by David Chapman
Staff Writer
Meninak stays up late to mark 90th year
In an evening one could have associated with New Year’s Eve, close to 150 members of the Meninak Club of Jacksonville celebrated its 90th anniversary with an all-night gala at San Jose Country Club that counted down the minutes until the clock struck midnight.
“I was really, really impressed by the turnout,” said Meninak President Bunky Johnson. “You hate to say it, but the economy can be a factor ... but everyone made it and celebrated this special night.”
The club was founded on Nov. 14, 1919, a Friday, but with Nov. 14 being a Saturday this year, Johnson said the challenge was to keep things as similar as possible — thus the idea to celebrate Friday the 13th into the night instead of Saturday.
“This is a big moment in the history of our organization,” he said. “We wanted to ring in the 91st year with a bang.”
Johnson said the goal was to get both the Club’s past presidents and young executives heavily involved in the night’s program that featured many of the familiar themes of the weekly meets – including the singing of the Meninak Song.
The evening featured a welcome cocktail reception, dinner and dancing along with a casino-night theme leading to the big moment.
“It really was a fun evening,” said Johnson. “We celebrated our past, but are also looking toward the future to do some great things.”
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