From the President

    Amy is just one of a dozen experts handling the business side of Torch.  OMG has specialists in finance, graphics, and even the social media.  We are working hard to get our database available to all members and the membership lists updated for every club.  Considerable effort has been taken to physically manage our database, correcting missing e-mails and making sure that mailing addresses are complete so everyone will continue to get the magazine on schedule. 

    We are looking forward to our annual convention to be held in June in San Antonio, Texas in the historic Menger Hotel, which opened in 1859.  The hotel is sufficiently well known that it has its own Wikipedia page at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Menger_Hotel.   The Witte Museum has been reserved for our formal dinner on Saturday night. This is an excellent time to visit San Antonio, as the city is gearing up for the celebration of its 300th anniversary.

    One of the distinctive features of Torch has been its emphasis on sharing our intellectual ideas with each other through our magazine, The Torch.  When I speak about what makes Torch unique, I always mention our magazine, which has a history of over 93 years of publication.  Our excellent editor, Scott Stanfield, has set up a new e-mail address,  <torch.magazine.editor@gmail.com>, so articles can be reviewed for publication more quickly than has been true in the past.

    I will continue to put the magazine online at www.thetorchmagazine.org.   One of my goals in the next two years is to try to get more back issues of our magazine available online. And I also wish to thank the 32 members of Torch who serve on the Editorial Advisory Committee.

    As Dick Fink wrote in the previous "From the President" column, he did resign as president, and as vice-president, I have assumed the role. We also have several new district directors.  Gerald Stulc is covering Regions 1 and 10; Jim McNeely, Region 2; Lynn Bernard, Region 3; and Doug Johnson, Region 6. Finally, Anne Sterling joins the board as president of the Torch Foundation.  By giving up my position as trustee in the foundation, we have been able to add a trustee from Canada.  Please keep in mind that membership in the Foundation is open to all Torch members, and we encourage everyone to join.