From The (Almost) President

by Tony Hanson

My wife and I walk at White Rock Lake most mornings (yes – even in this heat!). We enjoy seeing the variety of wildlife that calls the lake home. Watching a duck floating by serenely and apparently effortlessly recently made me think about our society. Before you think I have spent too much time out in the sun, let me explain the connection.

You see, ducks only appear to be moving effortlessly. But if you could see their legs, you would know that they are paddling like crazy to get from one end of the lake to the other. Our society is very similar.

Our General Meetings run like a Swiss clock. Seminar attendees rave about how well managed our events are. Our Special Interest Groups meet monthly. We publish 10 newsletters each year. Our website has 794 pages (yes, I counted them!) of amazing material and information. And all of this appears to happen with minimal effort. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Our society thrives because of our volunteers, people willing to donate time, effort, and knowledge for the benefit of us all. Why do they do it? That is an interesting question, with as many answers as there are volunteers. The one thing they all seem to have in common is that they enjoy doing what they are doing.

We have recently developed a Volunteer Information Program (VIP) application that is going to greatly improve our ability to identify potential volunteers and match their interests and talents with the needs of our society. That was one area of improvement that was identified in the planning conference we held over the summer (more on that next month).

I’ll close by asking you to reflect on the thought that people volunteer because they enjoy getting involved and “giving back”. If you are ready to get involved and become one of our VIP’s, contact Barbara Coakley, our Director of Volunteer Coordination. Her email address is volunteer@dallasgenealgy.org.