I was recently asked how the Confederation operates when behind closed doors. Of course, the devil in me wanted to tell a tale that would shock the questioner, but due to the strain of the 99 degree heat I just could not do this, tempting as it was.
There are no secrets! While record-breaking temperatures in this wonderful place we call home have forced many into seclusion, we really don’t need to be clandestine. The secret to the Confederation’s success is its 15-member Board of Directors has one agenda – what is best for our neighbors. Sounds simple, doesn’t it? Usually it is; other times not so easy.
Take the process of selecting topics for our General Meetings that occur the third Saturday of the month from September through May. A Board committee meets to carefully discuss various potential topics and issues for our meeting focus. From there, we rank them based on the relevance of the topic for our members. These suggestions are then presented to our board for approval.
Some topics may seem to be of value, but how valuable might not be known until the meeting is over and the information has the opportunity to sink in. A case in point is the meeting we hosted on drug abuse in our community last October. Since then, every school district, Edward Hospital and Congresswoman Biggert have hosted drug abuse forums for our entire City to attend.
Interestingly, many of these forums followed the Confederation lead with some of the same presenters. BUT, our distinction was acknowledging the overwhelming majority of our young people are drug free. We believe in our next generation!
Bottom line: come to our General Meetings, be part of what is important to your neighbors, and be proud of what makes your Confederation unique.
