Tyler Jaycees Club Disbanded

TYLER — The annual 4th of July fireworks show at Lindsey park could be a thing of the past, because the Tyler Jaycees organization has disbanded. According to KETK, the President of the Jaycees, Bobby Jones, said, “We’re devastated about it, but you know it takes active people from the town we live in to make this thing go off.” The Jaycees have been actively involved in the community for the last 50 years, hosting events like the Halloween Haunted House and Easter Bash.

Members of the organization range from age 21 to 40, and pay monthly dues. Originally there were more than 100 members, and now only a handful remain. Jones said, “Every project that we do we’re not sponsored by any main organization it pretty much just comes from the community.” Jones believes the disbanding is due to the community’s disinterest in volunteering, and others feel this problem is not exclusive to the Jaycees. Henry Bell, a former Treasurer of the group, said, “Unfortunately you see that with a lot of organizations these days. It’s harder and harder to develop volunteers because in this fast paced technology world that we live in there’s not as much time to do volunteering.”

If more volunteers sign up to help Jaycees, Jones believes the organization can continue. However until then, all events hosted by the organization have been canceled.