Friday, July 11, 2008

Kid Care Identification Project Held During Fair

The La Porte Jaycees will once again be hosting their Kid Care Identification Safety Booklet program at the La Porte County Fair on the front porch in front of the Sheriff's Building on July 23rd and July 24th.

From 4:00pm to 7:00pm (or until supplies run out), parents may bring their children and their booklets to be updated or may enroll their children for the first time.

The La Porte Jaycees continue to run this project for the safety of La Porte’s children, as one in seven missing children is found because of a photograph distribution by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and they want to do their part in keeping La Porte’s children safe.

Authorities recommend that parents obtain standardized safety documents and photos and have them updated on a six-month to yearly basis.

The La Porte Jaycees are sponsoring this event as part of a national effort to provide parents with personal safety identification of their children in the event of an emergency. The Kid Care Photo ID event was developed as a national campaign to increase awareness about missing children and educate parents about the steps they can take to help protect their children.

The La Porte Jaycees are pleased they can play such a vital role in helping to keep children safe in their own community and certainly hope no one will ever need to use these documents, but parents can at least have peace of mind to know they have the information in a safe place at home should the need arise.

La Porte Jaycee volunteer members will be on hand to help weigh, measure, and photograph children, as well as guide families through the Kid Care Photo ID Process.

A new addition this year will be students from Eldridge’s ATA Black Belt Academy in La Porte demonstrating some safety techniques. They will demonstrate basic techniques for defending and protecting yourself against an attacker should you ever have the need.

Kid Care Id Booklet

Friday, July 11, 2008

2008 La Porte Jaycees Back Pack and School Supplies Drive

The La Porte Jaycees will once again be sponsoring their “Back To School Back Pack and School Supplies Drive” which will end around August 15th.

Project Chairpeople Heather Menne and Bethani Morris have set this year's goal at 100+ back packs and supplies to fill them and are asking the community for their help in meeting this goal.

Items needed include: new or “slightly used” back packs, 4 oz white glue, 16-count regular size crayons, glue sticks, Fiskar blunt scissors, #2 pencils, dry erase markers, 2-pocket plain folders, yellow or pink highlighters, small pencil boxes, 3 x 5 lined index cards, rulers with centimeters and inches, colored pencils, and black ink pens.

Drop off boxes are currently located at GIS Insurance, Bortz Realty, all three of the 1st Source Bank locations, and Meridian Title Company. Any business interested in being a drop off location may contact the project chairpeople at 219-324-5828 to make arrangements.

Upon completion of the “Drive”, supplies will be delivered to local schools and the schools will distribute the school supplies to children needing assistance.

Friday, July 11, 2008

Fabulous Flyover

Thanks to CDR Sean “RAX” Rackley, Naval Reservist, for a fabulous flyover!

The La Porte Jaycees are sure that the community loved the flyover as much as they did.

Monday, July 07, 2008

2008 Parade Winners Announced

The La Porte Jaycees are proud to announce the 2008 4th of July Parade winners.

Marching Units:
1st Place - Niles Haunted House
2nd Place - South Central Rockettes
3rd Place - Mid American Cowgirls Rodeo Drill Team

Floats:
1st Place - LaPorte Service League
2nd Place - LaPorte City Street Department “The American Frontier”
3rd Place - St. Joe Club of Michigan City

High School Bands:
1st Place - John Glen High School “Falcon Pride”
2nd Place - New Prairie High School Cougars
3rd Place - LaPorte High School Marching Band

Friday, July 11, 2008

2008 Give A Way Winners Are.....

Congratulations to our 2008 Give A Way Raffle winners:

Mark Manering - grill and accessories donated by Schmitt and Kaylor CPAs

Jim Macher - $500 gift certificate from A.J. Schmitt Jewelers

Josh and Laura Cummings - 50/50 CASH

Friday, July 04, 2008

Flyover Information Announced

The Plane:
VFA 204 “River Rattlers” is an FA-18 Hornet Reserve Squadron based in New Orleans, Louisiana. The Rattlers were commissioned at Naval Air Station Memphis, TN on 1 July 1970 flying the venerable A-4 Skyhawk. The squadron operated with the Sky Hawk for seven years before transitioning to the Vaught A7 Corsair and simultaneously moving its base of operations to NAS New Orleans, Louisiana, Where they remain today. The Rattlers operated the Corsair for 14 Years, winning every major combat readiness, safety and maintenance award the US Navy has to offer. 1 April 1991 marked the beginning of an era by transitioning to the newest fighter of the day, the mighty FA-18 Hornet. At the time, the most advance fighter aircraft in the Navy’s inventory. The Rattlers have been flying the Hornet for over 17 years and have operated from the decks of every Aircraft Carrier in the United States’ Inventory.

