January 2001 Volume 23 Number 1

President's Letter

Having just returned from our annual meeting in Nevada City, this is the perfect time to write my first newsletter entry as president of WAAC.

The meeting was a great success on all counts and I have returned home with renewed enthusiasm. A very talented slate of speakers covered a wide variety of topics with something to offer everyone. The superb planning and organization by President Antoinette Dwan made for a very memorable experience for all. It took a while for the thin-blooded, southern contingent to warm up in Nevada City, but I think we were relatively acclimated by the time snow hit on Monday.

I would like to thank the outgoing Board members who provided enormous time and energy to WAAC for the past two years. Antoinette Dwan served as a very conscientious and energetic president and we owe her our sincere gratitude. Many thanks also to outgoing Member at Large Julie Goldman and Secretary Holly Anderson. I will miss working with them. I look forward to working with our new Board members: Vice President J. Claire Dean from Portland, OR (Claire also served as a Member at Large for the past two years); Members at Large Beverly Perkins from Murrieta, CA and Susanne Friend from Los Angeles, CA; and Secretary Teruko Burrell from Los Angeles. Chris Stavroudis and Carolyn Tallent will continue this year in their Board positions. Chris' service as Treasurer (and formerly Secretary/Treasurer) has provided the WAAC Board years of valuable continuity. Carolyn has also served WAAC for several years as Newsletter Editor. It is to her credit that a considerable portion of the WAAC membership outside of the West has joined just to receive the newsletter. WAAC is lucky to have Chris and Carolyn.

As Vice President for the past year, organizing the Board elections was one of my main responsibilities. Assisting me with this on the Nominating Committee were Jane Bassett and Betsy Court. Together we were able to present a good slate of candidates this year. Sincere thanks to the other WAAC members who ran in this election - I hope they will run again. (I say this as someone who lost in my first run for the WAAC Board). The next WAAC board elections will be organized by Claire late next summer. I encourage everyone interested to consider running. Nomination forms will be sent out in the newsletter in early summer. My other main responsibility as Vice President was to compile the Regional News Column for this newsletter. I would like to thank all of the Regional News reporters for their work and contributions of time to this column.

At the business meeting at Nevada City the biggest topic of discussion was the question of whether our annual meetings should be held in a rural/retreat setting or urban locale. This subject seems to arise every few years in WAAC business meetings. Previous polling and a show of hands this year indicate the membership is pretty evenly split on this issue. In response to that, the Board has for years made an attempt to alternate the annual meetings in urban and retreat settings. This hasn't always been possible, but it is something of which the Board is always mindful. Considerable discussion and planning is already taking place for the annual meeting next year. We are exploring the idea of holding the meeting at the Getty Center in Los Angeles and should be able to make a definite location announcement in the next newsletter. I encourage everyone to begin thinking of presentations and papers for next year.

WAAC continues to be a vital, worthwhile organization thanks to the freely contributed time and energy of its members. It will be a pleasure to work with all of them in the coming year.