Message from the President - September 2009
Dear WAFDO Friends:
Much too quickly this last year has flown by and I find myself writing my first message to you as the new WAFDO President. I want to take this opportunity to thank Past President, Ellen Laymon and the WAFDO Board for their excellent leadership this past year. I would also like to say thanks to Pat Kennelly for serving his many roles on the WAFDO Board and welcome Patrick Guzzle to his new position with the Board.
As we all recognize 2009 has been a really difficult year in so many ways. Times are still tough and I want to assure you the many talented and visionary people that serve both WAFDO and AFDO are continuing to work very hard to help each other and keep moving us all forward towards a better future. I have been especially excited to learn more about the new training opportunities that will be available through the International Food Protection Training Institute. I encourage you all to hop on to the AFDO website to see more information about how this innovative new program is shaping up.
As you know the economic downturn forced us to cancel the 2009 annual Conference due to the inability of so many members to attend. Thanks again to Pat Kennelly for negotiating with the Reno Silver Legacy to allow a no cost delay to hold our conference in 2010 instead of 2009. We hope you are already making plans to attend and are looking forward to that meeting. By not being able to meet last year we now have 2 years worth of good ideas to make our 2010 WAFDO Conference really interesting and worthwhile. Along those lines if you have an idea for a Conference presentation please contact us and we will do our best to fit it into the agenda.
In my view it is especially when times are difficult that we need to pull together and discover from each other better ways to accomplish our common goals. Our member network is one of the most valuable assets of our organization and I want to encourage you to continue to build your WAFDO relationships by taking the time to tap out a quick email message or pick up the phone to reach out to each other. If you make just a little effort you can always scare up a smile when you really need one and you just might also find the answer to a work problem that has been getting you down.
Until next time,
Gena Reich
WAFDO President |
