Our President

We’ve learned that even in a bad economy, good things can happen. Hard times often bring out the best in people and that has been the case for our chapter. Here at the office we have been lucky enough to have kind, often amazing people step forward and offer their skill sets to benefit us financially.

Common legends suggest that things often happen in threes and that was just what happened for us. We had Marc Wassum, from the Sanford River Rats come to us with the idea of dedicating a baseball game to Central Florida PVA. It’s between the local team, the Sanford River Rats and the US Military 9 on July 9th. And, if we sell enough tickets we will receive proceeds from the game. It’s a wonderful opportunity for us. And we’re hoping that you, our membership, will help us by attending. If you want tickets, and we sell them to you, we get credit, so call the office and we’ll meet you at the gate with your tickets.

Next, Paul Stoute, wrote a lengthy, well-thought out proposal for a car show that would benefit our chapter. When I promoted it to our Board they were not impressed. But, Paul was nice enough to follow up with his own presentation at our last Board Meeting. He did a wonderful job of explaining exactly what he was planning to do and even gave everyone Matchbox cars. Needless to say, his dissertation was far better than mine and it was accepted by the Board. He answered all our questions without hesitation and showed such confidence that we were all impressed. The amazing thing about this is that we, the chapter personnel, have very little to do and the car show won't cost us anything. The actions required of us are to give our support, send thank you letters to the donors, and be there. Incidentally, Paul has already signed on some of the donors. Right now it is scheduled for October 23rd at Gemini Springs Park. As I understand it, there will be hotrods, muscle cars, and some vintage autos, but all these plans are still in the works, so the date is subject to change. I’m a huge fan of Chip Foose and his show, “Overhaulin’.” I can’t wait for October. I love looking at all types of cars and this show promises to be impressive.

The last item in our good luck story is a ventriloquist. Yep, I said ventriloquist. Out of the blue we received a phone call from a man named Ken Tackett who told us about his profession and asked if we would be willing to accept donations from his show. Since we’re not the type to look a gift horse in the mouth, we said sure. A very short time later, he called the office to advise us he had toured through an area of Ohio and he was sending us the checks he’d solicited from the audience after the show. He sent us a packet with a very sizable donation.

Things are looking good for the chapter, and we send thanks to these great people who offer their time, their expertise, and their dedication to a worthy cause. Mere words can not express our gratitude for their generosity.

Sometimes when life gives you lemons, Divine Providence helps you to make lemonade.

Steve Kirk

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