January began sadly with the memorial service for Southeast Regional Director Elizabeth Garner, who died suddenly the end of December. I was privileged to speak at the service. More than 50 Society members from eight countries attended the service. I am pleased that Libby Watson (AL) accepted the appointment for the reminder of the biennium.
With all the technology we are using now, our committees are doing so much more work than in the past! Go To mEetings are a wonderful way to continue the teamwork after the face-to-face meeting, but it's hard when I'm a member of all committes except Nominations! I participated in three Go To meetings and a conference call the first week in January before flying to New York City for the CTAUN Conference, and will have three more GTM meetings the last week of this month!
Speaking of CTAUN, I had a terrible time getting to NYC because of the snow and ice storm that blew through the Southeast last week. Chattanooga reeived the highest amount of snowfall (eight inches) of anywhere in the South, and Atlanta's airport was closed for two days and days behind after that. My flight on Wednesday to NYC was canceled and rescheduled once, twice, three times. I finally made my own change and Jim (my husband) drove me to Nashville to catch a flight from there. I arrived more than a day late and missed a meeting with the 2012 convention steering committee and a site visit at the convention hotel. I also missed a business dinner with the new Director of the U.S. Fund for UNICEF and the director of the Schools for Africa Project for the Fund. Our Executive Director, Corlea Plowman, was there, however, and carried on without me.
The CTAUN Conference was excellent, as usal. Kudos to Anne Marie Carlson and other conference organizers. The topic of the day was the Millennium Development Goals of the UN. NIcholas Kristof, Pulitzer Prize winning columnist for the New York Times, was the first keynoter. His message about the plight/position of women in the world was compelling. Other panelist and keynoters also presented wonderful information.
I'm in Austin at Headquarters now. The Eunah Temple Holden Committee was here earlier this week, and the Golden Gift Fund Committee begins its meeting this afternoon. I continue to be so pleased with the work of all our committees, their commitment to furthering our biennial goals, and their enthusiasm for our work. Kudos to all!
