It has come to my attention that some club members believe the JALAF was voted on at the March Board Meeting.
I want to be clear:
* The JALAF's fate was never voted on*
Five individuals (besides myself and Scotty) spoke in favor of keeping the JALAF during the Board meeting, and only three spoke for discontinuing it.
Unfortunately the three individuals were louder than the rest.
It began when I asked the other club officers to support the JALAF to set a positive example.
I firmly believe that all elected and appointed officers of a club have an obligation to participate in club activities.
Club officers provide a role model, leadership and expertise. Officers should be responsible for helping other officers to keep the club running smoothly and at its absolute best.
Inexplicably, two officers and one member were loudly adamant against the JALAF.
I became so frustrated and sad in the end, that I simply gave up the fight.
I have adored being the JALAF Master for most of the last 15 years and seeing our member's finest lapidary and silver work.
I have always put a lot of thought into interesting and diverse categories and had many interesting categories lined up for the next year.
It's true, JALAF participation had become very poor, but I always hoped to bring it back to the exciting and fun challenge, fellowship and activity it was a just decade ago.
EDIT to ADD: Another point of clarification.
There has never been a month that there weren’t at least 3 entries in the JALAF in the last 15 years.
The JALAF had been part of the General Meeting for about half a century.