The Nineties
In 1990, the Vietnam Memorial Moving Wall made its lone Illinois stop in Peoria. The Peoria Jaycees were instrumental in manning the wall and assisting onlookers as they hunted for familiar names of the war heroes and listened to General Westmoreland address the audience.
On September 1, 1990 the Peoria Jaycees held their “50th Anniversary Banquet” at the Peoria Civic Center.
In 1992, the Peoria Jaycees got involved with Peoria’s “Tri-Centennial Celebration.” The Jaycees sponsored a “Mardi Gras” at the Cornerstone Building.
In 1993 the Jaycees began a new project called the “International Beer Fest” which has quickly become one of the most popular and profitable projects the chapter has run in recent years. The event features beers from all over the world along with brews from the emerging American microbreweries. By 1999, the IBF offered over 240 different beers.
In 1994 the chapter began meeting at the AMVETS Post #64 on Monroe Street. In 1995, Rick Owens took the office of newsletter editor for the chapter’s newsletter, The Charge! By May of 1998, it had won 5 state awards and continued to be a personal favorite among members, state board members and others outside the Jaycees organization.
In 1996, the Peoria Jaycees entered the world of cyberspace by establishing an Internet site. The concept took shape when newsletter editor Rick Owens was on the phone with fellow member Dan Schmidt. They were discussing Internet addresses and questioned whether another chapter had acquired www.jaycees.com. Since Schmidt was employed with an Internet service provider, he quickly investigated the prospect and discovered that the address was available. He immediately acquired the copyright of www.jaycees.com for the use of the Peoria Jaycees. In less than two years with Rick Owens as webmaster, it became one of the more visited Jaycee web sites in the US.
In 1997, the Peoria Jaycees changed their Adopt A School from Blaine-Sumner to Calvin Coolidge.
In April of that year, the Peoria Jaycees along with Community Now!, a community service volunteer organization of Caterpillar employees, sponsored a Peoria mayoral debate between Dave Ransburg and Lowell “Bud” Grieves. The event was broadcasted by WEEK-TV.
In August, the Jaycees entered the Arthritis Foundation Mini-Grand Prix. That first year saw a poor turn out of the Jaycees Racing team, including a mishap that saw a Jaycee racer involved in an accident with race announcer Laurie Adams. Eric Gengler, the driver of the kart, careened into a hay bail, which sent Adams cart-wheeling into the air. Fortunately, Adams was not seriously hurt. The following year, the Jaycees participated in the event again, this time bringing home first place hardware. However, to this day, jokes are still made regarding the Jaycees rookie year at the race.
In 1998, the U.S. Jaycees voted to change the Jaycee fiscal year to the calendar year. While this was an unpopular decision in the Peoria chapter, it was decided to change the chapter’s fiscal year to the calendar year so that it could stay in sync with the national organization. Consequently, the executive board officers only served seven months from June to December 1998. In April of 1999, the Building Fund hit a milestone by reaching a market value of over $100,000. With the Building Fund increasing in value, the Peoria Jaycees moved to delegate a 4-person committee to manage the building fund. In May of 1999, the chapter approved the first such committee, appointing Mike Buckley, Dennis Owens, Rick Owens and Steve West.
