About US & Jaycee History
What we do TODAY... The Spartanburg Jaycees are a vital part of the Spartanburg community. Annually we are involved in many activities. It is the Spartanburg Jaycees that plan, coordinate and make possible the Spartanburg Christmas parade each year. In addition we help with Music on Main, Spring Fling, the Haven, our Christmas Shopping Tour for underprivledged children, the Charles Lea Christmas Party and raise money for Jaycee Camp Hope, a camp located on the shores of Lake Hartwell for mentally challenged individuals of all ages, http://camppage.com/cuol/ Fundraising is a must. Each year we run projects to give us the ways and means to help the community. Among those projects are Music on Main, Spring Fling, Auditorium concessions, firework sales, Halloween Monster Bash, and Gangster Nights to name a few. For the past 50 years, the Spartanburg Jaycees have recognized outstanding young people during their Distinguished Service Awards. These awards recognize people for outstanding efforts in the following areas: Education, Religion, Physical Fitness, Business, Agriculture, Public Service and Overall Community Service. If ever you know of an individual aged 21-39 that has gone above and beyond in one of these areas, let us know. Our HISTORY... The Spartanburg Jaycees have a long and distinguished history. This page is dedicated to preserving and publicizing that history. According to the US Jaycees, The Spartanburg Jaycees were Chartered in 1936. The chapter seems to have a brief period on inactivity in the early 1940's. It would seem that most young Spartanburg men in the early 1940's were too busy with something called World War II to maintain a healthy chapter.
Spartanburg Jaycees Peach Statue Location: Berry Field Park off of Asheville Highway
Statue Inscription:
An appreciative community pays tribute to those pioneer orchardists who, through foresight and diligence, established an industry that means much to our welfare.
They set a worthy example in cultivating a choice fruit and their culture of the land contributed to the culture of mankind.
First carload of Spartanburg County peaches shipped July 31, 1924
This monument is erected out of respect for the peach, delectable fruit of a friendly soil and a beneficient sun.
Upon a pedestal we place it as a symbol of God’s bounty and man’s enterprise.
Spartanburg County has the honor of the richest peach harvest in the nation and we are grateful for this favor.
Sponsored By Spartanburg Junior Chamber of Commerce
Spartanburg Herald-Journal, December 12, 1965 Spartanburg Jaycees Send Supplies to South Viet Nam
This 40-foot truckload of food and clothing collected by the Spartanburg Jaycees is destined for the less fortunate of South Viet Nam. The supplies, comprised of piece goods, soap, tooth paste, canned goods and other items, will be taken to Columbia by national guardsmen where it will join a supply train to San Francisco. On Christmas Day, a ship will transport the goods to the southeast Asian country. Loading the goods Saturday are (left to right) Gordon Lindsey, Walt Humphries of McLean Trucking Co. and Robert Rowell.
Spartanburg Herald-Journal, December 10, 1965 Spartanburg Jaycees Back Viet Nam Policy
Spartanburg’s 97 member Junior Chamber of Commerce have voiced their support of a stay tough policy in Viet Nam, thus joining throngs of Jaycees across the nation. Charles Gray, Jaycee president here, says the Spartanburg chapter’s resolution strongly calls continuance of government policy of no compromise. National Jaycee President James A. Skidmore Jr. of Brickton, N.J., has reported to President Lyndon B. Johnson that his organization supports him by a 12-1 ratio by vote of 5,700 chapters.
Spartanburg Herald-Journal, December 1, 1965 Spartanburg Jaycees Sponsor Appreciation Day For Forces in Viet Nam
With church bells ringing the sound of freedom and a display of American flags throughout the business district, Operation Appreciation for American Fighting Men in Viet Nam will be observed here Tuesday, December 7. Members of the Spartanburg Junior Chamber of Commerce are sponsoring the event. |
Membership
