So here I am 19 days into being the PPANE Prez and doing my first blog entry. I remember telling Bernie last year how he should do this and how much fun it would be to keep the members informed of the presidents travels. There is so much that happens from one convention year to the next, and I feel for the most part the members don't get to hear about much of it. I hope this blog will solve this. I hope you will enjoying learning about my travels and the hard work of the board!!
Many of you might have caught above where I said 19 days, you may remember Bernie getting his President plaque and me being installed as president. You weren't dreaming that all did happen in September. You see we actually don't transfer power until our board meeting the first Monday in November, which is when our fiscal year starts. This is when we pass the gavel. My dear friend Bob Lizzari made me an extra large gavel, as you can see compared to Bernie's, the outgoing president. I think it was his hint for me to "speak softly and carry a big stick and you will go far" which is from our 26th president, Theodore Roosevelt. The humor was needed after a long 2 day meeting.
My heart was very sad over the fact that our budget and finance committee had to except the resignation of our Executive Director, Roland Laramie. The thought of being the first president in over 25 years to do this job without him made tears run down my face for 3 days. I finally turned it around telling myself that I would be the 1st president to have a whole year to honor him and dedicate this year's convention to him.
