About The Jaycees

In 1934 a delegation from the Buffalo Junior Chamber of Commerce came to a meeting of young men held at the Hotel Richmond and encouraged the creation of the Batavia Junior Chamber of Commerce. The first president of this new organization was Richard Morgan.

From the beginning, these Junior Chamber members - later to be called Jaycees - challenged the status quo of our community. The purpose of the Jaycees - no connection to Chamber of Commerce - was to give young men an organization that promoted leadership training through community service.

One of the first projects of the new chapter was in the area of public parking. Automobiles were increasing in number, causing parking and lack of it to become a problem. The Jaycees took on the city fathers and the Chamber of Commerce in successfully creating free off street parking in Batavia in 1937.

As the years went by our chapter fulfilled its primary goals with the help of many well-known community leaders that were Jaycees.

One of our earliest members, Robert E. Noonan, stood for election as president of the New York State Junior Chamber of Commerce in 1939. Noonan was elected and served as state president that year, the only Batavian to do so until 1996 when Patrick D. Burk was elected. Noonan went on to become a New York State Supreme Court Justice.

World War II decimated the ranks of young men of Jaycee age, (21-35) as this age group either enlisted or was drafted into the armed forces. The Junior Chamber of Commerce lay dormant until young men returned in 1945 after the war was over. Many young returning veterans joined the Jaycees and chapters across the nation came alive with renewed interest in making better communities and in turn bettering themselves.

Over the years the Batavia Jaycees extended chapters into the nearby communities of LeRoy, Medina, Albion, Attica, Warsaw and Dansville. The LeRoy chapter was formed in 1955. Their first president was Edward Parry. Some of that chapter’s most successful projects were spearheading the drive for the formation of the LeRoy Volunteer Ambulance Service, March of Dime Roadblocks and the Genesee County Junior Miss Pageant. LeRoy also extended Jaycee chapters into Caledonia, Holley, Scottsville and Perry.

Our chapter reached its zenith in our accomplishments between 1950 and 1970. Those years saw us challenge the community in the areas of education, safety, health, government and recreation.

Since 1952, our hallmark project has been the annual Home Show, which now runs in early March. This major project produces funds to sustain our organization throughout the year and helps pay for many of the community service projects we run.

In 1960, we co-sponsored free Polio Clinics with the Genesee County Medical Society. The project was recognized as project of the year in New York State and Batavia won the Henry Giesenbier Award for the outstanding chapter. That year we were presented with the Clarence H. Howard Award at the National Convention in Atlanta. This award is given each year to the outstanding chapter in the entire country!

In the years following, our members proposed the establishment of Genesee Community College, followed a few years later by the creation of the Genesee County Park in the County Forest in the Town of Bethany. We also changed our name to the Batavia Area Jaycees, as many extended chapters had folded.

In 1984, the United States Supreme Court ruled that the Jaycees allow women to join, forever changing the camaraderie of ours and every other chapter. Although Jaycee chapters and membership suffered drastic declines throughout the state and across the country for a few years, our chapter bucked the trend to become the largest chapter in New York State in 1990. Today, we are one of only 20 chapters left in the state, down from over 130 in the 1970’s.