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1. Lake Erie District DisbandsWhile there were definite indications prior to 2001 that this was a district in danger of collapse, it was nevertheless, disappointing when the announcement was made last fall. A huge effort had been made by Joe Greytak to hold the district together but in the end only his chorus, the George Stone Singers remained to affiliate with the New York Penn District. Much more should have been done to intercede before things got to this state, but the effort was insufficient to influence the result. The Millstream Singers had left previously to join the Michigan District, the Choristers of Erie Maennerchor stopped paying dues two years ago without any official notification of their decision to leave, Moniusko lost both their conductor and accompanist and were forced to withdraw temporarily at least, and the Town Choir of Ashtabula took on a new conductor who refused to travel outside the community making it impossible for them to join the New York Penn District as the George Stone Singers had done.While efforts are being made by newly elected President, Norm Goodling to reestablish contact with these choruses there is no progress to report at this time. AMCA now has five districts, down one from the previous six! 2. Blueprint ImplementedThe "Blueprint for Progress" which outlined several suggestions for revitalizing AMCA, was introduced in August 2000 through this column. It resulted in a huge amount of interest and support from the members and leadership and was the motivating factor in the Board's decision to hold a special two-day meeting in June 2001. At this meeting, under the expert guidance of facilitator, Glenn Hagerman, the Board established a list of priorities and later set forth a plan of action. It was felt that in order to be successful, the initiative must include an opportunity for "grass-roots" involvement and this was to be accomplished through a membership survey.The Executive Secretary together with some Board and Executive members, spent the summer months designing a comprehensive survey which was mailed the end of August to every chorus member and chorus executive via the chorus "contact", as well as to each district executive. The result which saw only 25% of our membership responding, indicated a lack of interest and an apparent apathy towards AMCA's efforts. This served to reinforce the opinion that the inspiration and direction for improvement had to come from our leaders and undaunted the Board resolved to forge ahead. However, it was heartening to see a list of seventy-eight "grass-roots" volunteers come forward to work on the various committees! Following the October business meeting, chairs were to be appointed by President Goodling, with directions to make an initial contact with the volunteers in order to recognize their offer and proceed with plans to implement the work of their committee. Included in the list of initiatives for improvement were two networks, (a) the Chorister and, (b) the "International Music Committee". These networks are headed up by the Chorister Editor and Music Reviewer respectively. Progress is now in the hands of the leaders of these committees, under the guidance of President Goodling, and we are all optimistic that the next year will see some concrete results as they begin to work towards their goals. Other important developments worth a mention include:
From this columnist to you is extended a heartfelt wish for a happy and prosperous New Year! May the year 2002 see the fruition of the many efforts initiated to better our Association and bring an improved level of service to our members.
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