Boy the last month has been especially busy for me with both my trip to Durango for our Fall Section Meeting and my trip to Oklahoma City for the International Fall Board Meeting. Factor those trips in with work and getting ready for tax season and I really need some rest.

I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone involved with our very successful combined Section Meeting in Durango. I know that it was a lot of work but from all accounts it was a great success. I decided to forego a Board Meeting so that we could all go on the train trip to Silverton. Since there were about 140 99s and guests on the train we were able to have almost three cars devoted to the 99s. It was a wonderful trip and the fall colors were beautiful. After the trip we had just enough time to clean up a little bit for our Welcome Gala at the Strater Theater. There we were entertained by the Bar D Wranglers courtesy of Vickie Croston from the Houston Chapter. The business meeting on Saturday went off like clockwork and we were able to adjourn a little early. The Saturday evening Awards Banquet went off without a hitch at the Durango Train Museum. Before the festivities began everyone had a chance to look at all of the memorabilia that the museum provided. The Southwest Section gave out four awards this year with Nancy Ginesi-Hill from Sacramento Valley receiving the Woman Pilot of the Year.

As usual the board meeting in OKC was very informative. It’s a jammed packed couple of days but boy do you learn a lot. Brand new director Marjy Leggett did a wonderful slide show presentation of the trip to the China International General Aviation Conference in Xi’an attended by Susan Larson, Pat Prentiss, Joan Kerwin, Fran Strubeck and Marjy. Director Corbi Bulluck presented the results of the recent 99 survey. Stay tuned for more information regarding that. You will be contacted by a Board Member if you stated that you wanted to discuss your answers further. The conference planning portion of the meeting focused on the next Int’l Conference in Providence, RI. Reports were also given on the 2013 Conference in Bozeman, MT, and a bid was received from the Southeast Section for 2014. No definite time or place was presented. We adjourned early on Saturday and I was able to fulfill one of the items on my bucket list. That was to see the OKC Memorial and Museum. What a touching experience that was.

The work has begun on the Winter Workshop in Santa Cruz on January 28, 2012. Monterey Bay is working hard to make this a huge success. This year’s headquarters will be at the Dream Inn. The registration information can be found on the Section Website. I’m really excited what we have planned and I hope that you can all attend.

Be sure to plan to attend the Spring Section Meeting in North Hollywood, CA hosted by the San Fernando Valley Chapter May 4 – May 6, 2012. They presented a wonderful invitation at the Fall Section Business Meeting and for those who didn’t attend it’s available for viewing on the Section Website as is the registration packet.

Santa Maria Valley has agreed to host the 2012 Fall Section Meeting at the Radisson Hotel in, of course, Santa Maria. The dates are 9/7 – 9/9, and they were able to negotiate rooms at the 2007 prices of $107. Stay tuned for more information.

We are currently looking for bids for the Winter Workshop, and Spring and Fall Section Meetings for 2013. If you’re interested, please get in touch with Vice Governor, Dianne Cole. Yes, hosting these meetings can be a lot of work, but they’re also very rewarding and they bring a chapter together. If you haven’t hosted one in awhile, why not step up and give it a try.

The deadline for the 2011 AE Memorial Scholarships is fast approaching with Lori Parker from Ventura County agreeing to be our new AE Scholarship Chairman. Chapters, please be sure that your candidate’s applications go to her.

The deadline for Section Nominations is also coming up. Have you ever wanted to run for a Section Office? It can be a lot of work, but it’s a lot of fun too. We are looking for candidates for all offices. If you’ve had that inkling, go ahead and give it a shot.

I’m looking forward to another great year, how about you?  I hope to see you all next year!

Penny