2019 Line Up

President: Ronni Stalter

Ronni’s Jaycees journey began in January of 2016. She first worked on the Peoria Jaycees International Beer Festival on the promotions committee. After that, she chaired her first project, the Das Bier Run 5k, held in conjunction with the Peoria Park District and German- American Society’s Oktoberfest. Since then, she led Individual Development and Community Development as a board member and began new projects like Bean Bags and Blankets (a film appreciation event for board members), Monet and Merlot (our very own Jaycees Paint Night). This year she plans to implement new projects, seek out new members, and lead the Peoria Jaycees through another fantastic year of improving the Peoria Area Community!

Chairman of the Board: Barry Pinter

Barry has been a Peoria Jaycee since 2013. It has been a lot of fun ever since. His first project was Superfest, our annual Super Bowl party.  After a year of going to many events, he was awarded Rookie of the Year for the chapter. Barry became more involved and became secretary of the Jaycees for two years and in 2015 won the Illinois state award for Secretary of the Year. He was a local director of the chapter in 2016, then moved into the Membership Chairman in 2017 where he had a booth at the local farmer’s market, an event that was nominated by the state as an Outstanding Project of the 2nd Trimester. That year Barry also won the Outstanding Membership VP in the state.  He was president of the 2018 Peoria Jaycees. Barry is looking forward to another amazing year of Jaycees projects that helps the community and impacts it’s members in a positive way!

Chapter Management: Abbie Alsene

Abbie joined the Jaycees in 2013. One of her first projects was helping at the Beer Festival, selling tickets, and making friends with the distributors. Since then, a couple of her most notable events have included co-chairing the Firecracker 5000 5k run/walk and starting a Craft Beer and Holiday Recipe Swap. She is excited to be the Chapter Management VP to help get Peoria Jaycees recognized for being amazing.

Community Development VP: Val Swearingen

Val has been part of the Peoria Jaycees since 2009. For the last decade, she has held multiple board positions including the title of President in 2011. She began as a committee member for the Peoria Jaycees International Beer Festival and will celebrate her 10th year of involvement with one of the Peoria Jaycees’ largest events! She credits the Jaycees for some of the lifelong friendships she’s made and the opportunities she’s had to meet new people. Outside of the Jaycees, Val enjoys beer, sports (Go Duke!), concerts, slow pitch softball, and most importantly, spending time with her son Matthew – who is currently learning to play Fortnite. Val is looking forward to returning to the Peoria Jaycees board and working to better the community!

Individual Development VP: Kristina Peckmann

Kristina has often been quoted as saying she is “fairly certain that given a cape and a tiara, she could save the world,” but we’ll save that for another time. She has been in the Peoria Jaycees for 4 years and initially began her journey as a committee member for the Peoria Jaycees International Beer Festival. Since then, she has held various board positions in Membership VP, Chapter Management VP, Social Media Local Director, and Development VP. Kristina’s time is spent mostly with her family, but also plotting new adventures for the Peoria Jaycees like our newest event, Deck the Bars. Her competitive holiday-themed bar crawl brainchild has been a huge hit in the Peoria Heights for the past two years and she and her co-chair (Kristin Petersheim of Team KP) plan on growing the event in the coming years! She is excited to return to the Peoria Jaycees board and improve our individual skills!

Membership Development VP: Saad Jaka

Saad Jaka joined the Jaycees in 2014. As a recent transplant to Peoria, he sought out a social service group as a way to learn more about the community and to give back. Since joining the Peoria Jaycees, Saad held a variety of board positions such as Community Development VP, Chapter Management VP, and in the past year he served as President of the Chapter. Saad enjoys the Jaycees as its a fun group to be around and there is always something new to do and to learn. As President Saad, set out to enhance the Jaycees capabilities in having a positive impact in the community and being a member of the Jaycees a fun and exciting prospect. As Chairman of the Board, Saad will advise the current President and Board of Directors on matters related to the Jaycees.

Outside of the Jaycees, Saad enjoys discussing politics, religion, and history. He is a huge sports fan and since he is originally from Wisconsin, he is an avid Badgers and Packer fan. In his free time, Saad enjoys playing Tennis and Soccer, exploring the area, watching movies and playing video games.

Treasurer: Kate Meins

Kate has been in the Jaycees for 3.5 years. In the past two years she has chaired the scholarship program for the local high schools and our charter school, as well as co-chairing Santa’s Little Helper this year. Kate has had the honor of serving on the board for the last three years and is very excited about serving as the Treasurer this year. In her spare time, she loves to go trap and skeet shooting, walks with her adorable dog Dexter (who also makes an appearance at paint nights on occasion), painting, reading, and cooking for her loved ones.