For the third consecutive year, the Salisbury Jaycees has won the Henry S. Giessenbier Memorial Award, designating it the top Jaycees chapter in Maryland.
The honor came during the Maryland Jaycees’ winter convention, hosted in Annapolis. It marked the fifth time in the past 11 years the Salisbury chapter has won the award.
“This honor represents the hard work of all chapter members in the past year,” said 2014 Salisbury Jaycees president Emily Nock. “From continuing long-standing community projects such as the Salisbury Christmas Parade, Treat Street and the Children’s Christmas Shopping Tour, to raising thousand of dollars for cancer research through Relay For Life, to helping recruit and train the next generation of Jaycees, we are proud of what we have accomplished and thrilled that others have recognized those accomplishments, as well.”
Individual Salisbury Jaycees members also were lauded. Travis Fisher was inducted into the Maryland Jaycees Militia, the state’s highest Jaycees honor, granting him lifetime membership in the organization. Serving as executive vice president of the Maryland Jaycees in 2014, he was named Executive Board Member of the Year. In addition, he and Nock were sworn in as members of the 2015 state Jaycees board of directors, as management development vice president and membership vice president, respectively.
The Salisbury Jaycees’ Children’s Christmas Shopping Tour, chaired by Joel Maher and Ashley Morris, received the Project of the Year Award. Samantha Chesley, Salisbury Jaycees membership vice president for 2014 was honored as Local Chapter Officer of the Year, and Salisbury was named the Membership Chapter of the Year. Nock earned the inaugural Elaine Williams Memorial Recruiter of the Year.
She and 2015 Management Development Vice President Kristy Johnson were named among the Top Five Jaycees in Maryland for the fourth quarter of 2014. Johnson also won the convention’s Write-Up essay contest.
In addition, 2015 Membership Vice President Megan Bachelder was recognized as the convention’s First Timers competition winner. She, Nock and chapter member Amanda Liang also advanced in the U.S. Junior Chamber’s Passport to Leadership program.
As this year’s Giessenbier Award winner, the Salisbury Jaycees will compete with other chapters to be named the national chapter of the year at the JCI USA Annual Meeting this March in Nashville, TN.
Celebrating its 75th anniversary in 2015, the Salisbury Jaycees is the only Jaycees chapter on the Eastern Shore, providing community service, social and leadership training opportunities for men and women ages 18-40. Membership meetings are 7 p.m. the third Monday of each month at the Salisbury Area Chamber of Commerce Business Center, 144 E. Main St.
For more information call 410-749-0144, ext. 109, email contactus@salisburyjc.com, visit the Salisbury Jaycees’ website at www.salisburyjc.com or find the chapter on Facebook at www.facebook.com/salisburyjaycees.
