Hey Y'all,
This year the Nominating Committee submitted 4 names for positions. These are as follows;
Vice President
Andy Blackwood
Bill Meeker
Treasurer
Larry Coltrin
Promotion &amp; Publicity
Marc Sletten
There was no nomination for Activity Director, so, this will be filled by provisions in the bylaws which permits the Executive Committee to fill vacancies. If you have interest in filling this position, please contact President Hume.
The nominations are now closed, by motion passed at the last membership meeting. I entered a motion to install unopposed candidates by acclamation, this motion passed. So you won't be seeing these names on your ballot, and they will assume their duties Jan. 1, 2006.
 Our association is doing well, and is healthy. It is my belief that members are becoming more confident in the administration, but as always, improvements can be made. For the first time in our history, we have shown a loss of members, this can be contributed to several factors, and it is something that can be managed. The last time I ran for office, our membership was in the 6,200 range, and I did note that we would need to implement some positive change to reverse a trend of a reduced percentage of gain in membership numbers. Our last figure is 5,595, about 600, or 10% loss. This figure falls solidly within the estimates explained to me by a board member after the termination of our former magazine editor, so, I am not surprised by this. It is a trend that can be reversed, if the members wish to do so, we can manage our way out of it. In order to do so, the members, who now elect all board positions with the exception of the upcoming Membership and Chapter Coordination, which will be announcing a chair at the Membership meeting in Dover, OH next year, elected by committee members from within their body, should become active in elections. The members need to express their will! According to examples of administrative structures I studied attending Business Administration courses in college, we should be administrating from the bottom, up, with the exception of those who provide contract services to us, which should be from the top, down. This may sound confusing, but the will of the members should take priority, where those who provide services for financial compensation need to comply to instruction given by the administrative body. Thus, a trickle down effect is created which allows the will of the members to be heard.
I have noticed that in past years, the reverse of this has had a stronger influence than I feel is appropriate, or in other words, we have been administrating from the top, down, across the board. This is the common method used in most for profit businesses, we are non-profit, so, this method isn't what we need. In working with the bylaws, this was a major concern to me. As a result, there was changes made that can facilitate positive improvements, and bring the members into the administrative workings of our organization. Which in turn will increase the confidence level of the members. I have noted some reluctance on the board to accept these changes, thus accept the will of the members. This can be evidenced by the lack of forming committees made up of 3 or more members, and to hold/attend these committee meetings. It is extremely difficult for me to believe members refuse to serve on committees, especially in light of the fact that we established a committee to look into getting involved with FFA, before the end of day, sufficient members stepped forward volunteering to serve on it, to completely fill our needs. In changing our bylaws, I had the need to recruit a sufficient number of committee members to completely replace all members attending. In other words, the members we started with had been completely replaced at the time of presentation of revisions to the membership. If I can find this sort of human resources in our association, I believe anyone else should be able to do likewise. A chairman can not easily tailor a committee to his liking, rather, the committee will tailor the chair to theirs, and hopefully that will be compliant to the will of the members. This is not so difficult as it appears. Just have trust in the members, the members will do likewise, everything will work for the good of all. 
Getting back to need for recruiting new members, I believe we can be innovative in this effort. This depends on what the members want, at Baraboo of the 12 new member recruited, I recruited 2 of them, 1 was for a two year membership, it took absolutely no effort on my part, all I had to do was provide them with applications, they filled them out, then went to our booth to pay their dues.  I was not going out of my way to recruit, just being friendly with the local collectors. Undoubtedly, the Badgerland chapter will reap some sort of benefit from this. I believe a grassroots recruitment program would result in great benefit for our association, and for our chapters. As such, I have been discussing designing a program with President Hume, to accomplish this goal. This discussion is still in it's infancy, and member input will be important. There should be an incentive for recruitment, such as a pin similar to the attendance pins many churches give for perfect attendance, or perhaps a listing in the magazine giving recognization to those who take the effort to recruit new members. I intend to keep working on this until there has been sufficent planning and development to present a program to the membership committee. The big advantage to a grassroots recruitment campaign is you will find a higher percentage of active members, who are willing to attend events, and participate in our association. These perspective members have already proved they have an active interest by being in contact with a recruiting member. And any member can recruit someone!!!
A major part of the duties of a Vice President is to assist the President, this is something I normally try to do, regardless of my position, I intend to continue doing this, without regard to the outcome of this election. It is something I personally believe to be the duty of good members, whenever possible.
I would invite your comments, concerns, and discussion of these or other matters concerning our association, and invite my opponent, and good friend, Mr. Bill Meeker, to enter into this discussion.

Have a great day!!!

Andy