Jaycee chapter may form here

Bob McNamar, owner of McNamar Racing of Mountain Home, is hoping to restart a local Jaycees chapter in Mountain Home.

A meeting to explore the possibility will be held Oct. 7 at 7 p.m. at Smokey Mountain Pizza.

The Jaycees had formed a chapter in Mountain Home in the mid-'90s, and at one time had 93 members, but over the years membership gradually declined and the chapter dissolved.

When they were active, the group took on a number of service projects, including directing the Cheer Basket Project, which provided food for needy families at Christmas. That project passed to a private, non-profit organization formed by some local civic leaders, but the amount of work involved led that group to announce last year it would be its last.

McNamar hopes if a local Jaycees chapter can be formed, that the group would eventually pick that project back up again.

The Jaycees are composed of men and women age 18-41. The program is designed to teach leadership and management skills to individuals, that will help them advance in their chosen business or career fields, by having them organize community service activities.

McNamar said the national organization had slowly gotten away from community service projects, but in recent years had returned to placing an emphasis on those efforts.

He said he has ten people right now who have expressed an interest in forming a chapter, and needs a minimum of 20, "but really, I'd like to have about 40" to restart the organization locally. Dues will be $20 per year for the charter members.

"Jaycees do good things and everyone enjoys the fellowship," he noted. "It's a good organization for young people."

Anyone interested in becoming a charter member of the new chapter should call McNamar at 599-3712, or attend the Oct. 7 meeting.