Happy New Year!
What was your resolution for 2024? How about helping recruit one person this year into the Society? Just one. You can't imagine how important that is. You can really make a difference and help breathe new life into our Society by recruiting. I want our Society to be around for our 200th Anniversary, but that will only happen if each of us makes recruiting a personal mission.
Last year brought about the reality that we are gaining more new members than we are losing. It’s not a large change, but significant. Please see the membership trends report in this issue.
As you know, January through May is our nominations cycle. Nominations for our National Secretary-Treasurer, three Regional Committeemen, Society Awards, and submissions for Constitution and Bylaws changes are now open. If you are interested in any of these offices, please contact our Nominations Chair, Ed Conley. His information is on page 2.
If you are a Leader of an Outpost and know of members who have moved or otherwise changed their info, please send that to the Roster Manager as soon as you are aware. This job requires constant attention, and having the help of the members and the OP leaders is critical to ensuring that we are able to keep our members abreast of all the latest news and Society pertinent information.
Please read the Soldiers Ball report in this edition. We had 800 attendees at this year's ball and every person who attended received our recruitment pamphlet. We recruit over 30 new members to join the Society just through this initiative alone. We had several Society members attend also, and they had a great time.
We are looking at increasing our Reunion attendance. As you may know, we had to cancel our reunion this past November due to low registrations. Only eight people signed up! This is not good. When we contract with hotels for reunion space, we incur a financial obligation in the form of a Food-and-Beverage Minimum and a room block. I had to make the difficult decision to cancel the reunion prior to the F&B Minimum and room attrition coming due as that would have cost the Society around $5,000. I can’t allow the Society to lose money. Please consider attending our reunions, as they are great occasions and necessary to conduct Society Business in the form of the General Membership meeting.
Please remember that we now have a new editor of our magazine, and this issue is Bill Blissett’s first edition. He has done a fine job and has some really great ideas to improve our magazine, and his initiatives have my full support. Speaking of support, please support Bill by sending him an article. We love it when members send us articles about their experience in the Division. Most of our Outpost leaders have NOT been sending updates of their OP activities for publication. Our OP leaders need to do a better job. Send Bill a short article about your OP’s activities, and he will make sure it gets into our magazine.
I am looking for a new chairperson for our awards program. If you are interested in this volunteer position, please contact me directly. The time requirements and duties are minimal.
Speaking of open positions, we are still without a Judge Advocate. This position has been open for the last couple of years. Please step up and help us out, if you can. This position does NOT require a law degree. I am also looking for a Reunion Chair for our reunions. If you are interested in any of these open volunteer positions, please reach out to me ASAP. Thank you!
Donation cards went out in December, and I hope you choose to donate to one of our funds. If you have already donated - THANK YOU!!
Lastly, please keep our deployed Soldiers in your prayers. Many are currently serving in harm's way, and our prayers for their safe return and the comfort of their families left behind are of utmost importance. Rock of the Marne!
Rock of the Marne!
Toby Knight