March/April 2007

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Conference Of State Council Presidents

Snow And Fire

BY CHARLIE MONTGOMERY, CSCP CHAIR

Abnormal snowfall, freezing cold, and no kind of snow- removal equipment to speak of did not stop VVA’s Conference of State Council Presidents from having its Annual Winter meeting in Albuquerque, New Mexico, January 4-7. It was a very productive learning experience for all who attended. We are pleased to welcome Mississippi aboard as our newest state council.

We had three distinguished guest speakers: our own National President John Rowan, New Mexico Department of Veterans Services Cabinet Secretary and VVA member John Garcia, and Vietnam Veterans Memorial State Park Manager Thomas Turnbull. He manages the famed Angel Fire Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
We had 32 out of 47 State Council Presidents present at this meeting. Six presentations were made by the core group. All presentations were planned and presented by the State Presidents in attendance. We also conducted CSCP business during the two-day event. We approved an amendment to the Code of Disciplinary Policy & Procedures that dealt with the backlog of chapters suspended for not filing financial reports for two years or more. This will help the State Councils clear their books and also help some chapters get back on line.

We had valuable discussions during our roundtable session, sharing information about how different state councils handle their problems. The New Mexico State Council was even able to recruit several new members who had learned about of this VVA event.

I would like to thank the New Mexico State Council for its great hospitality. They made us feel at home. Thanks also to the Membership Committee for helping the CSCP by supplying AV equipment, which made the meeting more productive and professionally done. Many thanks to John Rowan for taking his free time and being there to help us all understand where VVA is heading for the future.