President's Letter

As we enter our 72nd year of operations, the Chapter will continue to focus on providing attractive and affordable CPE opportunities for our members. Our program includes 8 monthly virtual training events that provide 1 hour of CPE per event. We are also partnering with our friends at the Northern Virginia Chapter on the March 2022 two-day Annual Training which will provide up to 16 hours of CPE. In addition, we are subsidizing the cost of 12 webinars presented by AGA National so that our members can earn 2 hours of CPE per webinar. Further, we will actively coordinate with other Chapters to make additional CPE opportunities available to our members.

We also want to be responsive to requests from our members for the Chapter to roll out some in-person events. Given the evolving circumstances created by the pandemic, the challenges are fairly obvious. Our priority has been, and will continue to be, the safety of our members. Based on the current applicable Federal and local public health guidance, we have been able to hold some recent in-person events including the June happy hour, the July Chapter committee planning meeting, the August baseball outing, and the September kick-off dinner. We plan on holding additional networking events as conditions permit. We are also interested in making our luncheons and our Annual Training accessible in-person if we can. Stay tuned.

None of these activities would be possible without the generous support of our sponsors and volunteers. Our sponsors are recognized in our newsletter and on our website. This newsletter also includes a description of our various committees so if you’re interested in volunteering you can check that out and email your interest to agadc1950@gmail.com. Please also use that email address to communicate any ideas, questions or concerns you may have, and I will respond in kind.

Looking back over the history of this organization, it really is an honor to serve as the Chapter’s 72nd President. Back in the ‘90’s I worked with our Chapter’s 12th President – Mr. Joe Hock. He was as kind and considerate a guy as you’re ever going to meet and it really comes across in his July 1962 newsletter column posted on our website. Just a couple years prior, Mr. Thomas Ryan joined our Chapter and I mention that because he is our longest tenured Chapter member. And finally, a hats off to Mr. Jerry Murphy who served in 1973-74 and is our longest tenured Chapter President. The Chapter’s success is a direct reflection of the commitment of its members and I look forward to another great year ahead.

Al Pavot, President

September 13, 2021