By Mark Foutch, President

It was ‘Standing Room Only” thanks especially to John Dodge’s great write-up in The Olympian, as we started off the year January 26 with a great program at the Coach House.  Gerry Alexander, Jim Brown and Bill Jacobs captivated the crowd with an informative and entertaining panel titled, “On The Homefront:  Olympia During World War II.”  Many attendees called it the best program they’d ever attended; the easy interaction among the three old friends made for a very enjoyable experience.

At the annual general membership business meeting immediately beforehand, Vice President Tim Ransom and Olympia attorney Charlie Roe were elected to three-year terms on the Board of Directors.  Also, a special collection was taken up to help with the emergency costs of securing the OHS website and moving it onto a more modern and useful platform.  Thanks to all who chipped in!

As this newsletter “goes to press” it looks like OHS’ leadership team will remain in place for 2013:

Board of Directors:

President              Mark Foutch
Vice President      Tim Ransom
Secretary              Anne Kilgannon
Treasurer              Ralph Blankenship
Programs              Shanna Stevenson
Members              Gerry Alexander and Charlie Roe

Technical Support:

Collections            Susan Goff
Web Content        Deborah Ross

The Board was scheduled Saturday March 2 for a short meeting where officers will be elected and routine business conducted, followed by a planning Retreat.   Topics for discussion included:

-Communications Strategy;

-Web page overview by Deb Ross followed by discussion of technical upgrades and costs;

-Preparing for all phases of managing the late Roger Easton’s bequest to the Society; and,

-Better orientation for new Board members.

Your Board currently has the absolute minimum number of members called for in the Bylaws.  Considering our future challenges two more Board members, including one with banking experience, would help with continuity and tasking.  Any volunteers?

What’s next?  Shanna Stevenson has four programs in the works, details to be announced in the Bulletin.  In May, OHS will partner with the City of Olympia for a Heritage Month celebration.  And we hope to restore our prior practice, called for in the Bylaws, to hold the general membership business meeting by year’s end.  Our website should be more secure and easier to improve, and the Easton bequest will be ours to manage according to the terms of Roger’s Trust document.  This alone will be a “game changer” for the Society.

So hang on, it’s going to be a great ride!

Mark

Mark Foutch
President, OHS