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By Bonnie Riechert, chapter
president
You know you’re an old timer
when you start to reminisce, but that’s what I did at our September picnic
when Wynne Brown talked about having served the chapter as president
for 1999-2000. Our chapter has enjoyed such wonderful leadership over
the years. My memories of ETSPJ begin in 1982 when we moved to Knoxville
from Athens, Ga. I fondly recall chapter presidents such as Barbara Asbury,
Mary McKinney, David Lauver, Jack Lail, Alan Carmicheal, and others since
then, who served (and continue to serve) the chapter with such graciousness,
integrity, and effective leadership. This chapter has received national
awards, and our chapter is the home of at least one former national SPJ
president. What a history we have! It seems natural that we should collect
our history in some permanent way. At a recent board meeting, we discussed
doing this, and board members agreed it was a good idea.
You may be interested in working on this effort, or you may at least have
some photographs and other memorabilia that we could copy to include in
a chapter history. All of us probably have some favorite chapter stories
and anecdotes. Won’t you share these with any member of the board, and
let us know if you’d like to be a part of this committee?
Of course, we won’t look backward without also looking forward. The future
of our chapter is truly promising. We have a strong membership dedicated
to professional development and the support and improvement of journalism.
Some outstanding programs are planned for the coming weeks and months.
Several chapter members and UT student chapter members attended the national
SPJ convention in Columbus, Ohio, in October. The East Tennessee Chapter
received the region’s Outstanding Chapter award at the national conference.
Chapter members are encouraged to participate in the upcoming Region 3
SPJ conference in Orlando, Fla., April 6-7.
Annual
Christmas party
The annual ETSPJ Christmas
party will be at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 4, at the University Club We’ll
have another Chinese auction.
Bring a wrapped gift, costing $10 or less. Don’t put a name on it. We
will once again collect toys for the Toys for Tots campaign. Bring an
unwrapped new toy to the party.
By Nov. 30, please let one of the board members or communications coordinator
(588-1474) know that you’re planning to attend. We have to let the University
Club know how much food to prepare.
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