(from Convention 2004 at Gatlinburg)
Madam
President, and a special thanks to Mary Ellen, for traveling to Gatlinburg
to install our officers. A special note of appreciation to Patsy Williams
for taking time to be here with me tonight, she has always been a
lady to took up to. and Most honored past state presidents and fellow
club women.
Patsy - Patsy is PSP, and has meant a lot to me in the Federation.
Again, thank you for being here. I would like to introduce you to
my family members who could be here tonight.
The man who has made all this possible by his untiring love and support.
Beginning in the 1960, he has remained at home to take care of our
children while I attended 98% of the district and state meetings.
George is a Dr. of Pharmacy with a practice of 40 years. He is an
elder in our church, the father of our three children and grandfather
of our four grandchildren. May I introduce my wonderful husband: Dr.
George Clinton Coley
Next is a lady many of you already know. You haven’t seen much of Martha this convention because she has been hard at work behind the scenes. Martha began her Federation work at the years of age of 4 when she helped distribute some of her favorite toys to the patients at Greenevalley School and Hospital. She is all that a Mother could ask for in a daughter and an ardent supporter of the Federation. Please welcome Martha Love Coley
Next is Karen who lives in Cummings Georgia with her husband Dwight. Karen is a gourmet cook and her home is a fantasy of beautiful home decor and a favorite for family gatherings. Karen and Dwight are the parents of two and the grandparents of 6, please greet my most talented sister Karen Virginia and her husband Dwight Griffith
Next is Wilda Parrot, Bill to her friends and President
of the Newport Woman’s Club. She is Patsy’s club president
and traveling companion for this evening.
Finally I would like for members of our club to stand. Each of the
ones present have meant a lot to me and most/all have held the presidency
of one or more of the Erwin clubs. They are a fabulous group to work
with and I hope you will take the time to really get to know them.
Thank each of you for coming.
*******
Do you Know there are only four secrets to staying young,
being happy, and achieving success? According to an email I received
recently they are:
1. You have to laugh and find humor every day. The joy of humor is
sharing it with your family and club members.
2. Dare to have to have a dream. When we lose our dreams, we die.
Dream of being as healthy as your age permits. Dream of active clubs
where everyone wants to participate.
3. Have no regrets. It’s never too late to be all that we can
possibly be. God promises a safe landing, not a calm passage.
4. There is a huge difference between growing older and growing up.
The idea is to grow up by always finding opportunity in change.
Let us think about change. If you are lucky, there is the change you get when you pay your bill. We like that and that more change the better. There are changes that result as you grow in stature and changes that occur as you become more educated, both of which come so gradually we do not think of them as changes -- we just assimilate them into our way of life.
Then there are changes that interfere with the way we have always done things. Therein lies the rub. These changes cause us to abruptly alter our plans, to adjust to a new way of thinking and in the end have a rippling effect causing more change. That is what we will be dealing with during this administration.
You may have already realized that GFWC has down sized their board and has simplified reporting. Good changes! When you have receive your new GFWC handbook and you will noticed that some departments have been downsized to two program areas and under the Arts only one program area will need a report. I have dropped the first shoe so here goes the other shoe.
Tennessee’s By Laws state that we will mirror the
GFWC programs and projects so as a result your state board will be
more streamlined. Some of the previous positions will now become committee
positions. Is this a good thing? There are two reasons it can be a
good change: 1) Tennessee’s board had become so large in proportion
of our membership it could outvote our many of our districts and that
is not good democratic practice. 2) The committee positions give ladies
the opportunity to fully participate, serve and learn without having
the responsibility of evaluating and making reports. However, if for
some reason, you, the club women do not like these results - then
we can always change our By Laws.
To assist you in understanding all these changes we will have workshops
at Fall Conference in Cookeville in September. At summer board, your
state officers will meet with the officers of your club and district
to assist them in putting forth their best efforts for your club.
I encourage you to attend all state meetings and I hope you will begin
now to recruit others to come with you. I have always found new ideas
and renewed enthusiasm at district and state meetings and I have enjoyed
the fellowship of like minded ladies. The more ladies that attend
the state meetings the greater the potential for doing sharing and
learning.
