Welcome back to a new season at SSCC.  I’m excited about what’s new and upcoming and I hope you will be too.  Most prominently new this year is our new meeting space.  All will agree it’s much larger than where we were and should serve our needs for years to come as the club grows.

 We also have several new faces on the Board this year.  I’d like to welcome (alphabetically) Stephanie Banks, Phil Boyer, Dennis Freeman, Larry Gold, Gene Luttenberg, Dave Mullen and Andrew Rein. Their enthusiasm and willingness to take on a leading role by volunteering their time and efforts are much appreciated by the entire Board.  Welcome back to the Board (again alphabetically) Loretta Argrett, Norm Bernache, David Blass, Bob Catlett, Catherine Honigsberg, Dave Powell, Bruce and Renee Schaefer and Dan Sisken.

 I hope you find everyone’s act of volunteerism inspiring as we are always in need of helpers to keep the club growing and moving forward.

 We have a new weekly meeting format this year as we introduce Seminar Night which rotates education, open forum and workshops on the third Thursday.  The fourth Thursday is now reserved for Board meetings.  The goal is to make the Board meetings a regularly scheduled program to get as many people involved as possible in the operations of the club.   It’ll be a great night to conduct some business, instill camaraderie among members and even talk a little photography before during and after the meetings.

 The Honor Fund is finally ready for prime time as Dave Mullen leads a committee that will evaluate proposals and award funds towards a community related photography project.  Please read on the club website all about this wonderful way SSCC will give back to the community.  Better yet, work on a proposal of your own and submit it for evaluation.  Applications can be submitted between September 1 and November 1, with an award made by December 1.

 The Club has a new projector!  Last season Andrew Rein took the initiative and researched projectors that would fit the club’s needs.  Andrew made a recommendation to the Board and a projector was purchased from our friends at Hunt’s Photo.  Hunt’s gave us a great price with free shipping and had the projector delivered within 24 hours of placing the order.  You will be very pleased with the color, brightness and clarity.  In fact, look for new larger minimum size requirements for entry in the projected competition.  This will allow the projector to display your images better than ever.

 We have a lot of new things going on this season as well as a lot of what you’ve been comfortable with over the years.  I look forward to seeing all of you at meetings and on field trips this coming season.