Thank you for giving me the opportunity to serve as your president for 2011. I look forward to a wonderful year for the Durham Jaycees! I would like to thank Laurie Hyland for all her hard work and dedication while serving as our 2010 president. I’m sure she will continue to be a wealth of knowledge in the coming year as our Chairman of the Board.  Thank you Laurie!!

Our 2011 board of directors met on January 22nd to begin planning our year.  Please let anyone on the board know if you have any feedback regarding projects you would like to see on our calendar or how we can make this organization better. I encourage you to get to know your director who will be contacting you. Your director is a source of information about the Durham Jaycees and events.  This is your organization. We all work together to make it a success!

We are continuing our monthly membership socials on the 3rd Tuesday of every month at 6pm, unless otherwise noted. These will be held in various locations around Durham.  On January 18th we had happy hour and dinner at Vita in Erwin Square. Our next membership social will be at Fullsteam Brewery, 726 Rigsbee Ave, on February 15th at 6pm. Fullsteam is a plow to pint brewery “inspired by the agricultural and culinary traditions of the South.” I personally like their Carver Sweet potato lager! 

Our first volunteer opportunity for the year is our Pancake Breakfast. On February 26th at 6:30am we will meet at Applebee’s, 8701 Brier Creek Parkway, Morrisville, NC. Applebee’s will do the cooking! We will be serving pancakes, sausage, and beverages from 7:30am-10am. Tickets are $7. Please let all your friends, co-workers, etc know and pre-sell some tickets!  Tickets will be available at the door as well. 

We are now taking nominations for our annual Distinguished Service Awards (DSAs), where the Jaycees recognize those who have made an above and beyond contributions to Durham and its citizens.  There are 6 categories in which nominations can be received by any member of the community.  They are:

• Outstanding Senior Citizen - honoring those over the age of 60
• Outstanding Teenager - honoring high school seniors
• Outstanding Young Farmer - honoring farmers aged 21-40
• Outstanding Young Educator - honoring educators aged 21-40
• Outstanding Young North Carolinian - honoring citizens aged 21-40
• Outstanding Young Public Servant - honoring correctional officers, firefighters, law enforcement officers, EMS workers and other rescuers aged 21-40

All nomination forms can be found on our website
http://www.durhamjaycees.org/projects/dsanominationforms.html 

Deadline for DSA nominations is March 1st. 

I look forward to a wonderful year with a great group of Jaycees. Don’t forget to invite friends, colleagues, neighbors, and etc to visit a meeting or event. All are welcome!  Service to humanity is the best WORK OF LIFE! 

Karen Rowell

President Durham Jaycees