President's Column

By Robert Griswold

Oh, just when you were looking forward to a new President with great columns - I'm back! Well, if the toughest part of this job is writing this column, then I can't complain. We have an excellent Board of Directors and a superb Club Manager and I am honored to lead our Club for another year.

Even though I am not leaving, please allow me to thank those that made this past year such a success. Let's talk about the revitalized Foghorn - the mastery of Gayle (who is so well known and revered you don't even have to include ³Falkenthal² when you mention her) and Kristi Macris. (Editor's Note: I concur with Robert - Kristie is a real talent. How she manages to take the mishmash of copy and art I give her and turn it into this snappy looking Foghorn is a miracle every month. New board member Kara Snow has also ably stepped up for the current issue - GLF).

It is also great to see our board members who are passionate about their committees. Leading our successful line-up of programs were Ron James (Food & Wine Committee); J.W. August (Golf Committee); Reid Carroll (SDPC Salutes); Laura Walcher/Kim Edwards (News Forums) and Terry Williams and Gayle Falkenthal for putting together an excellent and well-attended J-Awards event. Add Frank Saldana, who along with Cathy Clark put together yet another very successful Legends luncheon. Actively participating behind the scenes were many others including Andrew Kleske. We thank him for his tireless efforts to keep the website current in addition to his role as our election czar this year.

Speaking of the annual Journalism Awards program . . . it was a phenomenal success with a record number of entries (well over 1,000). And while some of our winners were media icons, there were quite a few newbies being acknowledged for the very first time. I would like to add my heart-felt congratulations to our Special Achievement honorees - Tom Blair, Chris Jennewein and Lynn Stedd. Well-deserved honors.

But we are not done yet. Look for the Foghorn each month with more fun and informative events as we head into a very ambitious year of events, awards, and just plain fun for the Press Club.

First though, I think we all deserve a bit of a break. Happy Holidays to you and yours!

Posted Dec. 2005