I just received an e-mail from Mari Lane Gewecke and as part of her signature block, she has included the following quote:
“Start by doing what's necessary,
then what's possible, and suddenly
you are doing the impossible.
~ St. Francis of Assisi~”
I believe that is very true, as I think many of you (and I) have found over the last couple of years. Individually, we can only do a little; but, form a committee of enthusiastic helpers, and we can accomplish the impossible (or what seemed impossible at first)!
Through your help over these two years, I feel that we have accomplished a lot; certainly more than I could ever have accomplished alone, and much more than I expected to accomplish. We have done “what’s necessary,” such as incorporation, competitions, non-profit status, revised bylaws, rearrangement of officers; then we did what was possible: new website, bulletin in color, new committees; and finally, we found ourselves doing the “impossible” with projects such as the workshop/seminar. And, this is only the beginning; there is so much more that the Lincoln Camera Club can do, if we all pull together and take pride in our club.
This will be my last “Message” as president of your club. I want to thank each and every one of you for your cooperation when help was needed, your participation in club events, and your support of the club. I also especially want to thank:
Yvonne Nelson for being such a studious understudy and filling in for me when I was unavailable; for the outstanding work she has done in getting our IRS 501 (3) (c) designation as a charitable organization; and for all the other help she has provided during these two years.
Ardiss Cederholm for her faithful documentation of our proceedings, and for keeping us (especially me) in line with appropriate parliamentary procedure during our board meetings.
Karen Harris for watching over the money with a sharp eye and a cool head; keeping a thorough and accurate documentation of our membership; and conducting club financial transactions in a business-like manner. A big job, which Karen handles with apparent ease.
Jim Atkins for all of his selfless work in providing us with one of the finest bulletins and websites in the nation! Jim has been instrumental in the conversion of our bulletin to color, and in providing timely information on the website. If you are not checking the website every day or so, you are missing out on the latest club news.
John Peterson for obtaining and setting up our website domain name, www.lincolncameraclub.org ; for setting up a standardized and very attractive website that gives members and visitors up-to-date information on what is happening in our club. I don’t believe we could have accomplished these things without John’s help.
Darlene Duvall, of course for organizing and conducting the monthly competitions, both digital and print, including lining up the judges, equipment, and all the other details; then sending our winners to N4C where we fared very well against all the other 50 clubs in that organization; but even more importantly, in giving me astute guidance on any number of club activities and questions.
Leland Osten, along with his well organized committee, for taking our club to a new level with the superb workshop/seminar by Steve Traudt and the wonderful relationship with Southeast Community College that we hope to continue. Dennis Zabel had a big hand in lining up Steve, as did Donna Gustafson, Dennis Gaibler and Glen Emswiler.
Darrell Watts for his research on available grants which led to our need to obtain the IRS 501(3)(c) designation, for accepting the most recent nomination, for his research and support of obtaining our own projector, and especially for his renewed interest in the club.
Leann Lord for taking on the Program Committee chair against her better judgment; and for her help in getting the table photo display that we can use for many different occasions, such as the nature center grand opening at Spring Creek Prairie, the Lincoln Children’s Zoo, and the Lincoln Orchid Society annual banquet and show. Our thanks also to Don McKibben for building and donating not only the table-top photo racks, but also the photo racks that we use at the May Salon. A very generous gesture!
Elaine Bertrand for keeping us current with the Photographic Society of America; and especially for her help at Spring Creek Prairie and the Lincoln Orchid Society show, getting us a special shooting time so we could avoid the regular attendees.
Donna Gustafson, in addition to her work on the workshop/seminar, for lining up all of the great field trips that we have been having in the last couple of years; and , she certainly didn’t have much help from the weather! A lot of winning photographs came from those field trips.
Richard Anderson for his dependable handling in setting up the facilities, just as needed for each type of meeting; and overseeing the take-down at the end of each meeting. It is so comforting to the meeting participants to know that the room will be set up as needed; and that they can depend on Richard.
Jim Budka, in addition to his participation on the board of directors, for his publicity work that has made the Lincoln Camera Club well-known throughout the area; plus giving us a contact for last month’s speaker.
Glen Emswiler for his work on membership; I’m not sure how he did it, but we now have 79 paid members, which may be an all time record; he also gets a big thanks for his annual summer 4x6 photo competition that always draws so much interest, and his work on Leland‘s workshop/seminar committee.
Diane Sloan for her welcoming committee that, in addition to greeting newcomers, made us all aware of the need to reach out to people who are attending our meetings for the first time.
Jim Lord for his dependable participation in our board decisions and meetings.
Rick and Sue Stetina for putting together a fine slate of candidates for the next year, including a new vice president so we can count on ongoing continuity within the club. This is not an easy task, as most people have to be convinced to serve; however, they usually find it is fun when they do.
And finally, to all the other members who helped, contributed, participated, each in his or her own way to make this a very successful camera club.
Thank you all so very much; without you, none of this would have happened. And, thank you for allowing me the honor of serving you.
Clark Springman
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President's Column 