Greetings to all of you.  I hope that this finds you all in good health and sprit.  I hope that many of you took part in the MSA Virtual Conference in September.  Susie Evans and the San Diego Chapter came up with a great idea and worked hard to make this event a shining success.  I “attended” all of the training sessions and was very impressed with all the presenters.  I want to thank all of you all for sharing your time and talent with us.  They say that you cannot teach an old dog new tricks, but I know that I learned a few things.  If my memory serves me well, there were a total of one thousand forty attendees for all of the events.  That was a fantastic turnout! 

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The conference benefactor was the MSA Foundation, with all of the proceeds going to honor our beloved Bill Copeland.  Our sponsors came through in a big way, as they always do.  It is extremely heartwarming to be involved with such wonderful and caring people.

 

I hope that many of you live in areas that are at least partially opening and are able to participate in some “normal” activities.  We can eat in a restaurant, which I have missed, and people can now attend church.  Church is something that I have been able to do all along.  We have been providing music for streaming Masses since before Easter, but it was very different last Saturday evening to have other people also in the church.  I can’t imagine what I would have been like not to be able to join with others to worship.  Some schools are opening, which, in my opinion, is a good thing.  My wife is a teacher and she will have kids in class on a hybrid schedule the second week of November.  She is so looking forward to being able to be with her students.  The pandemic has taken a toll on children. I hope that this is the beginning to having some social interaction and will prove to be a positive experience.  The virus has definitely changed everyone’s life and I look forward to being able to enjoy more freedoms as things continue to calm down.  I pray that they do.

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The Education program continues to excel with new courses, instructors and great participation from our students.  Thank you to Lory Warren and all of the instructors who are making our program something to be proud of.

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Congratulations are in order for our newest award winners.  They are most deserving of being honored.  It would have been so nice to share a toast to honor them.  I just had to do it at home, over and over.  Congratulations to Randy Carnahan, Santa Barbara County, as the newest Peter Walsh recipient!  Randy also recently turned sixty.  I am sure that he is having a memorable year.  Sue Bowman (formerly of Zumar) was awarded that Stellar Vendor Award after many years supporting the MSA.  When I joined the North Central Valley Chapter, Sue was the Treasurer.  Sue handed off the treasurer stuff to me and then took a few years off, before returning to the NCVC.  Sue became very involved with the Chapter.  Congratulations again.

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By the time this edition comes out, the election will be over and I hope that all the chaos will also be over.  I also pray that the virus situation will have improved enough to allow us to return to in person meetings at the Chapter level and that we may have the January E-Board meeting in San Diego. 

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Finally, I want to thank all of you for supporting the action of extending all of the officer positions through 2021.  It was my goal to visit all the chapters during my Presidency, and I am looking forward to completing my goal next year.  

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God bless and keep us all safe.

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With love,

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Adin