A message from National President Connie Oltman

Posted by admin on 17 June 2008 | 0 Comments

Wow! Time really does travel fast when you’re having phun …I can’t believe that my year as National President will be ending soon.

It seems like only yesterday that I was standing on stage at the 2007 Conference in San Diego, with my hand raised high as I pledged to lead this organization as best I could; seems like only yesterday that I started thinking in terms of P words. I’m perplexed: where did the time go?

This past year has been a challenging and rewarding experience for me. I’ve logged lots of miles on our cars, added several thousand frequent flyer miles (travel=good), and spent way too much time in way too many airports (travel=bad). I’ve gotten to see many places and sights I’ll remember always. Most importantly, I’ve had the opportunity to get to know some really passionate, positive people. At every chapter meeting, fundraiser or event I attended and every conference I participated in, I never failed to be inspired by all the phenomenal people I met. AMBUCS™ everywhere make a huge difference in their communities and especially in the lives of people with disabilities. Independence is such an important precious part of life and your efforts to help provide that independence for all makes me proud to know all of you – proud be an AMBUC™!!! I truly believe we represent the best of the American spirit (dare I say it??? Patriotism!)

By now, you are probably getting somewhat sick and tried of hearing me piling on my P-words. Please bear with me just a little while longer. I chose P-words as the theme for this year because I wanted to highlight what I felt were some really important principles for our organization. In my opinion, positive growth, building partnerships, promotion and publicity are essential to our continued success. We have a lot to be proud of and we should never be ashamed to show our passion for what we do. And, let’s not forget we ARE the “PHUN” way to serve!

Speaking of “PHUN”, next month we will celebrate our National Conference in Rogers, Arkansas. Please participate! We’ve worked extremely hard to make this year’s conference a great success. There are piles of exciting things to do in Northwest Arkansas and many will be offered that week; like a trip to Eureka Springs Village, a boat cruise on Beaver Lake, and a tour to a historic military park and the Daisy Air-gun museum. There will also be two chances to attend minor league baseball games at our new Naturals team’s stadium. Those are just the EXTRA side-trips. We’ll also have ramp-building, Tryke Trekking, the Memorial Golf Tournament, a visit to a place for the “Vintage Teenager” for the Foundation (WLW/Ambility Ambassador) party, and an entertaining BIG HAT Bonanza. Add in the opening night magic party (with prestidigitation, no doubt), a high-energy awards program and the Saturday night President’s dinner and there will be NO SHORTAGE OF PHUN!!!

If you haven’t yet registered for the conference or made your hotel reservations, don’t delay. This is going to be a “PHANTASTIC” event that you won’t want to miss! You can read more information about the conference in this magazine.

Also in this issue you can read about all the creative ways our members celebrated AMBUCS Visibility Month in February. That is a special time for our organization because it allows us to spread the word about all the programs we have and all the tremendous work we perform in our communities. One person in particular who has done a great job with attracting publicity is Anne Gutherie, President of the new Little Red Dog Friends Chapter in Beaufort, SC. While she has only been a part of the AMBUCS family for less than a year, she has really developed a penchant for promoting our mission.

As I end my year, I want to give a big “THANK YOU” to my husband, Del. Throughout this past year he has kept the home fires burning (sometimes literally – but that’s a story he’ll have to tell) while I traveled and been a great supporter, encourager, and advice-giver when needed. His patience during my busy year was unprecedented! I also want to thank Joe Copeland and the entire staff at the Resource Center – it is amazing to me that so few people accomplish so much – Dannell, Janice, Roxanne, Semaj, Jeff, and John are AWESOME!
And last but not least, I would like to thank you, all the dedicated members who are the backbone of this organization. You’ve made this an AMBUCS™ year I’ll never forget. I’m proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish this year and know our future is promising!

I’ll phinish by saying thanks for putting up with the plethora of P-words – now I’ll pass the Q-words on to Anna!