As a former officer and current member of CMGC I like to remind you on how important it is to cast your ballot in the current election of officers. It is always encouraging to see how many people took the time and effort to cast a ballot regardless of who wins. If only a few ballots are returned what can the officers expect of future contributions from the members.

CMGC is unique in that so many of its members actually participate in the multitude of functions held throughout the year. Our members are real people rather then names on a mailing list. This is why we do not have a shortage of new and/or young people willing to step up and learn the process of running and organizing the club. We have always encouraged our members to run for offices in part because it brings new, fresh ideas to the club and because it is not fair to past officers to keep stepping up to do the same thing over and over again. Do new board members do everything in the same way we did? Probably not, but change is good.

The past couple of years we had a few changes and/or additions to our event calendar and they have been enthusiastically received. One of them being an overnight Fall Tour in September guided by our outgoing President, John Schroeder. John also organized a train trip at the National Convention. It was so well received that he filled an entire train car with Chicago members as well as attendees from several other states. It is due to his enthusiasm and good organization that the past two years have been successful. John, we thank you for all you have done, you leave big shoes to fill. You will find the ballots in this issue of the driveline, please VOTE!

Respectfully, Diana Gonzales