Just watched a favorite cowboy movie “High Noon” again:
I saw Gary Cooper, the town Marshall, standing alone against an implacable enemy, while members of the town council argued about supporting him. Friend and foe alike wanted the Marshall to leave town before the battle; some wanted him to die and others wanted him to suffer no harm. Nobody wanted him to fight, because doing so called into question their courage and willingness to die for what they believed. Poignantly throughout the movie Tex Ritter’s song “Do not forsake me, oh my darling” reverberated; and at the end, the only support he received was from his new wife, a Quaker, who risked her life to save him. Picture America against Al Qaida.

Held our Executive Board meeting on November 12th:
IPA has Rules? Yup, we all signed up and paid our dues to take advantage of travel opportunities and to meet new friends; and just like Rules of the Road or Credit Card Agreements, violations of our IPA agreement can result in lost privileges. Luckily though, our rules are generally common sense and easy to follow; so much so, that we hardly ever have to refer to them. Where are these IP Rules printed anyway? Meet with one of your Region 24 board members or visit the National Website www.ipa-usa.org

I submitted a set of “Local Standing Rules” for our Region (based upon the National Statutes and Standing Rules), which should make the Executive Board’s job a little easier. A vote for final revision and acceptance will take place sometime in the Spring of 2006. One portion focuses upon elections for all of the Board positions over the next few years. Luckily, at this year’s Christmas Party, Dave Skelton, “volunteered” to serve as the Election Sub-committee Chair for 2006 in order to guide the conduct of the upcoming process.

In other business, the Executive Board voted-in three officers, whose terms expire on 31 Dec 2005, as pro-tem for 2006: Treasurer Don Yeowell, 1st VP William Edwards, 4th VP Craig Kerwin (and, if nobody else comes forward to run against them during 2006, these officers will be asked to remain in office through the end of their terms on 31 Dec 2008). Three other terms expire on 31 Dec 2006: Secretary Verlin Judd, 2nd VP Frank Costa, and 5th VP Ed Wortman. We encourage any of our membership to call-up an executive board member and inquire about our Region 24 activities, as well as about the election process.

Don’t know which areas are served by the 6 VP’s?:
Don’t know which areas are served by the 6 VP’s?: The 1st VP serves Seattle-King County, the 2nd VP serves Pierce County and SW Washington, the 3rd VP serves the State of Alaska, the 4th VP serves Eastern Washington as well as the States of Idaho and Montana, the 5th VP serves Snohomish County to the Canadian Border, while the 6th VP serves Island County as well as the Kitsap and Olympic Peninsulas. Each Sector is home for at least 30 IPA members; see insert of Western Washington for the four smallest sectors (1, 2, 5, and 6). Our hope is that the closer our vice-presidents live to our members, the easier it becomes to involve folks in the planning of social events like: picnics, holiday dinners, and visitor sightseeing.

Looking through my road atlas:
The USA has 3,537,438 sq mi w/ 290 million residents – and Region 24 contains 25% of that land area, but only 3% of the population (Alaska has 571,951 sq mi w/ 645,000 residents, Washington has 66,544 sq mi w/ 6.1 million residents, Idaho has 82,747 sq mi w/ 1.5 million residents, and Montana has 145,552 sq mi w/ 910,000 residents). It’s a long way between towns; and we don’t get together for meetings easily, unless we live in a metropolitan area like Seattle, Spokane, or Anchorage (Washington State has 325 police jurisdictions, but ranks 50th of the 50 states in the number of officers per capita?).

There are three “traditional” social events each year:
There are three “traditional” social events each year: The Can-Am Pignic, the Yakima Wine-tasting Tour, and the Christmas Party. And also this year we tried out a few sector picnics, where a few of our vice presidents hosted events for local members. The biggest problem we ran into was trying to transmit information about times and locations with enough advanced notice for our members to attend. Our thrice-yearly Region 24 Newsletter provides a solid base, but by nature can’t be responsive enough; and our members have not yet become used to checking our Region Website for last moment details. So we were left to phone calling, e-mailing and snail-mailing.

So for 2006 expect:
(1) A few vice-presidential planning meetings [January through April]. (2) A few picnics and potluck meals, where all members are invited [May through July], (3) Our three “traditional” events [August, October, and December]. And finally, (4) among the above noted gatherings will also be the Canadian National Meeting in May, our own Region 24 Executive Board Meeting in September, and the US National Meeting w/ Caribbean Cruise in November.

[Meeting, event, and visitor information will be announced in the Region 24 Newsletter; but please remember that additional details or last moment changes may not be discovered in time, unless you phone a “board member” or visit our website: www.ipa-usa-region24.org]

As always, remember “Service through Friendship.”