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| The year didn't
start off with a very auspicious beginning. We found that we had about $350 in the
treasury and a pin bill for almost $700! At that time, we didn't have any
fundraising projects and the sense of the organization was not to run any. It was
purely a social organization of Senators who were exhausted and wanted to continue
friendship created while active Jaycees. Yes, we helped Jaycees, but only when asked
and would not run projects that we thought they should do themselves. There were a
lot more Jaycees then! Since the treasury was in such poor shape and we wanted to continue the hospitality for Senators at each state meeting, we started a process of each Senator bringing a bottle of his favorite spirits to stock the room. Those that didn't bring a bottle had their arms twisted to provide a suitable donation. The size of the donation depended on who was doing the twisting! Don Carn was really good at that. Who could refuse that big old teddy bear? Another process that worked was to see how many times we could get Clayton "Stub" Fryer to pay his dues. After many a rowdy evening, someone would ask "Stub" why he was enjoying the party when he hadn't paid his dues for the year. |
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| "Stub" would insist that he had, but when he
could find no one to back him up, he would sheepishly reach for his wallet and drop
another $10 into the hand of the treasurer. We may have stocked the room for one
whole meeting on dues collected from "Stub" during the year. Membership
grew that year, but as to how many, I can't remember. We did start using and
"A" and "B" list for soliciting new members. If I were to look back and put my finger on one thing that marked my year, I would have to say that getting Michigan Senators active in region and national meetings (and politics!). We traveled to the Ohio Pig Roast, Kentucky Fall Meeting, Indiana Meeting, Tennessee Meeting, and National Convention in Hartford (First time Jo Ellen and I had stayed in he Senate hotel instead of with the Jaycees). We were also visited by National Senate, President Emil Ruzicka, Past Senate President, Bob Hunt, (the first of his many election banquet keynote addresses) and Region Vice President, Fred Fischer. Each time we traveled, we took more Senators and spouses who realized that there were a lot of people in our sister states and the National Organization who had common interests and who were great fun to be with. If it were not for the Michigan Jaycees and JCI Senate, I would not have had the initiative or opportunity to have accomplished what I have so far in life. More than anything, I value the friendships and people I have met. Thank you, Michigan Senate and congratulations on your 25th Anniversary. May you have 125 more. East Vice President - Don Carn #15857 |
