A great big welcome to Heather Loew! Heather joined us just a few short months ago. She was born and raised in Hingham, Massachusetts. Her dad was a Jaycee in Hingham, so Heather is no stranger to what we do! Heather went to college in New York, but came back home to Massachusetts. She and her husband Max have been married for three years and have lived in Foxboro a short few years. Some of Heather's hobbies are reading (hhmm...book club, are you reading this?), cooking and walking. She has never been a part of an organization like the Jaycees, and she is very much looking forward to getting her feet wet with activities! The community work we do is really what drew Heather to us. She's already scoped out the website, in face, that is how she found us! Heather couldn't help but smile when we spoke. She is very excited to be part of the Foxboro Jaycees. When you see Heather at our next event, please greet her and make her feel welcome! See you all at the July GM!

Mindi was born in New Orleans, Louisiana and now resides in Natick, MA. She is a Cosmetics Department Manager at Nordstrom’s in Natick. Mindi heard about the Jaycees in the Improper Bostonian. She thought joining an organization like ours would be a great way to get involved in community activities.

In terms of hobbies, Mindi likes reading, kayaking and cooking. It is a good thing she joined our group because not only do we have a monthly book club, but also many of us kayaked on more than one occasion last summer. Perhaps Cooking 101 should come back! Maybe she can teach many of us to cook!

Mindi is excited to see what kinds of projects are out there. She looks forward to participating in many of the projects that we do. Welcome Mindi Sohr to our Foxboro Jaycees family.

Did You Know…

Ed is married to Jeanette and they have one daughter Jennifer?

Ed’s daughter Jennifer lives with fellow Jaycee member Paul Lanza’s daughter Lauren?

Ed is truly a townie (born and raised in Foxboro)?

Ed joined the Jaycees in October 1989 at the same time as Bob and Jane Webster?

Ed joined because Sandy Daniels (Smith at the time) was so persuasive to his wife that
they come out to a GM?

Ed was the IDVP at one time?

Ed enjoys golfing when he has any free time?

Ed is the star of many Associates Night skits? You might know him as Dick Groh.

Ed has been in the Army/National Guard for 27 years?

When Ed is not in active duty he is an army civilian at Fort Devens as a QA (quality
assurance)?

Ed is currently in active duty for 2 ½ years at Hanscom Air Force Base?

Ed was in Iraq in 2003 to the beginning of 2004? His specialty was in Battalion Communications.

Ed is a 1st down chain guy at Patriots games?

Ed is a high school football referee and was the ref at the Division II HS Super Bowl between Walpole and Bishop Feenan?

As you know, small articles are written up on our new members introducing them to the chapter. When we don’t have new members to learn about, older, (sometimes wiser) and more seasoned members will be spotlighted on. This month’s “Did You Know” is all about Lynn Freersken.

Did You Know…

• Lynn joined the Jaycees at the haunted House in 1993?
• Lynn has held many board positions: Secretary, IDVP and director, W&M VP and director, and Membership VP and director?
• Lynn was Keyman in 1999?
• Lynn received a Frog for ordering a six foot sub on a 7 foot board and going to pick it up in my 5 foot Hyundai?
• Lynn’s favorite projects are Concerts on the Common and Senior Day?
• Lynn has worked at the Learning Link in Plainville for 18 yrs and she has owned it for 3 years?
• Lynn’s parents live in Mansfield down the street from her brother?
• Lynn has a son, Mike, who is 26 and lives in Attleboro?
• Lynn loves to read and makes it to the Book Club when she hosts?!
• Lynn loves movies from the 30’s and 40’s?
• Lynn loves the TV show “My Name is Earl?”

Welcome Andrew Hewitt to the Jaycee family. Many of you know Andrew from the Haunted House. He was backstage (right after the maze by the big mirror) and scared the living daylights of anyone who passed by him. Andrew was born in Connecticut and now lives in Mansfield, MA.

Andrew has many hobbies. He likes toy trains, baking, cooking, computers, animals, music, comedy, arts and crafts and movies. Many of us know that he is an excellent baker. Andrew made some pumpkin rolls for us after the Haunted House was over a couple of Saturday nights. They were delicious!

Andrew has also been a part of the Cub Scouts. He would love to be a part of any project that has to do with Halloween and baking. Perhaps he can help all of us bake if the project Cooking 101 comes back!

Thank you Andrew for helping us with the Haunted House. We are pleased to have you in our chapter and we look forward to seeing you at the different projects throughout the year. Welcome Andrew to the Foxboro Jaycees!

