Tonight is the Band's Annual Meeting. Tonight I will be giving my speech on how the band did this past year, and what we have to look forward to. This is the eighth time I have given this speech, every year since January of 2005. I feel that I have grown in my time on the podium, and although I am nervous about tonight, I don't feel that I am as nervous as I have been in the past. This is a great thing!
I do feel excited about tonight too. We are voting in board members who are up for re-election, which is normal. But we are also voting in 2 new board members tonight, one of which I have wanted as a board member for a couple of years now (the piccolo player). She agreed to do it, finally, and I suggested she take the remainder of a 2 year term, just to see if it is really something she wants to do, and can commit to. The other position is going to the String Bass player, who has been coming to the after-band-executive-committee meeting every Sunday for several months now. He's already seen how things kind of work, and how we each take things on, etc. He's been already committing himself to some things that the board is doing, and offering his services where needed.
This has the potential to be one of the best boards we have had ever. Everyone has their own opinion, and voices it during meetings. But, on the other hand, almost everyone chips in and has taken on a project they can call their own. There is only one member who has not really taken anything on as his own, and that is bothersome. This one member just shows up to meetings and rehearsals. Instead of taking tickets to sell, he just writes a check for $50 and calls it a donation. He always says he is on the stage committee, but then shows up to rehearsals and concerts well after the stage has been set. He has not been to a retreat yet, because he goes out of town that particular weekend every year. He once wanted to step down from the board, when his wife passed away, but we did not let him, because at that time, he needed to remain active so he would not sink into even more of a depression than he was in.
But even still, I feel optimistic about this year. I am not up for re-election tonight as a board member, but will be up for re-election at Wednesday's board meeting, for the President position. Even though I have complained in the past about all the things I have had to do as President, I am glad to see so many of the board taking on responsibilities that I used to take on. The ones I have left are the ones I really enjoy tackling. Program design, program notes, and press releases.
