HISTORY OF THE JCI SENATE

In 1951 Phil Pugsley of Montreal, Canada became the seventh JCI President. Phil soon persuaded John Armbruster (see History of The Crew) to edit a world-wide publication, 'The Elder Statesman'. John personally produced and distributed this, keeping the flames of the Jaycee Movement burning warmly for many alumni.

Pugsley was the president of an organization that had little in the way of funds. In fact, records passed on to him covering the years 1946 to 1951 only weighed 16 pounds; he left his successor 400 pounds. An unpaid secretariat existed in Ottawa, Canada thanks in large measure to the support and facilities provided by Ivan Sparks, Phil's Secretary-General, and his father Bill Sparks. Bill, through the international moving company he founded, supported Ivan's travels and provided the storage for all JCI records.

In early 1952 Pugsley met with the Jaycee representative to the United Nations, Sid Boxer, in New York. They conceived the idea that a group of honoured Jaycees should be formed to help to strengthen Jaycees International.

Phil pressed the concept on all his travels. Doug Hoge, US Jaycees Vice President for International Affairs, vividly retells the story of being on a bus in Panama in 1952 with Pugsley strongly pushing the concept. Pugsley presented his plan for JCI Senatorships at the World Congress in Melbourne, Australia in 1952; it was adopted by the general assembly as a category of membership.

Phil initially envisaged the Senate as a means of raising development funds for JCI while substituting for the plaques and trophies otherwise given to retiring Jaycee officers. When he was elected at the JCI World Congress in Montreal in 1951 there was no money in the budget for travel nor even money to pay for postage. Both Pugsley and Sparks used limited personal and family resources to further the Jaycee Movement. Thanks to the Senate becoming an early source of development funds, Pugsiey's successor, Roberto Villaneuva of the Philippines hired the first full-time Secretary-General and established a permanent Secretariat.

Senator #1 is "Jake" Gonzales of The Philippines who was killed in an aircraft accident while on Jaycee business. Senators #2 and #3 respectively are Phil Pugsley and John Armbruster.

Phil formed the Montreal Senate Club in 1952 to enable a continuity of contact between individuals and to provide a subtle link between past and present Jaycees. The Montreal Senate Club is the oldest continuous operating Senate Club in the World.

Phil Pugsley, never a well man, died in Montreal in 1963 at the age of 51. He had survived a childhood lung ailment for some 25 years longer than his doctors had predicted. His widow Marion participated in Senate affairs and was the Honourary Life President of both the Montreal Senate Club and the Canada JCI Senate until her death in 1996.

Today the award of a JCI Senatorship is an honour that requires the approval of the local, national and international presidents. About one percent of all Jaycees ever achieve this status. To date this honour has been awarded to some 58,OOO Jaycees in more than 80 countries.