As you know, small articles are written up on our new members introducing them to the chapter. When we don’t have new members to learn about, older, (sometimes wiser) and more seasoned members will be spotlighted on. This month’s “Did You Know” is all about Paul Lanza.

Did you know…

Paul is married to his wife Linda for 33 years? They think of it as 34 years as they got married on the anniversary of their first date.

Paul and Linda have 3 kids? Chris, who just got married, is 30, Lauren is 27 and Brian is 25.

Paul was Rookie of the Year in 1984, his first year in the Jaycees?

Paul always had technical jobs in pollution control?

Paul’s college job for 4 years was working in a research lab in Cambridge that did work with new pollution control techniques?

Paul worked for several Boston based Environmental Engineering firms doing pollution control design for 18 years (after graduation)?

Paul then worked for the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority, managing a group of professional engineers doing design, for 15 years?

Paul has been retired since 2004?

Paul loves riding his Harley, as well as camping, fishing, golfing, target shooting, fixing broken things and helping people?

Paul’s future aspiration is to own a muscle car from the 1970s?

Paul’s favorite Jaycee project is the Haunted House and that he has done it every year for 19 years?

Paul won Best Guide twice and both Best Room & Best Scare with Tom Whiffen when they did the Jail in the Haunted Frontier?

Paul loves seeing the enthusiasm of new Jaycees and to see the renewed energy of older members who have stepped forward to keep the chapter vibrant?

Another person to meet! I would like to welcome Cindy Venuto to our chapter. Cindy found out about the Jaycees through Stephanie Maziarz and she was sworn in at the August 2007 GM. Hopefully some of you had the chance to meet her. Now let’s learn a little bit more about Cindy!

Cindy was born in Canada but now resides here in Foxboro on Cocasset Street. She has three beautiful daughters: Kristen (11), Megan (10), and Julia (8). Cindy works as a customer service representative.

Like many busy moms, Cindy doesn’t have a lot of time for hobbies. She says she is and always will be a supermom who is involved her in kids lives as well as with the community. We love people like that!

She is not new to volunteer work. She has been a part of the PTO, community advisory groups and other volunteer positions that are a part of her kids lives.

Cindy is excited to see what kinds of projects are out there. She wants to be able to contribute in a positive way. I am sure that she will fit right in with us! Welcome Cindy Venuto to our Foxboro Jaycees family.

Did you know…

• Jerry has been a member since 1962

• Jerry has been married to his wife for 49 years

• Jerry has 4 children and 1 grandchild

• Jerry was Wise Fox Editor for about 12 years

• Jerry favorite project was moving the library from Memorial Hall to Boyden Library

• Jerry has been a middle man in construction, a teacher & now drives a special needs bus

• Jerry was CD and ID VP (back then they called it external and internal VP’s), Chapter President, District VP (twice), State VP, Keyman, and a JCI Senator

• Jerry has traveled to the Jaycees National Headquarters in Tulsa as well as St. Louis for the 50th anniversary of the Jaycees

Another person to meet! I would like to welcome Sharon Hall to our chapter. She was sworn in at the May 2007 GM. Hopefully some of you had the chance to meet her. Now let’s learn a little bit more about Sharon!

Sharon was born in Springfield, Massachusetts. She has lived in Foxborough for the past 10 years. She has been married to her husband John since 1992 and they have two children: Nathan (9yrs) and John, aka, JD (5 yrs). Sharon works as a massage therapist and has been since 1995.

In terms of hobbies, Sharon doesn’t have as much time for them as she would like, but she did say she wants to get back into photography and going on nature walks. Sharon has been active within the town of Foxboro. She has been a part of the Newcomers, the MOMS Club and is also a member at Personal Best Karate. Congratulations---she just got her brown belt!

Sharon found out about the Jaycees through Dennis Brennan. Dennis sent her to a GM to bring flyers about a bone marrow drive that will be taking place on Founder’s Day. She liked what she heard, got sworn in and even paid her dues that night!

Sharon is excited to see what kinds of projects are out there. Right now she loves being a mom, a wife, a massage therapist and a Karate student. As she said in her email, “Life is good!” She knows that she is going to enjoy her time with the Jaycees. She looks forward to the opportunity to contribute to the community. Welcome Sharon Hall to our Foxboro Jaycees family.

Another person to meet! I would like to welcome Vanessa Linke to our chapter. She was sworn in at the January 2007 GM. Hopefully some of you had the chance to meet her. I had the chance to talk with her over the phone, I learned a lot of interesting information.