There are no clubs without outstanding club women who worked to recruit
new members and more importantly ladies who take the time to mentor
the new members. To help you with your membership, we will be sending
to each new member a packet to welcome them and to help them become
active, knowledgeable participants in your club and our state. All
we ask of you, is that you send their names and addresses to the second
vice president.
To assist you in the process of building your club’s membership and leadership, we will be holding membership and leadership roundtables at fall conference and in each district. GFWC is again sponsoring Act in Oct. The goal is 4 new club members in 2004. Do you have a prospect in mind? Is she younger than you? How do we expect our Federation to continue if the members are always the same age as we? No, the younger ladies are not too busy - everyone finds time for what they think is important and for the things they enjoy. The goal of the round tables will be to help you learn how to recruit new members and how to keep them as well as assisting you with any leadership problems you may be experiencing.
Ladies, we have an outstanding heritage of service to
our communities, but it is the best kept secret in the nation and
being the best kept secret no longer works for us. When Patsy was
president our goal was 14,000 TFWC members. Loss of identity, less
concentration on sharing the wealth of belonging to the Federation
and members moving on to their heavenly rewards have worked together
to make great inroads into our membership. As a result, our membership
stats are dismal to say the least? We have the best organization for
ladies in the world but we have failed to adopt to the changes in
our world that would make our Federation more accessible and more
desirable to the modern miss.
To head off this trend, one of the main things I would like to see
developed is a plan for make everyone in TN aware of who we are, where
we come from, and for what we stand . Who better to lead the initiative
by pooling their expertise and their desire to see the perpetuation
of the Federation in Tennessee then the President’s advisory
committee. The past presidents have been called upon to provide a
plan or set of guidelines to establish a state wide media message.
Other organizations have utilized the media far better then we have.
I truly believe if we were recognized as a cohesive state wide and
world wide organization that it would assist the local club in recruiting
new members, that it would help the the individual club put forward
their projects and programs and in the end the headquarters would
become a reality - not just a dream. If we start now to plan for the
future we can be successful.
To put this plan into action, we will be looking for club members who have experience in the media fields and you who are here tonight can help by canvassing your membership for women of media experience to help execute the plan.
Along the same lines, the public relations chair will be presenting materials for your use as soon as fall conference. If just one member of your club decides it is important to continue - then this board will work with her to help strengthen your local organization through leadership, membership and worthwhile projects.
The GFWC president, Ernie Shriner has chosen Literacy: Tutoring from the Heart as her special project. She wants to see 4000 members trained as tutors and 10,000 students tutored. Sounds like a lot until you break it down to states and then clubs. It simply means that if every club recruits 1/2 tutors, this can easily be accomplished. Her motto is: One team: One Goal; 100%. Think about how you can help bring this to fruition.
In addition to membership/leadership we will special
emphasis will be placed upon Health. Healthy ladies and healthy growing
clubs.
Changes, good changes, and changes to help us grow, but change is
something you may not like. So let me put your heart at ease. We will
take all the things that are good about our TN Federation for our
shield and slowly accommodate the new in outer rings where there is
more flexibility to adopt them to our needs. If we open our minds
to our infinite potential - we will grow in mind, in membership and
in friendship.
To succeed it will take the support of every single one of you but
"Together we can make a Difference." Together we can change
this downward spiral. I have chosen: GFWC of TennesSEE Volunteers
Using Our Infinite Potential as our motto. The opportunities are being
put in place - dare to dream - and let us have no regrets.
I have always felt honored to serve the GFWC of TN in
any capacity. As I stand here tonight about to assume the greatest
honor you the GFWC of Tennessee can bestow, I acknowledge:
the many blessings I have received from my creator;
the loving and constant support of my husband;
the encouragement of my family, and club members;
the past administrations who have worked to perpetuate our organization
and
the monumental contributions made by each of you, our club women.
And so my federation friends although I don't always
see you, I know you have always been there, And that is the way I
would like to see it continue. May God bless our Federation. Thank
you for your attention.
MARY LOVE COLEY