History of the Coconut Grove Jaycees
The Coconut Grove Junior Chamber (Jaycees) were chartered by the U.S. Jaycees in September of 1976. Starting with a small group of 20 men in 1976, this Jaycee chapter has seen several thousand members come through its doors over the years. Located in the middle of the City of Miami, the Coconut Grove village houses the Miami City Hall, the marina and many great restaurants, shops and drinking establishments.
Charter Members of the Chapter
Charter members of the Jaycee organization were Roger Angel, Tim Blake, Eric Buermann, David Carnes, Gerard Corbett, Robert Crowe, Paul Dey, Tom Gallagher (current Florida CFO), John Hamilton, McHenry Hamilton, Charlie Hancock, Andy Hancock, Bob Hingston, Bruce Hoffmann, John McDaniel, Phil Moore, John Price, Langton Rogers, Rene Sacasas, and Harry Sharp. In November, 1976, elections were held and officers were elected to finish the Jaycee Year, which ended in April of 1977. The first Board of Directors included: President Harry Sharp, Internal Vice-President Hank Hamilton, External Vice-President Paul Dey, Membership Vice-President Bruce Hoffman, Treasurer John Price, Secretary Charlie Hancock, State Director Roger Angel and Directors Andy Hancock, Phil Moore and Ed McHale.
The Champagne Chapter is Born
Initially, the Coconut Grove Jaycees were comprised of a number of young professionals: attorneys, bankers and insurance men. The personality of the club was reflected by the surroundings of its meeting places, including the Pagoda at Ransom-Everglades and the beautiful Hancock home on Douglas Road in the heart of the Grove. The Hancock home and the young men assembled for a Membership Night in October 1976 so impressed special guest Charles Perrone (then President of the Florida Jaycees), that he remarked: "This has got to be the Champagne Club of the State of Florida." That nickname was quickly adopted and the club members enjoyed playing up the image.
In February 1977, at the Winter Conference for the Florida Jaycees in Gainesville, club members dressed in tuxedos and served champagne to the Florida Jaycees in order to introduce themselves and their new club. Later in the year, the Muscular Dystrophy Association filmed the Coconut Grove Jaycees operating a roadblock while wearing tuxedos. From that point on, this club has been known within the Jaycees circles as "The Champagne Chapter."
Establishing the New Chapter
The club's reputation was enhanced by the fact that the organization grew from the original 20 to 82 members in just seven months. This growth set an unofficial record with the Florida Jaycees and at the 1977 U.S. Jaycees convention in Seattle, the chapter was recognized for these efforts.
The first major project of the Coconut Grove Jaycees was to raise money for the club's operation by running a concession at the Coconut Grove Arts Festival in February 1977. Through the cooperation of the Coconut Grove Bank, the chapter members sold parking spaces in the Bank's parking lot and ran coke and hot dog stands at the Festival. The revenue from the effort put the new chapter on a solid financial foundation and participation in the Arts Festival continues to be a key source of income even today.
The Coconut Grove Jaycees were incorporated as a non-profit corporation on June 15, 1977. By-laws were quickly adopted and the organization was on its way. The first regular meetings of the chapter were held in the Board Room of the Coconut Grove Bank. Shortly thereafter, the chapter moved to Ransom School to accommodate the larger and fast growing membership. Ultimately, the general meetings were moved to Monty's Restaurant in the 1980's and has remained there ever since.
Chapter Success for the Coconut Grove Jaycees (JCI)
Quickly, the Chapter began to flourish increasing its membership exponentially and running major events in Miami that had profound impact on the community. By hosting leadership development seminars and organizing project management mentor programs, the Jaycees truly made a difference in Miami. Then came the awards. In addition to the yearly recognition the Jaycees received from various organizations and businesses around Miami, the Coconut Grove Jaycees became the bench mark for all other Jaycee chapters in the country.
In the 1980's, the United States Jaycees had over 10,000 Junior Chamber organizations in large and small cities around the country. During that time, they recognized 8 chapters yearly as the best chamber in the country for various city population levels. This award was called the Howard Award and the Coconut Grove Jaycees won the Howard Award eight years in a row during the 1980's. Often called the "CPG Wizard," Kim Newlin helped administratively to produce top-notch Annual Reports that captured the incredible work done by the Chapter during this amazing run.
Even more impressive, the United States Jaycees recognize only one chamber in the country as the Most Outstanding Junior Chamber in the entire United States. This award is called the Marks Award and it is the crown jewel of Jaycee Awards in this country. Twice in the 1980's, the Jaycees were named recipient of the Marks Award as the Best of the Best. First, during the presidency of Chris Korge in 1985-86 and a second time during the presidency of Nevin Kanner in 1988-89.
This Chapter went even further under the presidency of Joneen Corrao, being named the Most Outstanding Chapter in the World by Junior Chamber International (JCI). It was a tremendous honor for such a young chapter, but one that would continue to define the legacy of the Coconut Grove Jaycees.
