From the LocSec
By
January 2008
He's baaaaaaaacccckkk!
Yes, it seems that once every decade or so, I find myself Local Secretary ("LocSec") of this wonderful group we call Cincinnati Area Mensa ("CAM"). For those of you who don't know me: I'm a Cincinnati native, and have lived here all my life except for college in Philadelphia and law school in Nashville. My parents still live in the house we moved into when I was ten months old (I turn 50 next March), and my sister, after living eleven years in Chicago and Ft. Wayne, lives in Wyoming with her husband and their 3 sons. I now live in Springfield Township, and practice law out of an office in Oakley. Seeing the comfortable campus social life coming to an end, I joined Mensa my last semester of law school; I got my 25 year membership certificate earlier this year. Mensa is a significant part of my social life, and I'm glad to serve the group that means so much to me.
As LocSec, I'm really just first among equals on our Executive Committee ("Excomm"). The seven member Excomm is the board for CAM. Bob Charlton, CE Reutter, Peggy Stapleton, and I continue on Excomm from last term; Virginia Plottel returns after a few years absence; and Heidi Macneal and Bryan Mott are serving on Excomm for the first time. Thanks go to the "retiring" members of Excomm from last term - Dave MacGregor, John Schneder, and Paulette Wilson (my predecessor as LocSec); I can't say enough how much each of them has contributed to the group.
One responsibility Excomm has is to fill all the positions this group needs to operate - and we do that by getting members to volunteer. If you'd like to help out, please let me know! New volunteers are always welcome.
As I write this, we are still feeling the afterglow of another successful Regional Gathering. So far as I could tell, all who attended had a good time - and most of us learned something along the way. RG Chair Misty Richmond put together a fine committee that pulled off this great event; while everyone who pitched in to make the RG succeed deserves thanks, Misty deserves special thanks for putting herself so completely into making this event work. If you enjoyed the 2007 RG - or merely wish you had been there - mark your calendar now for December 5-7, 2008, for our next RG. (And if you can't wait until December, there's an RG coming up January 25-27 just 100 miles away in Indianapolis! Register in 2007, and it's $60, or pay $70 in 2008. Details can be found by following the link after this column.
And, yes, it's renewal time. Renewal notices will be arriving soon after this column (except for life members and members with multi-year membership not expiring this year.) Renew now, so you don't forget. Dues are still just $52/year; what else can you be part of for just $1/week? We don't want to lose any of you! You can mail in a check, or renew online at the second link following this column (you'll need your membership number - on your mailing label on this Mencinnatian - and a credit card).
--Rick Magnus, CAM LocSec
Membership renewal