SDAOSA president’s letter from Marci Romney:
Dear SDAOSA Friends,
Welcome to our 40th Anniversary Year! “Learning from the Past, Looking to the Future.”
From the living room of Janet Cherif in 1977 to Skyline Elementary today and on to a new site in 2017 and beyond, our chapter has grown in both experience and membership.
Learning from the Past …
2015-2016 was a truly historical year for SDAOSA. For the second time in our chapter’s history, San Diego hosted the AOSA National Conference. The theme was: “Waves of Learning” in November of 2015. Two years of diligent preparation was spearheaded by local chairs Sheryl Lloyd and Linda Lungren and supported by committee chairs and members from San Diego and our co-hosting chapters in Orange County, Los Angeles, Inland County and Las Vegas. Many of our members were called out of “retirement,” having served the chapter for many past years.
As Conference hosts, we shared the unique opportunity for two outstanding all-day Pre and Post-Conference workshops with our co-hosting chapters. In September we danced and sang with internationally acclaimed Peter and Mary Alice Amidon. In February we drummed our way through excellent Orff processing with Jim Solomon.
Working and learning side by side on so many occasions created the big bonus of new relationships and bonds among the co- hosting chapters.
Our third workshop of the season found us enthusiastically daring to create with national presenter Colleen Vernon.
Looking ahead to the final workshop of the year, Historian Dianne Park and myself took on the monumental task of gathering, sorting and reading through 30 plus years of chapter documents and notebooks. Beginning with our original charter as an official AOSA chapter, constitution and by-laws in November of 1979 to present day, we set out to compile a concise History of the evolution of our Chapter.
During that process, I became more and more impressed with the level of dedication, expertise and talent of past and present members. It became clear that a high caliber of local, national and international presenters at workshops and levels training has been the hallmark of SDAOSA from the beginning and has remained consistent. SDAOSA is a truly remarkable group of educators and people to be associated with.
The project culminated in an exciting day of Chapter Sharing interspersed with Chapter History presentations highlighting our honored guests: fourteen of our sixteen Past Presidents and many past Board Members attended who have served the chapter so faithfully through the years. Everyone enjoyed the opportunity to meet, reconnect and honor their service during the workshop and during the luncheon following.
Looking to the Future …
Change seems to be the key word! It is exciting to watch how one group of people can change the way children in our area experience music.
The “face” of SDAOSA is in a season of change. Many past members and leaders are now officially in retirement, or will be in the near future. The chapter’s future will depend on the willingness of “the next generation” of members to continue the tradition of serving, in both small and large capacities. We ask that all carefully consider ways you can contribute as lives and circumstances allow.
My own future has changed sooner than anticipated. My husband and I will be living outside of the country for 18 months on a service mission. This necessitates a change in our Executive Board. Our Vice President / President Elect Dawn Zurcher has agreed to step in to take on the duties as President of the chapter, with three-year-old Alice and three-month-old Lucy in tow. Our capable Board will be there to support her, and we know we can count on our other willing members to shoulder many of the responsibilities. A good place to begin is to sign up for Chapter Sharing in January.
I cannot wait to see what will be accomplished in the coming year by our strong, talented group of musicians. The future of San Diego AOSA is bright and full of promise.
It has been a pleasure serving.
Musically yours,
Marci Romney
Immediate Past President 2014-2016