On behalf of all the officers of your Association, I wish one and all a pleasant Easter holiday shared with family and friends, may your days together become good memories to recall. We have fond traditions at our home, and it seems much of the extended family likes the way we do it by the early notice of attendance. We hope all your plans realize every expectation.

SALADA Philosophy
     If you have followed these articles you may have noticed I have a penchant for quotes. My early taste for teas led me to follow the SALADA teabag tags, many I collected from restaurants when ordering tea - I called this collection my "SALADA Philosophy". As I acquired a curiosity for what people said for varying occasions, I found I was incapable of recalling these items from memory when favored. Now I write them for use later, if I can remember to bother looking them up. They have now become handy when I am at a loss for writing some clever wisdom on my own. Had I not started to do these articles I may never have used so many quotes, my apologies to those that find them distracting.

     Reviewing the collection for some inspiration, I came across a few items I once found on a calendar. They are as follows, the underlined wording is my own as the actual posters used graphics to do the job:

• VISION is seeing the opportunity inside the challenge.
• CHALLENGES - A challenge is an invitation to try something new and expand your horizons.
• RISK - Take a chance, expect the best, and see things in a different way.
• TEAMWORK - To recognize and encourage the value of each individual within a group.
• SUCCESS is not something to wait for, it's something to work for.
• CONFIDENCE - Without it nothing's possible. With it nothing's impossible.

     These were chosen to emphasize my reflections and evaluations for our Association.

     The set almost reads as a stand-alone paragraph;

     You would expect your leadership to have a vision for your organization that meets the challenges before them. They should be willing to take the risks and work as a team, resolved to find successful progress under difficult circumstances with confidence! ... End of story!! Well, not quite! But the set is impressive in saying more for an astute observation. If our Association were to follow some of these considerations, might we be capable of more for the labor we struggle with now? The "positive thinkers" would likely answer a resounding affirmation. The items are certainly based on optimistic attitudes - seeing opportunity, trying something new, expecting the best, value each individual, work toward success - we can accomplish much with these thoughts at the front of our agenda.

     It is tax time again. We evaluate our own financial status during the review of last year's income. The difficulty with using this simile is the emphasis on finance - I don't mean it that way. It is the past years evaluation part I am thinking about, leading up to the current and near future. The fullest evaluation should be made as a year-end report, due in August, but this time of year I need to compile my dream list of items for the Executive Council to work on for the AGENDA of our annual meeting. The ideal subjects would not be any problem if we were to work under the set of items posted above for consideration. Any real issues would always be under consideration if we saw opportunities and took the invitation to try, working as a team, in confidence.

Volunteers
     Yes it is easier said than done, yet we could do much better with the spirit of testing achievements. Just how open to new ideas are we? My requests to have volunteers for specific missions this year are still waiting answers. Both leaders and general members have done little to step up to tasks of minimal obligations. Have I asked in the right places? Maybe not, .. but none have spread the word either. There remains a need to get things done on the national level as responsively as the district level, no - even faster!! We cannot attract any new members if we do not react to the opportunity when presented. (Yes, the old cliché, "What we have here is a failure to communicate!")

     So if we do not take risks, and do not work for success, just why could we expect our leadership to do any better? That is the bottom line, isn't it?

CONFIDENCE - Without it nothing's possible. With it nothing's impossible.

     As I gather the items for the AGENDA of the meeting in May, feel free to express any topics for suggested opportunity. I will ensure it is placed in the meeting.

     Apparently, we shall be discussing items of interest about the newsletter, the CHORISTER, at the next meeting of the Executive Council. It would be good to hear some comments from others - concerns for what we should do with the newsletter. I ask you to post them through email to the website (see COMMENTS link bellow). I may add a few thoughts regarding the discussion so far in my next article. If you have any items you would like discussed in this column you may email those as well.

     In closing I will leave this thought from the same source as those listed above:

ENDURANCE - The glory is not in never failing; but in the rising every time you fail.

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Feedback Post your comments Two email contacts	Best regards Ric Addenbrooke