Vanessa was born and raised in Berlin, Germany. She moved to the United States on July 4th, 2000. She has dual citizenship, speaks fluent German, and decided after high school she wanted to study in the United States. She went to Western Carolina University, majoring in International Business. Before moving to Bellingham, MA last November, Vanessa lived in Asheville, North Carolina for 6 ½ years. She is a Data Analyst for Global Sourcing.
In terms of hobbies, Vanessa likes reading, hanging out with friends, listening to music and traveling. Vanessa is an avid traveler. She has been to many countries, including Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Japan and the Canary Islands to just name a few!

Vanessa might be new to the Foxboro Jaycees, but not new to the Jaycee organization. She was an active member of a chapter down in North Carolina. She served on their board of directors for two years. Her first year she was the PR Director and in her second year she was the VP of Community Development. A couple of projects that Vanessa enjoyed participating in were Art on Tap (an art exhibition) as well as working in a Soup Kitchen for veterans. When she knew that she was relocating to Massachusetts, she went on the National Jaycee website and saw that there was a chapter in Foxboro. She came out to Caroling on the Common and obviously liked what she saw because as mentioned before, she joined our chapter at the January GM.

Vanessa is excited to see what kinds of projects are out there. She wants to perhaps join some committees and looks forward to participating in many of the projects that we do. Welcome Vanessa Linke to our Foxboro Jaycees family.

More people to meet! Here we have the tag team of Cindy and John McCann. Hopefully you have met them during the month of October because of the Haunted House, but if you haven’t, here is some information on them.

Cindy was born and raised in Salem, MA and moved to West Roxbury for one year before moving to Foxboro. John was born in Boston, lived in Rockland as a kid and then to West Roxbury. They moved to Foxboro in 1982. They have been married since 1999, but have been together since 1981. Cindy has one child, Danielle - 28. John has 3 kids, Lori - 32, Lisa - 30 and John - 27.

Cindy has known about the Jaycees for a long time. In fact, her daughter used to work at the HH when she was a teenager. They got hooked up at the HH with Tom Sawran and Randy Groves. They loved it so much that they came back night, after night, after night!

In terms of hobbies, Cindy likes to scrapbook, read and walk. Perhaps she will join us at Scrapbooking and Book Club. She doesn’t mind trying new things, such as acting in a Haunted House!!! John likes to hunt, ride his motorcycle and go snowmobiling.
They both look forward to participating in many of the projects that we do. Welcome John and Cindy McCann to our Foxboro Jaycees family.

by Monica Rigamonti-Please welcome Jeanne Suttie to our chapter. Jeanne was born in Winchester, lived in Lowell for the first 18 years of her life and now resides in Dracut, MA. Jeanne enjoys cooking, reading, drawing and doing different kinds of crafts. She also plays darts on a league. She is day care certified but currently works as a camp counselor at Nashoba Valley Summer Camp. She is finishing her Residential Property Management Certificate and Certified Apartment Mangers Designation.

Jeanne is not new to the concept of the Jaycees. Her parents were Jaycees and both were also senators. She was told that she was a Jaycee project complete with a CPG! When she was just 3 months old, she was at her first Jaycee National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio in 1980.

She has been helping out here and there with Senator things throughout the years. She is also a member of the Masonic Order of Easter Star and as a member she has made speeches, as well as participated in fund raising activities for the chapter and community. It looks like Jeanne has a lot of background knowledge and experience that she can bring to our chapter!

Even though she lives out of town and is quite busy, she is willing to try almost anything and looks forward to learning more about our chapter in Foxboro. We are pleased to have you in our chapter and we look forward to seeing you at the different projects throughout the year. Welcome Jeanne to the Foxboro Jaycees!

By Monica Rigamonti--Please welcome Bill Dempsey to our chapter. Bill was born and raised in Hamilton, Massachusetts. He now resides in Foxboro with his wife of 23 years, Kathy, and his 15-year-old son, James. Bill enjoys most outdoor sports, which include hiking, camping, canoeing, fishing and also gardening. Bill started a new job this past November. He is a Financial Advisor at Smith Barney in Boston.

Bill is excited about being a part of the Jaycees. He came out to the New Member Orientation the night of the January GM, listened to all the wonderful things that we do, and joined a month later. He believes that joining the Jaycees is a good opportunity to get back into the community swing of things. It is also a lot of fun to know and work with other people in the community.

