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Good day, Everyone!
I hope this finds all of you relaxed from a summer full of fun, vacation, time home with the kids, picnics in the park, fishing from the pier and re-energized for fall festivities. And if you didn't get that vacation or fishing trip this summer, may you at least enjoy a few moments of peace to read the Shell~Cracker and catch up with what is going on with the chapter.
Some of you may recall from our meeting in February that we are soliciting donations for the Rottmann Memorial Scholarship Fund to award scholarships to graduate students in fisheries and aquatic sciences at Florida colleges and universities. Some donations have slowly trickled in but not enough. I encourage each one of you to hand out the chapter's solicitation letter to people, clubs or companies you interact with who might like to donate to a scholarship fund. This letter can be accessed from the website or myself. You could also consider a personal donation toward this fund. If each of us sent a personal check for only $10 to the fund it would grow substantially!!! Remember that the chapter will match all donated funds up to $6,000.00. The Rottmann Committee will be assembling in Sept. or Oct. to review the scholarship details and plan how the donated money and matched funds from our chapter will be invested and put to use.
Well what about members who are not students you ask? The executive and membership committees have been developing some informational material. We will soon have a letter of welcome for all new members, a letter of encouragement for participation to touch base with our former members who are no longer active, and also a brochure about the Florida Chapter than can be included with these letters. Of course, our fine newsletter editor keeps the rest of us informed right here! Please read the other articles to see what else is going on around the region.
For the rest of us…. The plans for the next chapter meeting in February 2003 have been started and I hope to see you there if not before. I know I shall see some of you in Baltimore for the 132nd Annual AFS Meeting. Thanks to those of you who have contacted me since the last meeting to share your ideas and discuss your thoughts about other articles. I appreciate your interest and desire to better our chapter. I hope that everyone has a terrific "fall", and if ever in St. Pete, feel free to drop by and say hello!
Kathy Guindon-Tisdel
President
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