| Summer 2010 President's Message |
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by Tom Stryker, SPAH President Wow how the time has passed. A blink of the eye and the Minneapolis convention will be here. All of us at SPAH and the Minneapolis Club are busy attending to all of the details. Seems that our tasks are growing every year because the convention is getting bigger and better! At the convention, all will be quite busy and you can be of help by volunteering your services. Contact Elizabeth Atkison, our Convention Director now or at the convention and I am sure she will be happy to have your help. We are now looking for a site for the 2012 SPAH convention. If you are in a club that feels it can host a convention, please contact me. It would be nice to discuss this with you in Minneapolis. This is a big undertaking and quite rewarding. Also, recognizing that my second term as president will run out in 2012, I am asking for interested candidates to contact me. 2013 will be a big year as we will celebrate SPAH’s 50th anniversary and the new president will need to hit the ground running. The president must be able to lead SPAH and direct the administrators much in the way a businessman runs a company. It is not for the “faint of heart,” as SPAH has grown into a professionally run organization with many beneficial opportunities remaining to be taken advantage of. Ideally, the presidential candidate will have a business management or past club administrator background in addition to having been a SPAH member. We also need volunteers to train for the positions of Membership Director and Treasurer. Here is an opportunity to receive training from some very expert people. I know there are some very capable people amongst the membership and I ask that you do your part for an organization that has done so much to advance the harmonica. This year, SPAH will again host its annual President’s Breakfast at the “Joke Joint” on August 21th, Saturday, 8:00 am at the Ramada (convention hotel) in Minneapolis. It is only for the President or Vice President of a harmonica club, not both. Other guests will be invited directly. We are continuing this tradition, furthering cooperation between SPAH, other clubs, and harmonica-related entities and to bring you up to date on SPAH activities while looking forward to the future of the harmonica movement. You can confirm attendance by contacting me and/or signing the notice that is in your registration packet and returning it to the registration desk no later than 10:00am, Friday, August 20th, 2010. Planning for the number of attendees is critical for the food count, so please respond ASAP. The breakfast location will also be displayed in the registration area. By the way, note your schedule to attend the SPAH Annual Meeting at the convention. This is where you can comment and learn what SPAH has been doing. Looking forward to seeing all of you in Minneapolis! --Tom Stryker |