Bill is not new to community organizations. When his son was younger, he was active in Cub Scouts as an assistant cub master as well as participating in Little League Baseball. His wife is also active in the Newcomers Club. He also used to help Rick Guiliano and the Republican Town Committee in running the 3 on 3 basketball tournament on Founders Day. Since that activity has been passed on to a new group, he looks forward to the Founder’s Day activities that the Jaycees participate in every year.

We are pleased to have you in our chapter and we look forward to seeing you at the different projects throughout the year. Welcome Bill to the Foxboro Jaycees!

By Monica Rigamonti--Gregory Widmer joined us a few months ago. Greg was born in Lincoln, Illinois and now resides in North Attleboro, MA with his wife, Jennifer. They have been married for 4 years. Rumor has it that we got Greg because food was being served…Ice cream sundaes to be exact! Greg enjoys watching and playing sports, playing card and board games, and or course playing with his Playstation 2. He is a DEDICATED Chicago Bears and Cubs fan!

Along with Jennifer, Greg was an active member in the Naperville, IL Jaycees chapter prior to moving to Massachusetts. He looks forward to becoming an active member within our chapter. He has already helped out in many projects even before joining the chapter. On behalf of the Foxboro Jaycees, we welcome you!

By Monica Rigamonti--Please welcome Dawn Rossi to our chapter. Dawn was born in Milwaukee, WI but now resides in Foxboro. She has been married for 6 years to her husband, Steve and has three children. Her stepson Alex is 17, Steven is 5 and Joey is 4. It seems like Dawn is a little outnumbered in her household!

When asked about her hobbies, Dawn laughed and replied, taking care of her kids! When she does have time, she likes to golf and once was an avid camper. She likes to try new things, if and when she can find the time!

Dawn is not new to civic organizations. Growing up, Dawn was an Explorer Scout. She started out as a Girl Scout and when she reached the age of 14, she decided to switch to the coed Explorer Scouts! Here she did a lot of camping, and canoeing. Hopefully Dawn and her family can find some time this coming summer to participate in the canoe trip, camping/hiking trip or the whitewater rafting trip.

After seeing the activities we do for the community, Dawn wanted to be a part of that. We are pleased to have you in our chapter and we look forward to seeing you at the different projects throughout the year. Welcome Dawn to the Foxboro Jaycees!

By Monica Rigamonti--More people to meet! Here we have the tag team of Mark and Wendy Kerchoff. Hopefully you have met them within this last month, but if you haven’t, here is some information on them.

Wendy was born in Brockton, MA and Mark was born in Fargo, ND. They have been married for 8 years and according to Wendy, they have been 8 LONG years! They now reside in Foxboro, where they live with their two children, Victoria, 6, and Bryden, 1.

Mark enjoys woodworking, archery, working around the yard and flying. Wendy enjoys scrapbooking, photography, and reading. She also seems a bit adventurous because she said she is just about open to try anything! They both look forward to participating in many of the projects that we do. Welcome Kerchoff family to our Foxboro Jaycees family.

By Bob Gillis--She’s been a bank robber, a Voodoo priestess, and Queen of the Fallen Angels. She’s run some of the most imaginative rooms at the Haunted House. She loves Chocolate, Lobster, shrimp, and pizza with black olives, mushrooms and onions. She’s a closet Trekkie, has a drink named after her (the Niki Drink: Midori and Lemonade, sweet but good!). She’s strong-willed, intelligent, hard working, very spiritual, and in touch with nature and Mother Earth, and is one of the most interesting people you may ever meet. She’s Niki Melish, this month’s who’s who victim!

BG: “Where did you grow up?”

NM: “Foxborough, aka Jocksboro (some fun jock bashing from my high school days!)”

BG: “What do you do for a living?”

NM: “I work at CVS in Sharon where I'm a Photo Tech and Pharmacy Tech. but my dream job would be making music videos.”

BG: “How did you learn about the Foxboro Jaycees? “

NM: “My Uncle Paul and Aunt Tami were Jaycees and invited us to go to the Haunted House (Old England year [1993]).

BG: “That was the year Sue and I joined – we guided back then… Why did you join the Jaycees? “

NM: “Aside from still having scars from where my mother held me and offered me up to Jack the Ripper, I fell in love with the idea of the Haunted House and the Jaycees in general. I couldn't believe you could have so much fun while helping the community. I want to do as much as I can to help the Jaycees continue to help the community and others in need.”

Niki has always been a friend to the Jaycees, and her dedication and enthusiasm are contagious. She readily took on the task of Head of the Rooms at our last haunt (and did a great job).

