From the Desk of the District Commander

Thanks to all of you who attended the D/24 COW in Evansville this past March.  I hope you enjoyed our “Three Ring Circus”.  I especially want to thank the Evansville Bend Squadron for all their hard work in making the weekend happen.  We had a tremendous amount of support from everyone.

Congratulations to P/D/C Bill and his Bridge for a very successful 2006 Watch Year.  We all appreciate his hard work and dedication.

 To bring you up to date – at the Annual Meeting in Jacksonville this year, the decision was made to allow members to ask others to join without requiring the exam.  However, it is still up to each individual Squadron to decide if they want to do this.

By now your Squadron Treasurers and Commanders have received information on the National dues restructuring.  Again, it is the decision of each individual district and Squadron to decide if and when to follow suit.

I especially want to encourage everyone to use electronic mail as much as possible.  PLEASE KEEP YOUR E-MAIL ADDRESS UP TO DATE!  Our main push is to be able to send out these D/24 Bridge letters electronically wherever possible.  This will enable faster communication as well as a great savings in postage.  If at all possible, please send your committee reports, Commander’s reports, etc.  electronically.  The District Bridge this year is going to file all reports electronically.  At the end of the Watch Year, each officer will make a CD of these reports to pass on to the next individual.  This will greatly reduce the amount of paperwork that has to be kept in the archives as well as save a few trees!

My goal this year is to continue to stress the importance of our three sided logo – Education, Civic Service, and Social.  My focus this year will be to further our extension into all three areas through:

Membership Recruitment – think out-side-the-box.  Put up posters and displays in places like Walmart, Loew’s, boat dealers and repair shops, grocery stores, etc.

             Offer an all women’s class.

            Work with local law enforcement officers to educate them water safety.

             Make presentations to civic organizations.

 Membership retention – MAKE THEM FEEL WELCOME AND NEEDED

             Involve new members in committees and other activities in the Squadron.

             Assign a current member to act as a mentor for a new member.

 Civic Service

Increase the number of your Vessel Safety Check examiners and encourage them to check more boats.  Hand out membership information after you have performed a Vessel Safety Check.

Push Safe Boating Week with demonstrations, flyers, VSC’s.

 Push the USPS University courses with 2 hour seminars to pique their interest.

Social or Fraternal – most of all, the Power Squadron members should have FUN.

 Have a dinner meeting with a guest speaker or some other activity every month                .

Meet with other squadrons if possible.

Have a summer picnic, a rendezvous and/or a holiday party.

Education

             Promote your Public Boating Course as often as possible.

             Encourage every member to take at least one class per year.

             Offer to teach seminars to Fire Departments and Water Rescue Squads

Most of all, get enthusiastic – it will rub off on others.

Make plans now to attend the D/24 Summer Rendezvous on 27-29 July, 2007.  Joe Venhoff and his committees are working hard to make this another successful rendezvous.  The Red Neck Regatta especially sounds like loads of fun.  This is one of the best opportunities we have during the year for fun and fellowship.  Encourage all your members to attend.

SO LET’S GET OUT THERE AND GET ‘ER DONE!