Dear Fellow Progressians:

I trust you've all been enjoying your summer, despite the weather and other challenges that some of us have experienced the last couple of months.  For example, those of us here in Ontario would have loved to be able to send some of our seemingly never-ending rain to our friends in the much-drier West.  And, I'm putting the final touches on this article in the dark.  Since the recent power blackout that affected most of Ontario and northeast parts of the U.S., our office building is doing its part to conserve energy, so half of the lights on our floor are turned off, including in my office.  What will we be dealing with next, I wonder?  It's a good thing we Canadians are a hardy and resilient bunch.

The good news is that our National Convention is just a few short weeks away and I'm looking forward to my first visit to Sherbrooke.  I know that our friends in "la belle province" have been working very hard organizing another memorable convention for us all.  I look forward to seeing all of my Progress friends again and hope to get to know those of you who I have not yet had the pleasure of meeting.  I am running for President-Elect and will be seeking your support and approval at this convention.

Avril Armstrong introduced me to Progress in 1990.  She was in the process of forming a new club and asked me to come out to an information meeting.  At the time, I was interested in becoming involved with a volunteer and service organization, but the other more well known associations didn't seem to "fit" what I was looking for.  After spending just a little time with Avril and the other Progressians in attendance that evening, I quickly realized that this was a club I could enjoy being a part of.  I filled out the membership application form and was inducted as a charter member of Edmonton Strathcona in November.

My job with TD Waterhouse has transferred me across Canada and partway back again—first of all, from Edmonton to Halifax in 1995 and then to Toronto in 1997, where I still reside.  One of the many up-sides to this is that I've had the wonderful opportunity to be a member of four different Progress clubs over the years-Edmonton Strathcona, Halifax Citadel, Pickering-Ajax Women (now Durham Region Women) and now Toronto Trillium.  I've had the honour and pleasure of serving as Club President four times—in Edmonton, Halifax (twice) and Charter President of Toronto Trillium—and have been a member of the National Board for the past four years.  In 1999, I was elected as Ontario West and Metro Toronto Zone Governor, a position I held until June of this year.  I am also currently the National Vice President for the Central Region, a position I've held since February of 2002.

My involvement with Progress over the past 13 years has given me the chance to meet a lot of great people and gain a wealth of personal and organizational experience.  By attending and participating in numerous meetings of various clubs, zones, regions and national boards across Canada, I've learned that we all do things just a little differently than the others, and have our own unique successes and challenges.  I've been impressed and moved by the resourcefulness, ambition, spirit, and passion for the fundraising and community service work that we all do, and awed by the enthusiasm—and endurance—of our members at our social events and regional and national conventions.

The first year with a reorganized National Board, which now includes four directors who hold key responsibilities within our club, is almost complete.  Our Communications, Public Relations, Education, and Member Services Directors, along with the rest of the Board, and with the help of a number of other members across Canada, have worked hard this year to meet the increasingly challenging needs of the Progress organization and its members.  We have been successful in meeting, and in some cases, exceeding most of the goals that were set a year ago.  Your ongoing input, feedback and involvement is essential and encouraged, to ensure that Progress remains a viable and successful organization and is able to continue to do all the great work we do to support Special Olympics and to meet our clubs' local commitments.  As President-Elect, I look forward to continuing to work with you and the Board to build on our successes and find effective solutions for the challenges that our club faces.

I've attended every national convention since the Bow River Boys hosted it in Calgary back in 1992 and each year I meet new people, discover creative new ideas, and return home with renewed energy and excitement for the next year in Progress.  If you've never attended a national convention before or haven't yet registered to attend Sherbrooke, I encourage you to do so soon.  I'm sure you'll find it to be a very rewarding experience.

I look forward to your support in Sherbrooke and hope to see you all there.  Merci beaucoup, mes amis (es).

Yours for Progress,
Juanita Soutar