She has been a familiar face at many Jaycee events for years, and became a member last year when she turned 21. Like some of other younger members, it’s hard to image that Niki is ONLY in her twenties. In my friendship with her I’ve seen that there is a quiet maturity and wisdom that is usually reserved for people who are much older. She has a deeply spiritual side, and while working at the haunted house she shared many fascinating stories with me. I encouraged her to share one now.

NM: “Years ago I was climbing a mountain in Ireland to get to ancient caves with my dad, where I proved to him that ghosts/spirits exist. Inside the cave I pointed next to me and told him there was a presence there. He, being the atheist of the family, laughed and took a picture with the digital camera. When we got back to my Great-aunt Madge's house and looked at the picture, there was a smoke form of a human standing right where I was pointing. Dad jumped off the couch and told everyone that it was not there when he took the picture. Now he believes!”

In addition to chairing one of our essay contests, Niki will be joining the Jaycee board in May as our ID Director and is excited about some new ideas. Niki, we’re so happy you’ve joined us. Welcome!

By Cathy Kelson-Reid--Jennifer and her husband Greg, (or if you were at the New Members Social you may remember him as Dave) moved to Massachusetts from Chicago just last October. They moved out here because of work and only had a week to find a home. They got lucky and found one in Whitman and live there now. So she works well under pressure, a great quality in a Jaycee. They both work for insurance companies, Jennifer for Travelers Insurance and Greg at Liberty .

While Jennifer lived in Chicago she was a very active member of the Chicago Jaycees. This was a very large chapter with a ½ million-dollar budget. She held positions on the Board of Directors and chaired projects like Santa Train, Basketball Tournaments, Golf Tournaments, Holiday Food baskets and the one that peaks my interest the most was a fund raising concert called The Last Fling. The Last Fling was a 3-day event she organized with carnival rides, games and stages with multiple performers. For this concert she brought in such acts as Blues Traveler, Dave Matthews and many local groups. She made over $300,000.00 for ways and means with this one. She found us just in time! With the Haunted House’s future unknown, her experience may be able to help us pull together a new big money maker. She also produced concerts in college so she brings in lots of experience. One notable concert back in her college days was Marilyn Manson.

As I said she found us just in time! How did she find us, you ask? Bob Gillis’ fantastic web site reeled her in. She knew she wanted to find another Jaycee Chapter to join after they moved so she went online to start her search for an active chapter. She happened upon our site and saw that we are one of the most active in Massachusetts with a great representation on the Web. The rest is history.

Jennifer has already jumped right in to being an active member. She put in many hours at the Haunted House, so some may remember her as Priscilla and has already signed up to chair the Kids Christmas Party and The New Years Baby. I am going to shoot to win that one.

I myself and really excited about all the experience and new fresh idea Jennifer brings with her to the chapter and can’t wait to join some of her committees. Welcome to Massachusetts Jennifer and Greg and most of all welcome to the Foxboro Jaycees, we are lucky you found us!

By Bob Webster--We had a new member swear in at the August 2003 GM. (was it the blue margaritas?) Her name is Jenn Allsop and her long time chum Cathy Kelson-Reid introduced her to the Jaycees. Jenn is single and grew up in Bellingham. She has lived on Sherman Street in Foxboro for three years and is a manager at a mutual fund company. She attended the New Member’s Social, which was right down the street at the Emery’s, and she looks forward to being involved at this years’ Haunted House.

Now, that is all the information I could come up with from talking with Jenn. But, through my “who’s who moles”, I have discovered that Jenn is quite the adventurer! She has made multiple sky diving jumps, as well as being a certified underwater diver. She does extensive traveling and has taken professional racecar driving lessons. It sounds like she should be chairing some interesting ID projects in the future!

Welcome to the Foxboro Jaycees, Jenn!

By Bob Webster--We also have new addition from the October GM and her name is Monica Joshi. Monica was sucked in…I mean referred by another newer member, Jen Allsop. They work together at a mutual fund company, where Monica is a corporate trainer.

Monica recently moved to Attleboro from Rhode Island, but she has actually lived in many places. She attended high school and college in Alabama and has also lived in Georgia. Looks like another “southern belle”! She gets a big kick out of the Boston accent on a lot of people she runs into.

Monica had already helped on a Jaycee project before she even joined. She was the official “Ice Cream Girl” at Family Night Out. She loved her first trip through the Haunted House and was scared as can be. She liked it enough to try rear guiding the next weekend. She has also signed on to chair Adopt a Kid for Christmas and the New Year’s Baby projects. It sounds like she will earn that Caribbean Cruise that she and Jen are taking later in January! Welcome, Monica.