JARS v44n3 - President's Column

President's Column
Austin Kennell
Waynesboro, Virginia

Many members, in one way or another, help make our society a great organization. One such group that doesn't get nearly the recognition it richly merits are the folks who are responsible for chapter newsletters. No other group does more to stimulate and maintain interest in rhododendrons, rhododendron activities, and rhododendron people. A newsletter, in my opinion, is one of the best - if not the best - services a chapter can provide for its members. One of the really nice things about being president is that I get most chapter newsletters. I really enjoy them. More than anything else they let me know how our society is doing. The newsletters differ in form and content. Some have titles, drawings, graphs or pictures. There are cultural articles, news about members, activities, announcements, show results, and many other items. They come in single sheets - or multi-paged. But they all have one thing in common - they make their chapter more exciting, more interesting, and more of a family. It's a lot of work putting out a newsletter. Gathering information, soliciting articles, and reproducing and mailing are time-consuming and laborious chores. But few things pay bigger dividends. So a great big "Thank You" to all of you who are responsible for our newsletters. No one serves the ARS better! P.S. Please sign up a "One For Austin" new member. I'd appreciate it.