Meet Tanya Denise Haubner, President of the Decatur Jaycees

Family: Husband, Brian; child, Aidan Lee; and stepchildren, Cerena and William Haubner.

Occupation: My day to day job is with Corp Trav, which is based in Lombard. I arrange and assist in the planning of business travel for VIPs and business travelers to locations around the world. I work from home which allows me to live in Decatur, closer to my family.

Education: I'm a 1990 graduate of Warrensburg-Latham High School and I've undergone training at the Southeast Travel Academy and the American Airlines Training facilities in Dallas.

My "I'd rather be ..." bumper sticker would read: "I'd rather be in PARIS!" If I could have a vacation home anywhere in the world it would be France and more specifically, Paris. I've had the opportunity to travel there about seven times and I love it - the food, the atmosphere, the people, everything. I became a travel agent so I could travel the world.

Hobbies/interests: Cooking, party planning, camping, amusement parks, travel, scrapbooking and photography.

Personal approaches to challenges: I have had lots of practice dealing with challenges of all sorts - as a mom and stepmother, as a customer service agent in many jobs and as the president of the largest Jaycee state in the nation in 2008. Whatever the situation, I have found that you can deal with challenges in the same manner. Talk to people the way you would want to be talked to if you had the problem. Find out the root of the issue, find out everyone's point of view on the matter and then make sure they understand that you heard them and their concerns. If people feel like you are listening to them, even if they are wrong, they are more apt to listen to you when it's your turn to fix the situation. You must learn how to leave out your personal thoughts and feelings and learn that everyone has good ideas and something they can offer to you.

Community involvement: I have always been involved in someway in community organizations. My parents joined the Decatur Jaycees when I was 3 years old and I was raised in the organization. When I turned 21 in 1993, I joined the Jaycees for myself as a member and it took off from there. I moved from chapter officer to positions in the district, region and state. I held the office of state president in 2008 and served as an assistant to the national president in 2010. I think that everyone should be involved in their community in one way or another and that it's important for our children to know that there are people out there that need our help and that our involvement helps us grow into future leaders. In addition to the Jaycees, I'm currently serving as Cub Master for Pack 147 in Forsyth. Everyone always asks me why I am involved in everything and tell me that I should take some time for myself. But when I'm not volunteering, I feel lost.

What are the Jaycees? Tell us a bit about the Decatur chapter.

The United States Junior Chamber (Jaycees) gives young people between the ages of 18 and 40 the tools they need to build the bridges of success for themselves in the areas of business development, management skills, individual training, community service and international connections. Established in 1920 to provide opportunities for young men to develop personal and leadership skills through service to others, the Jaycees later expanded to include women, reflecting the growing influence and leadership of women in America.

In Decatur, the Jaycees started in February 1941 and have been a driving force ever since. There are so many things in Decatur that have happened because of the Jaycee movement. We were involved in the starting of the JFL program, the airport and the park systems. We built the Japanese gardens in Nelson Park and the Fourth of July celebration started because of the Jaycees. We have been running the haunted house for 35-plus years and the Christmas parade since 1947.

Most people are aware of the group's involvement with the Christmas parade and haunted house. What else does it do? The Decatur Jaycees were the first nonprofit organization to partner with the Relay for Life. We run the special needs Easter egg hunt for Easter Seals. We collect food for local pantries, provide senior citizens with socials and activities and help send children with disabilities to summer camp.

We run several events throughout the year to raise funds for our projects, including car shows, poker runs, bar olympics and other fun activities for adults and children. We also provide our members with training courses on such things as time management, stress management and public speaking.

What do you require of your members? How can I get involved? Our members are men and women, ages 18 to 41. We have meetings at 7 p.m. on the second Wednesday of the month for about an hour and then whatever projects we have each month. Normally, it's one weekend a month. We ask that all our members take charge of at least one project each year with assistance from the past chairman. The best part about the Jaycees is that we can run any project you think the community needs. If you have a money-raising idea or a community service idea, we can help make it happen. It's easy to get involved.

You recently changed to an evening lighted Christmas parade. Why? How has it been received? We changed the parade to a night time parade three years ago at the request of the downtown council at the time. They had several people who really wanting a lighted parade and I had run one in St. Charles for several years when I lived in that area. We took the chance and it really has turned out well. Overall, the response has been great. Of course, there has been some resistance to change. When it has been the same for more than 60 years, it's hard to change things. We are excited that over the past three years, the parade has grown and more groups are getting involved and adding more and more lights.

What is the biggest challenge when it comes to organizing the parade? I think the biggest challenge is getting entries. It does take some time to put an entry together and finding groups and businesses to participate seems to always be the largest challenge. I would like to make sure everyone knows that everyone is welcome and you don't have to have a HUGE entry to have fun. A group of walkers and a scene in the back of your pickup truck is great. Of course, we love to have as many floats as possible, but really the community just wants to come and see everyone coming together to help start the season with a celebration.

What do you like best about the parade? I love to see the look on the kids faces as I ride the route and all the people smiling and thanking the Jaycees for another job well done. It just starts the Christmas season off with a warm feeling of togetherness as a community.