President’s Column
by Pres. Manuel U. Along

The board held its regular monthly meeting last Tuesday evening. Seven members were present, more than enough to constitute a quorum. The rest were out of town hence they were unable to be present. I invited members of the incoming board (those elected during the elections held last December 2009) to attend. The idea was to expose them, especially those who are new officers, to the workings of the board. This will enhance transition and continuity in the club leadership since they were present when certain club business were discussed in its policy making body.

I was glad to welcome incoming treasurer Ben Elio, incoming director Ferdie Bernasor, and incoming sergeant-at-arms Sonny Cruz to the meeting. If you add the incoming officers who are current members of the board, they would constitute a quorum of the 2010-2011 board of directors. I would say that bodes well for our club. We are seeing the interest and commitment of our future officers in the affairs of our organization. More power to all of you!

I was also glad to welcome to that meeting our past president, Carlo Romero. I normally invite three or four past presidents to the board meetings so that we could benefit from their experience in rotary matters and also from their wisdom. When applicable, they could also share how previous boards have acted on similar situations confronting them.

My thanks and appreciation goes to PP Carlo for sharing his precious time with us. For the short notice I gave to several of our past presidents, I understand that they have previous engagements. Of course, there is always the next board meeting.

This Friday (February 5), at 10 AM to 12 Noon, our club will conduct the New Graduates’ Boot Camp at Capitol University gym. This project is chaired by Rtn. Popo Juarez and under the direction of Dir. Alvin Benasa, who incidentally is the feature speaker of the seminar. May I urge everyone to be present this Friday and give moral support to our chairman, who is a new rotarian, and to Dir. Alvin, who is the originator of this project. Please come in our yellow uniform.

May I again remind everybody of our Fireside Chat and Valentine’s party this

Feb. 13. Fireside Chat will be at 2:00 PM to 5:00 PM. The Valentine’s party and fellowship will follow shortly thereafter. In lieu of this activity, there will be no lunch meeting on the 25^th of February.

We have approved three membership proposals during last Tuesday’s meeting. Two others may be approved in a special board meeting that may be called before the fireside chat. That leaves us just a few more shy of our membership growth goal. Let us keep our eyes on the ball and not lose focus. I KNOW WE WILL GET THERE!