Welcome to our new online newsletter. This is just one of the many new and exciting things going on at TABA as we move into 2007. I am very proud to be leading the greatest association around this year.
The past leaders--from the first men and women that formed our association, through all the people that worked tirelessly under John Kiella last year--have set me on a very high plain from which to launch to lead us through a very great and exciting year.
I want to thank all of those people for making TABA what is today. I also want to thank in advance the board, the committee chairs and members, and Troy and Cheryl, who together will work to make 2007 a great success for TABA and our industry.
We have many exciting things to look forward to in the coming year. One of the biggest will be the completion of our addition to the TABA offices. This project has been in the works for many years and it will be very exciting to see this brought to a conclusion. If you have not had an opportunity to stop and see the progress you should. It will set us apart. Our building will mirror the great standing and influence that our association and its members have in the community.
We will also have the largest Home and Garden Show ever. This has come to be a premier event in Bell County and this year’s show will not disappoint.
The 2007 Parade of Homes will be a culmination of many great ideas that have been worked out over the last couple of years. The upgrades to our signage, advertising, and show catalogue will insure a great event along with the many new ideas and "tweaks" that this years committee will be presenting.
The golf tournament committee has also been working hard to present new ideas that will ensure an event that will provide a good time and a great relationship building opportunity for all who attend.
The membership recruiting and retention committee is already coming up with ideas to boost our membership. Their success will depend on help from all of our current members through retention and word of mouth testimony to the advantages of membership--so please use every opportunity to help us with that.
The meetings and sponsors committee is also already in full swing planning many great meetings. We will again have the very popular crawfish boil and bar-b-que cook-off. Planning is also underway for a bowling tournament in July that will be a fun event in an air conditioned arena. It will provide a networking opportunity for members who do not golf, bbq, or shoot. Just as an aside, for those that do like guns, the skeet shoot we had last year will be a HOMEPAC event instead of a TABA event this year and is planned for a cooler time of year.
We are also working towards forming a committee to help further our good relationship with the realtors of our area that are so critical to our success. The more they sell, the more work for all of us, so this will be a key committee to reaching our association goals as well.
Cheryl has and will continue to work with all of these committees and do a lot of the "behind the scenes dirty work" to ensure that all of these projects and committees are a great success.
We also have Troy Glasson coming into the new year with a full year under his belt. He is really hitting his stride and is ready to take us into the new year working with the Government Affairs Committee to not only keep us abreast of things going on in government and other public entities but to effect these things in a positive way for our industry and community.
Again, thank you to our members and leaders both past and present, to Cheryl and Troy for making this association successful, and for the confidence you have had in me to lead us through what will be a record breaking and historic year.
I would also like to take this opportunity to publicly thank my wife Laurel and my office manager Jennifer Huffman for taking up the slack when I am off attending to TABA activities. It’s gonna be a great year.
