Hi everybody! I hope you are all enjoying your summer. Mine is flying by as usual. Jamie has again done a great job of gathering up all sorts of information for you so please take a little time to read through this newsletter. Please also make a special note of your new board members. These people have knowingly signed up to donate a lot of their time and effort to make our organization run. You should thank them when you see them. Also, please thank all of our outgoing board members. They have spent a lot of time serving you over the last two years.

On the leadership front, I’m sure you all know by now that Jennifer Shipman is our new SJD. I am very excited that Jen will be heading up our organization. Her intelligence, warmth, and depth of experience in gymnastics make her both a wonderful judge and a great person. (Chip off the old bock, right Patty? :-) ) I hope you will all support Jen as she works to improve our organization and the gymnastics community in our state and region. She will represent us well.

As for me, you may also have heard that in addition to stepping down as SJD, I am also retiring from judging for the foreseeable future. This has been a very difficult decision for me since I love judging and will really miss seeing so many close friends on a regular basis. I remember walking into my first meet when I moved to California. I knew no one and kept wondering if I would someday be friends with any of the people wandering around the gym. Ten years later, I often think of that day when I walk into a meet and know just about everyone there. It’s great! Right now, however, I really want to spend my weekends with my family. Marco is growing faster than I ever imagined, and I love being a mom.

I wish you all good luck in gymnastics and in life. I’ll poke around at a meet or two next year to say hello and show off the kiddo.

Best wishes to each of you!!