Fellow Jaycees,

Happy New Years!  I hope that everyone has had a wonderful beginning to the year.  I have some important updates about the format for this year’s Jaycee meetings.  The board has decided to reduce our membership dues for renewing members from $225 down to $150 this year both to make our organization more financially stable and in the hopes of recruiting more members.  As a result of the cost reduction we will be meeting in two different locations.

2nd Tuesday of the month will remain at the Thomas Center for a more formal dinner meeting with a community speaker.

4th Tuesday of the month we will be moving to the Durham Main library located at 300 N. Roxboro Street, Durham NC 27701.  We will be holding our membership meetings at the library and then heading out to a restaurant in downtown for dinner and drinks.  The board hopes that this will give us all the opportunity to discover a bit more about Durham’s constantly changing downtown. For directions to the library please check out: http://www.durhamcountylibrary.org/locations/main_directions.php.

We look for 2012 to be a fantastic year for the Durham Jaycees. Please mark your calendars for some exciting upcoming events:

Sunday, January 21 join us for lunch at Mad Hatters at 12:30p followed by postering Duke’s campus as part of our new recruitment effort.

Tuesday, January 24 come out for our membership meeting at the main library. We will be meeting in the 3rd floor conference room that night.  In addition to our normal business meeting, we will be making Valentines cards for A Helping Hand’s 11th Annual Valentine’s Day.  A Helping Hand is a local charity dedicated to serving older adults and individuals with disabilities in the community.  I will have all the materials ready and you will just need to decorate and since glitter is not allowed it shouldn’t be too messy.   So, bring your creative skills and help to make an older adult smile.  Following the meeting, join us for dinner or drinks at Bull City Burger and Brewery located at 107 East Parrish Street.  If you can’t make it in time for the meeting consider coming out after to socialize with your fellow Jaycees.  Please feel free to invite friends to check us out especially at the library meetings since there is no additional cost.

Saturday, February 11, is the first Jaycee social of the year.  We will meet at 1pm to take a tour of Triangle Brewery located at 918 Pearl Street, Durham.

I look forward to an exciting year getting to work with all of you and please let me know if I can do anything to make your experience with the Jaycees better.

In service to humanity,

Catherine Thomas

Durham Jaycees

2012 President