Today The Rattlers have two missions. The First is to maintain a high level of combat readiness. Should the Rattlers ever be needed to support the interests of the United States or support its allies abroad the squadron is ready to go at a moment’s notice.

The second, and the mission the squadron is most active with, is that of Adversary support for the US Navy’s Front line aviation units. The Rattlers are an essential tool in the Navy’s overall combat readiness plan. In this role, the squadron simulates tactics flown by every countries air force that may pose a threat to the US. This allows the Navy’s front line fighter units an opportunity to practice and adapt tactics to these threats. The River Rattlers have trained every Navy Front line fighter squadron in the Navy, a monumental responsibility and accomplishment for a single squadron.

Making this fact even more amazing is that throughout its history, The Rattlers have always been a reserve squadron. Which means it is run by citizen sailors. A typical member of the squadron may be an aircraft electrician one weekend a month and work a full time job in there civilian life. A typical pilot will fly 5 or 6 times a month and hold a full time job as an airline pilot, lawyer, consultant or business owner. These individuals dedication to duty and love of country has made the VFA-204 “River Rattlers” one of the best and most respected squadrons in the US Navy.

Check out pictures of the plane at:
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/aircraft/f-18ef-pics.htm


The Pilot:
CDR Sean “RAX” Rackley is a Naval Reservist with 24 yrs of service, 13 on active duty. During this time he has accumulated over 4000 hours of flight time in high performance jets, 2700 in the FA-18, 554 Carrier landings (213 at night) and 64 combat missions. During the most recent conflict in Iraq, CDR Rackley planned and participated in the first Navy Night Strike over Baghdad launched from the USS Theodore Roosevelt in the Mediterranean Ocean. CDR Rackley has flown combat missions during Operation Southern Watch supporting the no fly zone over Southern Iraq and over Bosnia Herzegovina. CDR Rackley is now the senior Adversary Pilot with the River Rattlers of Strike Fighter Squadron 204.

In his civilian life, CDR Rackley is the Chief Executive Officer of Check Six, Inc. A business performance consulting company he co-founded which focuses its efforts on high performance organizations operating in high risk/high reliability environments. He also spent a short time as a pilot for United Airlines and as an Engineering lead on the F35 Joint Strike Fighter for Lockheed Martin.

CDR Rackley was born in San Antonio, TX and grew up in TX, California and Canada. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Aeronautics form Embry Riddle Aeronautical University and a Masters in business Administration from Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, TX. He currently resides in Mandeville, Louisiana.

Wednesday, April 09, 2008

2007 La Porte Jaycees Ghost Walk Winners

Front Row: Age Group 4-6 Winners - 1st Place Morgan Rhew (Dorothy), 2nd Place Gretchen Luther (Popeye), and 3rd Place Drew Noveroske (Dracula) and Age Group 7-10 Winners - 1st Place Alex Moser (Ninja), 2nd Place Bailey Cherry (Jester), and 3rd Place Trey Cherry (Jester).

Back Row: Age Group 0-3 with their moms - 1st Place Tristan Worthington (Chicken), 2nd Place Alex Tapia (Dalmatian), and 3rd Place Jacob Koepke (Dragon).

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Thanks!

The La Porte Jaycees would like to thank their families, friends, and past Jaycee members in addition to the community for their support during the planning of the 2008 4th of July.

After taking a month or two to relax and recoup, chapter members volunteer, once again, to chair one or more areas of the 4th of July and the planning starts all over again!

Every year it takes the La Porte Jaycee members a lot of hours, physical labor, phone calls, letters, e-mails, meetings, etc. to pull together all of the 4th of July events put on by the chapter each year.

The La Porte Jaycees would like to encourage anyone ages 18-39 to join their chapter and help make a difference in our community by working to plan the 2009 4th of July or one of the many other projects ran by the chapter.

For an informational brochure and application, click on the Resources and Forms section of our website.

Have a Safe and Happy 4th of July!