Having just come back from another exciting and spirit lifting convention experience in Philadelphia, we now turn to winding down this fiscal year. And quite a year it was. While it’s nice to read about it now, better yet, please come to the awards and installation dinner on June 3rd to applaud the many volunteers who helped make this another terrific year.
The Convention awards served as a nice backdrop to this year’s performance. Though based on performances dating back to last year and beyond, our chapter garnered four Institute awards, with John Guill receiving the very prestigious Ben John Small Memorial Award for his excellence in specification writing and education about specifications. I sat with John and his wife Debra at the Gala dinner. John presented very well, seeing fit to don a tuxedo, and any doubters may simply see the photo placed somewhere in this edition for proof. I received a Service Commendation, Karen Collins received a Continuing Publication Award and our chapter received the fifth Outstanding Chapter Commendation, getting us to the bronze level. In sum, Redwood Empire received four of the ten awards received in the West Region.
The year started off with our second annual golf tournament with the AIA chapter, which turned out to be even better than the first one. Our monthly programs kicked off in September with a tour and program at the Salmon Creek Falls Environmental Center in Occidental, which later received California’s first public school platinum LEED certification. Our annual roster was sharp as ever and published in time for the West Region Conference in Berkeley, thanks to Amanda Edvardsson and Dan Furlong. John Guill presented a three seminar series on specifications in the fall (when ordinarily we only present one fall seminar). John Guill and Michael Chambers started an Architects Roundtable at the North Coast Builders Exchange, a brand new service to our members and local industry. For the first time, we web casted the Construction Document Technology exam study sessions, making the program available to members hundreds of miles away – and who passed the exam! We used the same service to conduct our board meetings, which enabled more members to participate when they could not attend in person. Michael Chambers added a special exhibitors’ seminar and another seminar during the trade show for our attendees. Then, to cap it off, we added Dr. John Straube from the University of Waterloo near Toronto, who presented a seminar in April, titled Adventures in Building Science. It drew 52 attendees. The programs committee, chaired by Rob Cox, organized excellent programs all year, capped off with an interesting and educational tour of the Standard Structures manufacturing facility in Windsor in May.
And you know what warmed my heart as much as all this tremendous effort and performance? In October our chapter re-peaked in the highest home membership ever while setting an all-time record for most total members. CSI and the vast majority of chapters peaked way back about 20 years ago. Redwood Empire continues to buck all the trends and keep growing, even in these tough economic times. Outsiders often quip that we are gifted with some sort of magic or good luck. I know we are successful because our membership is excited about CSI, and that’s because of what so many members do to volunteer in one way or another to provide the services members and guests appreciate and value. I am once again very proud of the total team effort and all of our accomplishments this year.
Please come to the awards and installation dinner on June 3rd at the Hilton Sonoma Wine Country in Fountaingrove. Once again, the price will remain the same and the chapter will subsidize it. Duane Johnson, the out going Institute Director and West Region President from Sacramento, will attend with his wife Linda. I would like to see a lot of members celebrate our accomplishments this year and toast the new board taking over in July.
Oh, and be sure to put Saturday June 19 on your calendar and bring your family. We’re having our second chapter BBQ at Steve and Diane Pestell’s house in Windsor, running from 3:00 to 8:00. It’s a catered event, another way we add value to your membership.
If I don’t see you at one of the chapter’s last two events this year, have a great summer and I’ll see you in September. Thanks to all of you for participating in this tremendous organization. CSI would be nothing if not for the people who make it exciting, vibrant and stimulating.
