WOW!  Summer is rapidly coming to an end and we are quickly coming up on our National Convention in Sherbrooke, Quebec.  I am looking forward to seeing many of you there and it promises to be a truly great convention—terrific learning opportunities, the chance to renew friendships, the sharing of ideas—and lots of FUN!  The hospitality of Sherbrooke awaits you.

It is hard to believe that my term of office is rapidly coming to a close.  It was a full year and I had the privilege of visiting every region of our beautiful country.  The hospitality received at every visit was overwhelming and very much appreciated.  The one lesson I did learn is that Progress is alive and well across Canada.  Not that we can rest on our laurels!

In May, I had the pleasure of attending the first "Chair-ity" fund-raising event of CPC Pictou County.  Their Adirondack chair auction and fashion show was a major success and it was great to see a new club, with a new idea, that was so successful.

A week later, I was winging my way West to Regina for the Great Plains AGM and 20th Anniversary of Regina Wascana.  My congratulations go to Lyle Rogne in his election to National VP and to Brenda McBain as Zone Governor.  In her role as editor of the Progression On-Line, she certainly showed her mettle!  The hospitality was second to none, the meeting informative and active, and the celebration at the Aviation Club even better.  My sincere thanks to Donna Peake and Janey Davies for fantastic insight into Regina.

From there, I was off to Vancouver for a joint meeting of the Vancouver Evergreens and Greater Vancouver.  At the meeting, both clubs made presentations to each of the organizations they support and truly impressive was the long-term association they both had with these organizations.  Their appreciation of the efforts of Vancouver Progressians was quite evident.  My thanks go to Penny O'Rourke for being such a gracious host during my stay.  Most appreciated and truly enjoyed.

From Vancouver, I traveled back to Calgary for the mid-year meeting of the National Board.  This was a very busy 2-day meeting in which we began to see the benefits of the efforts of the National Directors.  A great deal of the Board's efforts you will see at the National Convention.

However, of concern, is the lack of response to requests from the National Office.  Over 50% of the Clubs nationally did not submit a census, making our job significantly more difficult.  Thanks to those that reported on time and to the clubs that submitted their Club Rosters.  These are needed to keep our records straight for effective communication.

Hopefully, after the National Convention, this problem will be solved for the most part.  I am sure you will be impressed with the work led by Terry Clarke and Adrian Lomas on the development of our National website's Communications System and you should plan to have at least one member from every club attend their seminar.  We are asking that each club appoint a Club Administrator to manage and keep up-to-date your Club information on the National Website.  This will be a benefit to all.

In mid-June I was fortunate enough to be able to attend the Central Region AGM and to spend a very enjoyable day with Progressians from the Ontario area.  I had the honour of inducting the new Zone Governor for Ontario West/Metro Toronto Zone, John Holman, along with returning Zone Governor for Northern/East Ontario, Roy Urbach.  Also, congratulations to Gary Kisil in his election to National VP.  To all, I wish you success in the coming year.  Following the very interesting meeting, there was a get-together at the CPC Durham South Club "house".  Led by Bill Sornberger, the Durham South men should be very proud of their accomplishments with the improvements and with what is to come in this park-like setting.  If you get the opportunity, drop in for a visit.

After such a busy year, I decided a vacation was in order, so I took Arlene out to the Calgary Stampede.  Idea was to have a relaxing vacation and take in some of the Progress events during Stampede.  WHAT A GREAT PARTY!  A rest, it was not, but very LARGE in the FUN FACTOR.  From the Dogie Doo Rodeo to the three breakfasts (my apologies to Calgary Downtown, I just couldn't get out of bed on Thursday morning after the two previous days), it was a very full week.  For anyone who has not had the pleasure of attending a Stampede the Progress way, make it a must. There are so many to thank for our absolutely great time in Calgary, and the hospitality extended us.  I would be remiss in not thanking Al & Carol Gordon for being our hosts for the better part of two weeks.  A huge debt of gratitude!

Looking forward to seeing everyone in Sherbrooke.

Yours for Progress,

C.J. MacMullin
National President