Opinion column
by William Crum
Civic organizations helped Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kan., become what it is today.
Remember the days when belonging to a city organization such as the Jaycees, the Kiwanis, or the Rotary and Optimists was the thing to do? To belong to these organizations would give you not only civic pride but also make you better known as well.
One organization I belonged to was the Kansas City, Kan., area Jaycees. This organization at one time had well over 350 members. At the time I belonged to the organization it was for men only. The women’s organization was called the Jaycee Jaynes, including the wives of the men in the organization.
I can remember the day when we would sell peanut butter at various locations to help a Kansas Jaycees benefit project.
One member who recently died, S.G. Jackson, would encourage me to go beyond my expectations. S.G. Jackson at one time ran for county commissioner. When I joined the organization I was very shy and timid and did not understand what was around me. S.G. Jackson and his family helped me to grow.
Within the organization they offered leadership training courses and public speaking courses as well encouraged me to compete with others so my communication skills could be well defined. This is right before I went back to college to get my degree.
S.G. Jackson was a rare breed, highly outspoken and highly driven. He loved politics and he loved his community as well. He donated a lot of time and effort into the community. He worked long hours on Jaycees projects that would benefit Kansas City, Kan., as a whole. The Jaycees at that time were known for building future leaders A lot of great leaders were developed by the Kansas City, Kan., area Jaycees such as former Bert Cantwell, former head of the Kansas Highway Patrol, and Mayor Jack Reardon, just to name a few. In this organization blue-collar workers or businessmen or lawyers could join to learn leadership skills and do things for the community.
They would have conventions on the state level of 300 to 500 young men. Their creed is what they lived by. It is very simple. It emphasized faith in God and service to humanity.
Now things are changed. Young people in today’s society don’t have organizations like this. When I talked to the executive director of the U.S. Jaycees he told me they only had 1,300 national members and the convention’s national level will have 300 people. In the past U.S. Jaycees would have a convention that would have well exceeded over 800 people from all 50 states.
Sometimes I wonder if we could go back to the good old days but I do understand why it is different. Our society is a lot different. I’m not saying that people do not care. But I am saying we need organizations as the Jaycees, Kiwanis and the Rotary, just to name three, to be within the community to help make it grow.
My hat goes off to those of you who believe in the same philosophy as I do. My hat also goes off to my deceased friend, S.G. Jackson who died on June 2, 2016. My prayers and sympathy go out to his family. To the former members of the Kansas City, Kan., Jaycees, both living and dead, I tip my hat to you as well. I also tip my hat to members of the Kiwanis, the Optimists and the Rotary and other civic organizations within our community. I want to thank them for what they are doing and have done in the past for our community.
These fond memories of my friendship with S.G. Jackson will always be with me. He played a major role in my life and so did his family as well. I also want to thank other people in other organizations like Jaycees for volunteering and helping out in our great community. It’s people like S.G. Jackson and other people within our community who donate their time to make the community a better place to live.