Message from the Co-Chairs (December)
Sooner than we may want, the new year will be upon us. Next year, 2008, will bring new challenges for OPALGA with new and renewed enthusiasm to meet them. Several Directors will return for new terms. Lisa Pearson, Davida Williams, and JoAnn Ziebarth will continue serving as Directors. Kim Hefner and Bruce Broerman will join the Board as new Directors. Anita Csuk will become Treasurer, and Mike Cochran will become Male Co-Chair. Brad Bartels will complete a four-year stretch as Male Co-Chair at the end of December and will serve as “past Co-Chair” for the next year.
By design, one Co-Chair remains, while the other is replaced. Last month, the Board of Directors reluctantly accepted the resignation of Cheryl Haugh as Female Co-Chair. Cheryl is saddened to leave the Board but feels that she will best serve the organization in other capacities. She finishes having served two years as Co-Chair—one year in finishing Ethel Cotovsky’s term and one year in which she was re-elected. At the November Board of Directors meeting, Liz Stallone was unanimously appointed by the Board to complete Cheryl’s term.
The re-elected and new Board members will be joining Secretary Sherrie Wolfe and Members-at-Large Lee Latham and Rick McVey. The Board will appoint a Member-at-Large replacement for Liz Stallone to serve out her Board term.
We leave our posts as Co-Chairs in good hands. Liz has been a part of the Board for three years and served as the OPAL Gala Co-Chair in 2005 and 2006. She received the Brian Findlay Award for outstanding and long-term commitment last May. She also provides many of the printed materials for OPALGA, including Empower each month. Mike Cochran served with Liz as the OPAL Gala Co-Chair in 2006. He received the Carol Zientek Award for distinguished service last May and has served as Treasurer for the past two years. Mike was instrumental in establishing the Board working committees this year, which have continued to be productive avenues for accomplishing our goals. He has also largely been responsible for organizing the work being done with our consultant, Dr. Carol Goldbaum, who is currently guiding us through a strategic planning process that will yield dividends for years to come.
Now, we both reflect on our time served together on the OPALGA Board as very positive for the organization. It has been a time of growth, expansion, and many great memories. We came together to say goodbye to Ethel Cotovsky and Rob Ward, whose leadership and sage advice we miss. In collaboration with the Board of Directors, we moved from an inside office space to a visible storefront. We continued to conduct, modify, and support our youth programs. We identified and honed goals and continually worked toward specificity and reproducibility of policies and procedures. Two things that are always talked about among OPALGA stalwarts are the purchase of our own building and the hiring of an executive director. We have not realized these goals yet, but with hard work and a little luck, our leadership will direct us toward these aspirations.
We all choose to be part of OPALGA for different reasons, but we hope that we share the belief that, as a community, we are better off because of our existence. Some have compared us to that little train, chugging up that long hill, trying to reach the top, while gravity tries to force us backward. Yet, each year, we get a little stronger—our fire is stoked, and our resolve becomes tougher. As an organization, we will get to the top of that hill and the mountains beyond. We will because we believe that we can. We know that it’s too important not to succeed. We owe it to ourselves, to our families and friends, to those who haven’t been able to make the full journey with us, and to those who have yet to join us.
As for both of us, we are richer for having had the opportunity to serve as your Co-Chairs. We look forward to what the future brings, and we take comfort in knowing that success is the only track that the organization is running on—now and for years to come. We may have climbed aboard many years ago, but our tickets are punched for the final destination, and we are looking forward to the trip.
Much love,
Brad and Cheryl
