During the Nashville conference I had the pleasure of sharing breakfast with representatives of all our chapters. I was able to give updates on the new resources available for chapters: a revised version of the procedural manual has been posted on the website. Those who remember the huge red binder that was distributed years ago will be happy to know that this is a much more portable version, and one that can easily be revised in years to come. I would like to thank the committee that assisted in the huge task of revising the manual: Karen Ahrens, Karen Bengston, and Debby Spence. I couldn’t have done it without you! To access this manual, log in on the website and go to Chapter Resources.

The New England chapter held a lively October meeting when Maureen Egan presented a program on painting silk fabric. The meeting was well attended by both members and guests. Maureen is a chapter member and also belongs to Silk Painters International. She shared a wealth of knowledge during her demonstration and lecture, along with beautiful samples of her work. The session ended with plenty of time allowed for participants to try out several of the techniques. Donna Fortier and I also shared some of our experiences from the ASDP national conference.

Baltimore chapter members gathered for their November meeting, which included sharing techniques from conference classes and officer elections. Planning their programs for the new year was also on the agenda. The chapter was well represented in Nashville, as you can see by the photo!

Sadly, we have one less chapter now, as the Empire State (New York) Chapter has been disbanded. Its members voted to dissolve after several years of struggling to continue with very few members. Being separated by great distances, the core group had been able to meet only sporadically, and each had served the chapter as officers for many years. My thanks go to Marcia Cohen, Kathy Burns, and Kathy Levy, longtime members who gave so much of their time to keep the chapter going. They, along with other chapter members, will remain members of ASDP.

In the past several months, I have sent packets to several people interested in learning how to start a chapter. There are members in the Detroit area, in Nashville, and a former member in Seattle who are looking for others willing to come together to form a local chapter. As I come to the end of my term as VP of Chapter Relations, I look forward to watching these come together, and hope that more of our members will have the chance to experience the benefits of having a local group, with the opportunity to learn and share with one another.

Written by Janee Connor, VP of Chapter Relations