A club that has a lengthy history supporting Jamestown High School is dissolving.

The 100 Member Club has been in existence as an alumni-based community organization since 1944 but was officially incorporated on Oct. 23, 2000, under the state’s not-for-profit corporation laws. The club exists to provide scholarships to outstanding JHS graduates based on scholastic achievement, distinction in extracurricular activities and noteworthy community service. It also provides gifts to Jamestown High School and the Jamestown Public Schools District that enhance educational programs and school-sponsored extracurricular programs that are otherwise not included in the district’s yearly or capital budgets.

A petition filed by Cynthia Lind Hanson, 100 Member Club president, and filed by attorney Eddie Sundquist in early April states the club has been awarding scholarships since its founding but that the club’s ability to manage funds, track recipient outcomes and administratively handle donations has become a burden on its board of directors because the club has no staff. All administrative functions are handled by the board. The club also no longer maintains an active roll of members. The 100 Member Club has a mailing list of more than 1,000 individuals who have attended an event or given a contribution in the past. Membership had been awarded to those who gave a $10 donation to the organization, but there aren’t records of who made the donation for membership. Many who are believed to have been members have either passed away, moved or left the area with no forward address. Attempts to have an annual meeting in 2025 attracted fewer than 12 people in addition to the board. That’s far too few to have a legal quorum in order to actually conduct the club’s business

Hanson and Sundquist said the club has $160,295.30 on hand as of Dec. 31, 2025, with no expected incoming donations and no debts. The 100 Member Club doesn’t own any assets.

It is proposed that the more than $160,000 remaining in the 100 Member Club’s bank accounts be given to the Chautauqua Region Community Foundation to be managed as a scholarship endowment and donor-advised fund.

“Based on the board’s discussions, working with the Chautauqua Region Community Foundation and allowing them to invest the organization’s remaining assets, scholarship gift amounts would be prudently invested and increased and the administrative burdens this organization faces would be wholly handled by the Community Foundation’s full-time staff,” the petition states.

Club members held a dissolution vote on Oct. 21, 2025, and voted to approve donor agreements pending judicial approval. The judicial approval process has begun in state Supreme Court. One issue the group is asking the court to handle is waiving the quorum requirements in the 100 Member Club’s bylaws. Those bylaws require 100 members or 10% of the votes that may be cast at a meeting in order to take formal votes.

“Since the organization lacks a formal membership roll and has been unable to track down members due to death, relocation and other issues, along with lack of attendance at annual meetings, the organization seeks permission to waive the quorum vote of members for dissolution … The organization has often communicated with members via its mailing list, but many addresses have been returned undeliverable in the past year.”

The state Attorney General’s office signed off on the dissolution earlier this month.