Invocation (delivered by George Casey):
The Photographer's Prayer
Oh God, as I bring my subject into focus and prepare to make each portrait, never let me forget that I'm creating treasures for some family, a keepsake for loved ones. Make me sensitive to the qualities and virtues of others, that I may draw out into the light the beautiful radiant belongings of their hearts.
Help me to be an artist, collecting the beauty of every soul, the glow of youth, the gentleness, the laughter or tears of each life that is precious in Thy sight. Deeper than a means of livelihood, give me the perspective to see my photographer's art as a service to others, making life richer and more memorable.
And, dear Lord, between the lights and shadows, the ups and downs and the rolling years, keep me from getting out of focus or off center, so that my life and work may be framed with dignity and colored with contentment.
In Jesus' name we pray: Amen.
{Author Unknown}
Outline Notes from President's Message
(delivered by Tom Snide)
It is customary for the President to give a year’s recap at the Annual Banquet.
The year flew by, didn’t it?
We started out the year, meeting in the summer, and drew up a list of eleven goals to accomplish.
We successfully accomplished 8 of those goals - and quite a number of other items not originally on the list.
I’d like to report that everything ran perfectly...but that wouldn’t be completely true.
Along the way, we encountered some, let just call them, some “unexpected challenges”.
Remember the Navy recruiting slogan: “It’s not just a job, it’s an adventure.” That pretty much describes this past year.
I’d like to jog your memory, take you back to September. We started out the year adopting a new constitution and bylaws. We thought that might be a challenge, but it ended up going smoothly. So, the year was off to a running start.
[Elaborate on the following events]
I don’t want to worry the incoming leadership, Eric & Gerry. In fact, maybe since we met with so much adversity this year, we can expect next year to run smooth as silk, right?
We can only hope!
______________________________
All this did happen. But all kidding aside, we had a great year.
Beginning with attendance at tonight’s banquet. 70 people are here tonight!
Club membership is at an all time high. In the last two years, growth: 86 -> 120
We held more learning opportunities than ever before:
We added more opportunities for small group participation:
Special Interest Groups
...offered members the opportunity to share their expertise
...were supposed to be limited to 15 people, but ended up with twice as many people interested!
Thanks to Dick Wood, Dave Dillahunt, Joe Wagenhals and Clyde Goad for stepping forward to lead those educational sessions. (clap)
We launched members-only Photo Challenge Groups in December. [Elaborate]
We now have more than 45 members involved in those groups.
A group of you even formed your own Special Interest Group.... Canon G9/G10 Users.
[mention getting a Canon rep meeting at MidWest photo]
Beginning last Summer, we also held a number of Photo Walks, open to both members and guests. We went to:
Thanks to Dave Dillahunt for organizing these opportunities to get out and shoot. (clap)
And we plan to have more of those throughout this Summer, right Dave?
We now have a new and expanded newsletter also thanks to Dave Dillahunt & our resident designer Brent Sommers. Thanks to all of you who have contributed articles.
No small undertaking: We completely reviewed, updated and adopted a new set of Bylaws and Constitution for the organization to more accurately reflect the club’s structure and activities.
This included adoption of a new ‘digital’ category for competition. For the first time ever we allowed digital image submissions.
Our goal was to offer a venue for new members to enter the competition in an exclusive arena. Since we’d heard that the regular competitions can be intimidating to new members.
I see that as an area that will only continue to grow.
We expanded our online directory to include more details, such as interest areas, for each member. And added member photos as well. Also done to help members get to know one another and link names and faces.
* * *
Organizationally, we’ve made a number of adjustments to meet the needs of a rapidly growing club. Here are a few highlights:
We established a ‘permanent’ position for the Education Director in order to gain continuity from year to year. Prior to this, it was the role of the Vice Pres. - now both lead the Education Committee.
The Vice Pres now serves more of a ‘Co-President’ or ‘President Elect’-like role... running meetings when the President is absent, and so on.
We now have a number of co-chairs instead of single chair committees. The goal was to divide up the work and to pair experienced members with newer ones. Some of the primary committees, such as Education and Competition carry a large load of work and splitting it up worked out well this year.
We also created subcommittees to help involve more members and divvy up the workload.
And last but not least, we’ve begun to develop a Policy Manual that will detail the roles and responsibilities of every office and committee. Our goal is to help the club continue to run smoothly and make efficient use of volunteer time. We hope to wrap that up over the Summer.
____________
All of this is well and good. But what really is the contributing factor to our club’s success? It’s the generosity and kindness of the people in this room.
Whether you stacked chairs, made coffee, brought cookies (or fudge!), taught at a SIG meeting, helped with the competitions, wrote a newsletter article, offered advice to friend or made a new member feel welcome.... you are a part of what makes Westbridge great!
That includes spouses and guests here tonight, who offered encouragement to us - and understanding - when we headed out the door to yet another Westbridge meeting! (clap)
A lot of people gave of their time and talents...
If you served in an office or on a committee this year, or if you taught a SIG meeting this year, please stand up.
These folks deserve an extra round of applause. (clap)
Thank you!
_______________
Finally, I would like to recognize one special individual who is a shining example of what I’d call the ‘go-give’ spirit in our club.
It won’t take long for you to guess who I’m describing. I’m sure he will.
This individual:
...is always available by email, night or day
...is the most detail-oriented organizer you’ll ever meet
...volunteers his time, like it’s a part-time job
...Knowing I had to give this message, I decided long ago to save every email he has sent and, since January 21st of this year I’ve received 260 from him!
Needless to say, we were in regular contact.
...I might add that while writing these notes received one from him asking: "Tom, do you think we should have a backup projector for tonight?"
...This fellow is always a ‘firefighter’ - jumping in to help whenever possible.
Here are a few examples:
...when storms cancelled the Sept competition he called me and then asked how he could help. We then divided up the phone list and he helped call people to let them know there was no meeting.
...when the doors were locked at the Griswold Center (and we decided breaking and entering wasn’t a good alternative), he quickly arranged for us to relocate to his church as a temporary meeting space
...being on the ball, he called both our January and May presenters, just days before the meeting to learn that they had to cancel
...and then he helped coordinate an alternate plan of action.
...the list goes on and on...
...in fact I thought of a few more on the way over tonight...
...and that’s not to mention that he also coordinated the details for nearly every program we offered over the year... followed up with presenters... and always made sure they had everything they needed to present...including tonight.
I’m sure by now you know who I’m referring to.
I’d like to ask George Casey to come up front. (clap)
George, on behalf of everyone at Westbridge: we appreciate all you do! (clap)
___________________
So to wrap it up. I think Westbridge is alive and well.
And again I thank all of you - for all that you do to make it that way.
It has been a pleasure leading the club over the past year.
And now George, you have the honor of introducing tonight’s special guests.
~ Tom Snide