Three members of the Salisbury Jaycees recently were recognized with state and national honors during the chapter’s annual Past Presidents Night banquet.
Past President Jason Rhodes was named a U.S. Junior Chamber Ambassador, the highest honor presented by the organization’s national association, JCI USA. The award recognizes outstanding service to, and involvement in, the chapter and community.
A member since 2004, Rhodes is a past member of the Salisbury and Maryland Jaycees boards of directors. He has founded a number of chapter projects, including its annual Read Across America celebration, Soft Shell Metric Century bike ride fundraiser, Treat Street safe Halloween trick-or-treating program, Salisbury’s 275thanniversary celebration, the Great Wicomico Yard Sale and the chapter’s lifetime membership program. He also recently won the U.S. Jaycees Foundation’s national “What It Means to Be a Jaycee” essay contest.
Past President Mike Liang and former member Thurman “Buddy” Brooks III were inducted into the Maryland Jaycees Militia during the banquet, granting them lifetime membership in the state organization.
Having joined in 2003, Liang is the chapter’s longest-serving current member. A former Salisbury Jaycees board member, he was instrumental in establishing the chapter’s Salisbury University-affiliated group, the Jaysea Gulls, as well as a membership scholarship program. He founded the chapter’s annual JCI USA award-winning Murder Mystery Night event and chaired projects including the Soft Shell Metric Century and July 4th fireworks. He served as chapter president in 2012.
Brooks joined the Jaycees in 2006, serving several years on its board of directors before aging out of the chapter in 2010. During that time, he was the Jaycees’ liaison with Safe Kids Lower Shore Maryland and chaired projects including a non-perishable food drive for the Maryland Food Bank. He was named Salisbury Jaycee of the Year in 2008.
Founded in 1940, the Salisbury Jaycees is a community service, social and leadership training organization for men and women ages 18-40, and the only Jaycees chapter on Maryland’s Eastern Shore.
For more information e-mail contactus@salisburyjc.com or visit the Salisbury Jaycees’ website at www.salisburyjc.com.
