sponsored libraries in the regions.

Monday evening several of us gathered at the clubhouse to assemble care packages to help ease the lives of people living in India. We included basic staples we take for granted daily, such as: soaps, hair care supplies, and miscellaneous other items. For the children, we also included balloons, coloring books, and crayons. These will return to India with Mr. Tucker from VCC in the near future.

Tuesday evening was a relaxed night of socializing. We had pizza and discussed what being a Jaycee has meant to previous presidents Bill Schulte, Rick Hobbs, and had an email on the subject from Dave Davenport. Everyone enjoyed hearing about previous Jaycee successes and some antics the “old-timers” had pulled during their time.

Wednesday we arranged for Mayor Keen to meet with the MVTHS Youth and Government delegation to discuss politics. I was a few minutes late, but from what I could see, the students had many questions for the mayor and enjoyed having him present.

Thursday we had a movie night at Countryside Manor. We brought cookies, pretzels, popcorn, and various pop for the residents to enjoy during “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”. An approximate turnout of 25 joined us in the activities room to watch the show and have some snacks. On a personal note, Audrey Hepburn was a fox. I had no idea until I sat down and watched that movie.

Friday we held a cookout at Kroger to help benefit the local Fraternal Order of Police. This was the first time we had advertised AND the first time we offered delivery. We were wholly unprepared for all the orders and customers. I apologize for anyone who was unable to get through on our delivery hotline, but we were unable to answer all of the calls. To say this cookout was a smashing success is no where near enough.

Saturday evening was an M-night at the clubhouse to wrap-up the week’s events. I was unable to attend as I took Em to STL for her birthday. From what I am told the billiard tournament and M-night were fun for everyone.

That’s my synopsis. I hope everyone had as much fun as I did putting everything on for the community.

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