Through-out the 1980's and 1990's, the Chapter would continue to win numerous accolades both locally and nationally. The Florida Jaycees routinely ranked the Chapter as one of the best in the State throughout the entirety of the 1990's and the leaders of the Chapter worked tirelessly to live up to the reputation built in the 1980's.
Rising Phoenix
In 2001, the front page of the JCI website described the Coconut Grove Jaycees as a "Rising Phoenix" for its successes that year growing the membership back over 200 members and leading the way in the national organization. New blood and fresh ideas put the Coconut Grove Jaycees again at the forefront leading the way in this great organization. During a great three year run under President Patrick Knight (2001 and 2002) that continued through 2003 under the presidency of Sonny Valladares, the Coconut Grove Jaycees shot to the top once again running large events and projects that impacted the community both locally and internationally.
Once again, the United States Jaycees recognized the Chapter as the Best of the Best awarding it the Marks Award for the third time in the Chapter's history. But no one expected the historic accomplishments of 2002, when the Coconut Grove Jaycees continued to excel becoming only the second chapter in U.S. Jaycee history to be named the Marks Award recipient for two consecutive years. Thus, in addition to winning the Howard Award in 2001 and 2002, the Coconut Grove Jaycees were named the Most Outstanding Chapter in the country back-to-back and it just seemed that this is where the trophy belongs.
In 2002, the Chapter was also named the Most Outstanding in all of the Americas, which covers chapters from Canada to Chile. (called Area C in Junior Chamber International). At the 2002 World Congress, JCI President Bruce Rector recognized the Chapter as one of the three best chapters in the world.
The Chapter continued its run in 2003 by holding the first ever Miami Leadership Conference, which attracted young leaders and professionals from several states and at least four other countries. The Jaycees also resurrected the long defunct Bed Races in Coconut Grove, bringing in huge crowds to celebrate a wacky Fourth of July in the Grove with the race, a concert and, of course, fireworks. The chapter continues to thrive today by utilizing its unique approach to creating young stars in the community.
Past Presidents of the Chapter
The past Presidents of the Coconut Grove Jaycees are impressive to say the least. Some of these fine young leaders of our organization have gone on to great success in politics, business, finance and the law. Within the Jaycees, our chapter has produced a Florida Jaycee President (Neil Richardson), a U.S. Jaycee National Legal Counsel (Patrick Knight) and several Florida Jaycee Vice-Presidents (Wayne Bearden, Tim Blake, Paul Deering, Bruce Hoffmann, Kim Newlin, and others).
In the private sector, past officers of the Jaycees reads like a Who's Who in Miami. Many of top politicians like Florida CFO Tom Gallagher, former state senator Dick Anderson and former Miami-Dade County Alex Penelas got their start in the Coconut Grove Jaycees. The success and influence in Miami of past members like Chris Korge, Bing Herald, Bruce Hoffman and others shows the quality of leaders produced in the chapter. The Coconut Grove Arts Festival is annually inundated with Board Members, sponsors and volunteers who were once Coconut Grove Jaycee members, including most recently Carlos Chialastri. Our goal is to produce leaders for the community and it starts with this impressive list of past presidents.
Presidents of the Coconut Grove Jaycees (JCI):
1976-77 Harry Sharp
1977-78 E. Andy Hancock
1978-79 J. Bruce Hoffmann
1979-80 Joe Krutulis
1980-81 Mike Byrne
1981-82 Neil Richardson
1982-83 Randy Smith
1983-84 Bing Herald
1984-85 Chris Ball
1985-86 Chris Korge
1986-87 Carlos Chialastri
1987-88 Joneen Corrao
1988-89 Nevin Kanner
1989-90 Daniel Markus
1990-91 Steve Hyatt
1991-92 Holly Etkins
1993-94 Debra Jeanne Saunders
1994-95 Mark Ewbank
1995-96 Felino Gonzalez
1996-97 Bobbie Bublak
1997-98 Debbie Herr (16 months)
1999 Luis Fernandez
2000 Jim Moore
2001 Patrick Knight
2002 Patrick Knight
2003 Sonny Valladares
2004 Joe Carey
2005 George Jaramillo
2006 Bill Mickey
2007 Adi Quintana
2008 Hernando Gomez
JCI Senators
The highest honor a Jaycee member can be given is a JCI Senatorship, which infers a life-time membership on the recipient and is only awarded to Jaycee members who have shown exceptional leadership during their years as a Jaycee. It is an award that few Jaycees in the world can claim to have received and the Coconut Grove Jaycees have produced some of the best Senators to date:
Wayne Bearden - Joneen Corrao
Barbara Bearden - Nevin Kanner
Robert F. Barney - Jr. Daniel Markus
Paul Deering - Debra Jeanne Saunders
J. Bruce Hoffman - Holly Etkins
Kim Newlin - Marianne Romano
Michael J. Byrne - Gail Bernstein
Randy Smith - Bing Herald
Neil Richardson - Chris Ball
Joe Krutulis - Carlos Chialastri
Bill McAllister - Mark Ewbank
Chris Korge - Pam White
Robert Brennan - Bobbie (Bublak) Ewbank
Debbie (Herr) Moore
