Newsletter,
18 August 1998

Report of the "Health of the Region" and Region Meeting

The Annual Region meeting was held on August 15, 1998. This year I changed the meeting place for two reasons:

1. The Region has held their meetings at the Holiday Inn for many years. One of the problems we have experienced is the Inn put on a time limit. Last year we had to vacate the room by 2:00 PM. This presented a problem as some of the people needed more time to confer with their committees. The result was they had to find a place by the pool to finish up the loose ends. This was not the first time this has happened.
2. In my contact with the manager of the Holiday Inn, I was told that we would have to be out by 12:00 noon and that they have now started a charge of $25.00 for room rental.

I felt this was out of line, as we have had meetings there for many years. I went next door to the Best Western Inn. I was very pleased with the accommodation and the service. There were no time limit and room charges if we would have 25 or more people. This has never been a problem. I will use the them again next year.

The only problem--and a small one--is this is a very important business meeting. In the past we have always had a patrol that could afford paying for the lunch; this year thanks to Dave Kunckenbrod PD of Hidden Valley. We do not have coffee breaks paid by the patrol; coffee is on your own. I was told that some of the people insisted that a table of coffee be available during the meeting. I have no objection to people drinking coffee, but as in the past this is your expense if you need a cup during the meeting.

A total of 40 people were there. A breakdown and titles follows: 3 Section chiefs; 14 PD's and APD's out of 16 patrols; Bryant Hall, OEC Adm; Dave Schmidt, Senior Training; Lou Mammone, Alumni; Skip Rebele, Awards; Tyler Davis, Lift Evac; Bill Cline, S&T; Ann Rahn, Phase 1; Sam Dilcer, Student; Louise Wazak, Aux; Jim Blauch, Patroller Communications and Webmaster (a new title and function of the Region that we should of had years ago); plus many more who are involved with various functions in the Region that we could not do without. Thank you for the great attendance.

We were also honored with special guest Ron Verblauw, Eastern DD, Bill Sachs, ADD, and Genit Lewish, Division Awards Supervisor. This is the second time Ron and Bill have visited the Region meeting. They are truly interested in the Regions and Patrols of the Division. Some of the subjects Ron touched on were Patrols do not run the area, management does; awards, alumni, budgets, and Senior program. Another important subject is the return of votes. Only 30% of the people that can vote sent in their votes, yet those that did not are probably the ones that complain about the management of the Division, Region, or Sections. Bill Sachs explored the idea of patrol releases and how good are they. He stated Senior time limits have been lifted from three years to none ( a good move), and discussed the Kane Case. He also talked about insurance for the patrollers and cost. I'm sure we will hear more on this final subject.

I have prepared a schedule for the coming year with the information obtained at the meeting. I know it is not complete but due the urgency of getting the dates to you asap we will have to go with these till I'm offered additional information. Bryant, Jack, and I have tried to complete this list before the meeting but due to some people's insistence that it was always done at the meeting we were handicapped. We will try to add more Senior clinics and one more evaluation if they are needed.

Thank you, Guy

Guy Lombardo
Western Appalachian Region Director
guylom@juno.com