President’s Letter

By: Leslie Martien

Dear USAWE Members,
February 6th was a momentous occasion – USAWE held its first Annual Member Meeting! We had nearly 70 members “Zoom” in for the meeting, and our Board of Directors and Committee Chairs did their best to answer questions that were presented ahead of time or during the meeting.

Kristine Strasburger, Region 1 Director, put together a very informative PowerPoint presentation, and Cindy Branham, Region 3 Director, did a superb job of fielding and directing questions throughout the meeting.

Due to the limited time and the complexity of some of the questions presented, not all questions were addressed during the meeting. But rest assured, we have saved all of your questions, and are working on getting you answers.

Perhaps the most frequently asked question was whether or not USAWE would be holding a National Championship this year. The short answer is no, not this year. There are a number of factors that played into that decision: the election of a new board late in 2020; challenges with securing a viable location; developing a National Show Committee; and uncertainty as to the number of members who could or would be able to show in 2021. The number of shows scheduled for this year is very encouraging and we look forward to putting on a National Show in 2022!

For those of you whose schedule prevented you from attending the meeting on February 6th, the information from the meeting is still readily available. Go to our website at USAWE.org, and select Corporate Records. If you scroll down the page, you’ll find Annual Member Meeting – 2021 and links to the meeting minutes, video and PowerPoint slides.

The USAWE Board and I would like to thank all of you for your support, encouragement, participation, and enthusiasm. Please keep your ideas and your questions coming – we love hearing from you!

Leslie Martien
USAWE President
president@usawe.org