The times they are a-changing. It might be a well-worn phrase, but it's one with special meaning for members of the now-defunct Vancouver branch of the U.S. Junior Chamber, or Jaycees – men mostly in their sixties and seventies, some retired, some not, many of whom reunited for lunch last month at the Red Lion Hotel at the Quay.
Connecting via email, telephone and word of mouth, about 30 former members, including two mayors, two port commissioners and even the founder of Vancouver's annual Sausage Fest at St. Joseph's church, met July 23 around a long banquet table to laugh, reminisce and reconnect.
"It's just amazing how everyone just keeps going and going," said Steve Runyan of Erik Runyan Jewelers, a fourth-generation business in downtown Vancouver now run by his son, Erik. "Everyone is still a player in the community."
The idea for a reunion came after Runyan and friend Les Wolf attended the funeral of fellow Jaycee Walter Sheffield earlier this year. "We realized that we all better get together soon before it was too late," he said.
Runyan joined the Jaycees in 1962. Back then, the chapter met at a steel-framed shelter built by group members, with a meeting room and even a kitchen for the occasional spaghetti dinner. The structure, located on Burton Road near 18th Street, quickly became a favorite hangout for the then-18 to 30-year old group of future business and civic leaders.
"It was really fun," said retired Vancouver restaurant owner and current Ridgefield mayor Ron Onslow. "We didn't know we were too young to do anything, so we just went ahead and did it."
Mixed in with the laughter at last month's event however, was a common lament: since the Vancouver Jaycees disbanded, no other national organization has stepped up to fill its place in Southwest Washington. "The community is still there, but there doesn't seem to be an organized group of young people to encourage them to give back to the community," Onslow said.
Founded in 1920, the Jaycees was for decades a club exclusively for young men, many of whom would later move on to local business associations and chambers of commerce. The organization later expanded to include young women after a 1984 U.S. Supreme Court decision found the group's all-male policy to be discriminatory.
Paul Leonard can be reached at pleonard@vbjusa.com
