cover story
Story by Audrey Watkins, Photos by Dero Sanford

It only takes a few minutes with the group of young men who recently founded Jonesboro’s League of Extraordinary Gentlemen to ascertain one thing: This is no old school social club.

While the club’s chosen name is reflective of the membership’s desire to be known as courteous and honorable young men, the group’s founders say its origin was admittedly less than profound.

JHS senior John McDaniel, who serves as chancellor pro tempore of The League, had just returned from The University of Mississippi Lott Leadership Institute for high school students at the end of July, when he invited a group of friends over to play “Risk,” a strategic board game not so popular among today’s teenagers.

A turn-based game for two to six players, Risk is played on a board depicting a stylized Napoleonic-era political map of the Earth, divided into 42-territories, which are grouped into six continents. Players control armies, with which they attempt to capture territories from other players. The goal of the game is to control all the territories or “conquer the world” through the elimination of other players.

“We decided we were going to start a ‘Risk’ club,” said fellow JHS senior Chris Shefelton, who serves as The League’s executive minister.

“It was the lamest thing,” McDaniel admits in hindsight. “We kind of wanted to make the group a little bit bigger but we knew not everyone was going to want to play ‘Risk.’ ”

As discussion continued, members of the group began suggesting names. JHS senior Cole Wood suggested “The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen,” the name of a comic book series launched in 1999, which was followed by a graphic novel series film adaptation of the same name released in 2003 that starred Sean Connery.

The local club has no connection to either the comic strip or film, McDaniel emphasized.

“We just thought it was a cool name,” Shefelton said.

In addition to McDaniel, Shefelton and Wood, other founding members of the group include Carter Abel, Evan Barber, Shane Braden, Austin Copenhaver, Will Ryan, Colin Shaughnessy, Mitchell Troutt and Logan Woodard.

According to the organization’s mission statement, “The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen aims to provide an accessible venue for social interaction, to facilitate an environment for recreation, diversion, and other manner of merrymaking, to promote collegiality and camaraderie amongst its members, and to cultivate behaviors such that are becoming of a gentleman. The intention of this league is, as a democratic institution, to serve the desires of its patrons and benefactors, however preposterous. In effect, The League does whatever its members wish.”

Activities of The League include “soirees and other celebratory affairs, organized dinner occasions, gentlemanly games (i.e. Risk, Diplomacy, Monopoly, Chess, etc.).

The League, which is not a JHS-sanctioned organization at this time, currently meets every other Thursday evening off campus. Members wear jackets to school on meeting days and will soon sport patches designed by fellow member Robert Burns. Approximately 50 young men have joined the club to date, McDaniel said. Organizers do not necessarily intend to limit The League’s membership to JHS students.

On Sept. 27, The League held its first official function, a Euro bash at the Olympus Construction building owned by JHS senior member Tony Pardew’s family.

“I can’t forget that day,” McDaniel said. “It was a big day for us. We wanted to come out with a bang so everyone knew we were a legitimate organization.”
Strobe lights, techno music and black lights set the stage for the event. Organizers estimate some 500 students attended the club’s first function, which was staffed by security officers hired by The League.

Club members soon realized that not only could they organize some big events through the efforts of the organization, they could also benefit the local community.

“We got all of our members in two days,” McDaniel said, explaining the he and others decided to recruit members during JHS’ club week.

“It was bigger than we expected,” Shefelton said. “I told John I wanted us to turn it into a charitable organization and he thought the same thing.”
Proceeds from The League’s Euro bash totaled $1,500, which the group donated to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund.

A second event has tentatively been scheduled for Nov. 29. Organizers are planning a hip hop/rap themed dance. A local charity has not yet been chosen for the upcoming event, but Shefelton said The League would choose a different benefactor for each fundraiser.

“Everything we do is for a good cause but we’re having fun and keeping kids out of trouble, too,” Shefelton said.

Members of The League hope to obtain non-profit status in the future and continue hosting benefits for local charitable organizations. During JHS homecoming festivities, the group also provided corsages for members of the court as well as for the dates of club members who were attending the homecoming dance.

Senior members of The League are hoping their efforts will not be short lived.
“If we set the right kind of precedent, I think that it will live on,” McDaniel said.
Members of The League may have started with a simple desire to have fun and fellowship, but they are quickly learning that together they can build a reservoir of good will that will allow them to put more into the world than they take out.

(EDITOR’S NOTE: Special thanks to Dillard’s at The Mall at Turtle Creek and Peggy Hallmark, manager of Dillard’s men’s department, for contributing to this article by providing clothing and accessories for the photo session featuring members of The League.)