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A
Message From The Chairman
by
Perry Rubenfeld
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Although
written in May, you will read this in July. There is much
excitement as I write this for myself and the many people
involved in the organization and this 45th Annual lJA
Festival.
As
you read this you are either enjoying the Montreal festival,
thinking about the good time you just had there, or you have
missed an extraordinary affair - the first IJA festival ever
held in Canada.
Like
the majority of our membership, I had no idea what was
involved in running the IJA or putting on a five-day party
for a thousand of your friends when I attended my first
"convention" in Atlanta in 1985. I paid my dues
($25 sure seems inexpensive!), received my Juggler's World
and other correspondence over the years, sent in my festival
registrations and the rest magically happened.
Wow! What an organization!
Now,
after four years on the board of
directors, the most recent one as chairman, my eyes have
really been opened to all the hassles, complaints and
problems that must be faced on a daily basis by IJA
directors and employees. Ninety percent of the membership
probably are just like I was seven years ago - unaware of
what it takes to make the IJA and annual festival work.
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No,
I'm not going to write pages and pages rationalizing and
defending the decisions we make. Every member has the right
to call or write any member of the board and get straight
answers to questions. I've encouraged it over the past year.
What
I do want to share with you (and I hope you will also share
with them!) is my heartfelt thanks to some very key people
in our organization.
Ginny
Rose, festival coordinator. Ginny works harder, solves more
problems and deals with more requests than everyone else in
the IJA put together. I shudder when I hear what her job
entails and would not wish it on any person. Yet, St. Louis,
Montreal and Fargo are all (or will be) realities because of
the thousands of hours she puts in for the organization year
after year. To you, Ginny, we all say "thanks" for
all your fantastic work
and a great week. What a party! !!
Bill
Giduz, editor of Juggler's World for more years than I can
remember. As the Clubs &: Affiliates Newsletter editor
for two years, I very quickly realized how many hours
someone must put in to publish, print and mail a quality
magazine season after season, year after year. Every
season I eagerly await the latest issue of the magazine to
catch up on what goes on inside the juggling world and
outside the board of directors. Thanks, Bill, from me and
all the readers ofJuggler's World. Keep up the fantastic
work for many years to come!
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Tom
Bennett, secretary of the IJA. Tom is the person who gets the
most phone calls and mail from our membership, and answers the
same questions over and over and over again. Along with his
numerous other responsibilities, Tom keeps our membership
current. Tom spends countless hours to see that our membership
receives the service it wants and deserves. The IJA is truly
fortunate to have Tom Bennett as secretary. Following in Rich
Chamberlin's footsteps is no easy task, and we are all
grateful for the fantastic job Tom has done for us.
Holly
Greeley, IJA treasurer. Holly keeps the books in order, sends
out monthly statements to all board members and makes sure we
are aware of our financial situation throughout the year.
Although not a glamorous one, the job of treasurer is one of the
most important ones in our organization,
especially in the past year. The financial difficulties felt
around North America also affected the IJA, but Holly's
monthly up-to-date records and reports have helped the I]A use
its resources wisely. Thank you, Holly, for your hard work
this past year.
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It
would be an injustice if I did
not mention how grateful I am to each member of the board of
directors for their fantastic work over the past year. Each
year is a year of changes for the board and this year was no
exception. Through it all the directors have proven through
their accomplishments their love and devotion to the IJA. I
realize that there are few members who pay much attention to
the inner workings of the IJA. But I now realize how important
having a working board is, and we do have a working board!
It
would take several pages to describe all the accomplishments
of each individual board member during the past year, and most
will never be known or acknowledged by the general membership.
Suffice it to say that I can confidently report to you that
they worked hard during the past year. My thanks and the
thanks of the entire membership of the IJA go out to
this year's board of directors. Thank you for a job well done!
I
know you will all have a wonderful time in Montreal and look
forward to meeting with as many of you as possible when we get
there.
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