We are going to have a get together earlier rather than during the Christmas season. No freezing weather, a wee warmer and a great place to gather amidst the great stones of the Stonearium with your fellow stoners. Put it on your calendar.
As I write to you at this time of year, our symposiums are pleasant memories and we face many months ahead bereft of social mingling. For those of you who have space, and or obliging neighbors, consider having a mini symposium in your own community. Contact members in your area and plan a get together to carve, talk shop and just share our love of stone. Don't you think that's a great idea? We're planning on having one in Portland in that wonderful month of Jan. Keeps the wraiths away.
I recently read an article entitled “Feeding the Ancestors." It's not what you'd think. The concept is one of quiet, reflective introspection. Socrates would stand for hours and observe the clouds, so at the least one could seem to be philosophizing! Tribes in Ethiopia follow the same path. The point is that by quiet reflection we feed both ourselves and our ancestors. I don't know that I quite get it, but I think I shall reflect on the clouds this winter and see what they bring forth. In this White Rabbit world a quiet time beside a creek, or meadow would seem to be connective.
I just spent a few days on the North Fork of the John Day River collecting river stones. I don't know whether my ancestors spoke to me or not, but the peace of nature permeated my days. The next time someone chides you for what they call day dreaming, just tell ‘em you're communing with you ancestors. It's sure to be a conversation stopper.
So I leave you with thoughts of quiet solitude and of social interaction, both of which have their place in our lives. As artists we tend to spend much of our time in busy solitude, carving or in cubicles of one kind or another, spending time. So it is that commodity of time that we have some measure of control over and input.
Feed your ancestors. Feed your colleagues with your presence.
Join us for a NWSSA Fall Fest and let’s stir the pot. It's going to be pizza, alla kinds. No pot luck. Scott says we might even have a live band. Check page 15 for more details. See you in October.
Your President,
Elaine Mac Kay
As we end our fiscal year, I would like to share with you some of the things your Board of Directors has pursued this past year.
We passed a resolution that ends any discount in symposium fees for board members based on attendance only. We initiated an outreach program with the South Seattle Residential Training Center for the Blind; a most rewarding experience for all. I would like to continue this program and pursue other outreach programs with other nonprofit groups. By the time you read this, we will have discussed this issue in the general meeting at Camp B.
Our exhibition chair, Leon White, has worked long and hard this year to bring NWSSA out of the Elysian fields of anon into the mainstream of the greater Seattle art scene. Believe it or not, after 20 years we are still an almost unknown entity. This has been a big focus for the BOD this year.
We followed up from last year with Bob Leverich from Evergreen College with work study students and college credit for Camp B. attendance.
Gus is resigning as treasurer and from the BOD to pursue work on his new abode. We asked Rich Andler and Constance Jones to join the BOD. Their positions have been ratified by the general membrship at the Camp B meeting. So we will fill the treasurer's position and add a member to work as a publicity and marketing head.
Karl and Verena are up for another 2 year term. Karl Hufbauer and Sharon Feeney will be directors for the Hand Carving Retreat next year, taking over for Lane who will have more time to work on the Journal. It's a bit much to be an editor of the Journal, a BOD member, and a symposium director.
It is my hope that we will continue to focus on the role of NWSSA as a maturing organization and that in that roll we can work together; updating our mission, vision and values, looking toward the future with short and long term goals.
Peace and prosperity, your Pres,
Elaine Mac Kay
The year end financials for NWSSA are complete. If any of you would like a copy of our Profit and Loss statement, contact me at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 541-298-1012.
In April, your Board of Directors held a working retreat to discuss the goals of our organization and our roles as a working board. This is somewhat of a departure from the past where the BOD essentially functioned as a managing committee to set policy, but did not pursue an active role in the operations of NWSSA.
We have grown throughout the years and many have said that we need to have a paid staff. Wonderful idea however, we cannot afford to pay for the kind of expertise, knowledge and heart that our volunteers (including most of our current board members) are currently providing.
We will have elections this July at Camp B. Two members are up for re-election and two others have stepped up to become working board members. I have asked the current members of the board to accept more volunteer jobs. I think this would shift our focus toward fulfilling our mission of outreach to the communities we live in, to provide consistent publicity and marketing and to work toward diversified fund raising activities. Some of our board members already run symposiums and serve as officers, but I think other members could do more.
The model of a working Board is consistent with a small organization that cannot afford paid staff members, but requires workers for a vibrant and well run organization. We are not the same group that got together 20 years ago, we have matured and now we need to refocus. And gosh, I just don't think it will be difficult at all to find BOD members to give some of their time and energy to NWSSA. After all, our association has done such a lot for all of us.
First the hand tool retreat at Pack Forest then the big one at Camp B - the season is upon us!
-Elaine
I recently came across an article that I wish to share with you. It is about a Navy pilot who was shot down over Vietnam. As his plane went down in flames, he managed to bail out and float safely to earth. One day, years later, the pilot was in a restaurant, when a stranger came up to him and said, ‘You flew jet fighters from the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk and were shot down.’ The surprised pilot was shocked that a stranger knew he'd been shot down, and asked how in the world he knew that. The man replied, ‘I packed your parachute.’
He was just an unknown sailor doing his job who had never been acknowledged. The pilot is now a motivational speaker and he asks his audiences, ‘Who packs your parachute.’ His point is that we rely on all manner of support in life from others, many of whom we never know, and never acknowledge their contribution.
Why would I want to share this story with you? Well, all of us in NWSSA have our parachutes packed by volunteers of our organization. The folks who make the Flower and Garden show happen, the staff of the Journal, our Symposia teams, those who put on member shows, send out emails, work on the website, and the board members receive little or no consideration for their work. Tired as some of you may be of hearing pleas to volunteer, there is no NWSSA unless you help pack the parachutes.
Your pres,
Elaine
