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PRESIDENT'S REPORT

At various times in the IJA's history, the position of IJA President has been primarily an honorary office, in recent years often awarded automatically to the Convention .Chairman. In the future, however, the office will always have to be an active administrative position with the president initiating and supporting projects and giving direction for the continued growth of the organization.

To help establish this direction, I have started compiling background materials in booklets for each IJA office. At present I have separate folders for the President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, Financial Director, Education Direction, Public Relations Director, Championshps Director, Newsletter Editor, Foreign Correspondents, Official Photographer, Convention Chairman, Historian, and Honorary Directors. (I have separate

folders for Secretary and Treasurer even though one person usually holds both offices. And, I will recommend the new offices this year of Financial and Public Relations Directors.)

Each booklet will state the duties of the office and contain ideas, suggestions, plans, projects, and programs. Some of the booklets will contain reference bibliographies. Some, like that for Financial Director, will have magazine articles and other information on grants and funds. There are no limits to what each booklet can contain. If we think big and hope for the best, who knows where we will go!

The idea is to have something to pass on to new officers each year. And each officer, at the end of his or her term, will contribute suggestions and ideas for the continuance of the office. In this way, every booklet becomes an on-going project that should lend continuity to all IJA programs.

This is the beginning of a large project and I don't expect to accomplish a great deal before our next convention. However, I can use all the help I can get! I will be glad to receive anything that members care to contribute. Send your suggestions, pertinent articles, and your ideas for future projects. Write these in short paragraphs and label them for each office. I'll organize and coordinate all of the material I receive. Everyone who cares to can contribute to the IJA's future in this way.

As everyone should know by now, the IJA was incorporated last year. This protects us with limited liability and gives us .as much legal status as any individual would have. As if more proof of our existence was necessary, I recently filed our tax forms for 1977! However, as a non-profit organization we only have to pay the $10 filing fee.

In the coming weeks, I hope to complete all business regarding the trade marking of the IJA emblem. This involves submitting documentation of the emblem in its earliest use, a detailed drawing to their specifications, five copies in use, etc., etc., and a one-time fee of $35.

As these legal matters are separate from the office of the President, I would be willing to continue to act as a sort of "legal expeditor" when my term ends, unless there is someone who is interested in taking over these duties.

As Historian, I am still collecting and storing contributions of juggling material related to the IJA's history. Stu Raynolds has sent several printer's dies that had been used on past newsletters. Art Jennings sent me the first installment of his recollections of the IJA's history on a sixty minute cassette tape. And Adrian Sullivan has promised to contribute a box of letters from IJA jugglers he has corresponded with in the past. All of these contributions are very welcome, and they will be cataloged and stored with the other items that I have collected over the last few years. At present, the IJA owns several boxes of juggling material, including a large number of newspaper clippings that very well document our earliest years. I would be glad to hear from anyone who has significant material that they would like to contribute to the IJA.

At present the Selma Braatz Memorial Fund has $297 in it. This is close to the final amount we will need for the purchase of her gravestone. Since Selma was buried by the City of New York, who owns her grave, I recently wrote to the City Administrator requesting his permission to place the headstone. I have not yet received his written reply although I already have his approval by phone. I would still be glad to receive any contributions of any size, as our final costs will probably be between $340 and $350. For the benefit of members who don't know about Selma Braatz, she was the most popular woman juggler of her time, and one of the best jugglers of all time. Several articles about her have appeared in back issues of the IJA Newsletter.