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A VIEW FROM THE HELM by Capt. Jim Shotwell It's hard to believe that it was only 5 years ago that our dear friends Chuck and Linda Warner shamed Diana and I into finally joining ACBS and today I'm the proud chapter President of the 12th largest chapter {out of 51} in the Society and a Director at Large for Youth Development at International. We had been on the fringe for many years building, repairing and restoring wooden boats, attending ACBS festivals as venders and teaching boat building for WoodenBoat publications in Brooklin, Maine; but didn't take the time to join the Antique and Classic Boat Society. When we finally did join we chose the Chesapeake Bay Chapter as our primary chapter because we have boated on the bay for years and many of our boating buddies were on the Chesapeake as well. We love it here. This, my first year as your president, will be challenging, I'm sure, but we're all blessed with an outstanding executive board and a group of very dedicated directors as well as very active past presidents to help us stay focused on the mission at hand. I thank Rick Sharpe and Greg Howell our two immediate past presidents for having the faith in me to lead in their foot steps. Believe me they are big shoes to fill and I promise to give you my best. As many of you know, I have been active in ACBS at the International level, representing the Chesapeake Bay Chapter at the quarterly meetings and the Chapter Roundtables throughout 2005. The information gained will be a great help in securing the future of our chapter and I will keep everyone advised of the direction of the International Board. The main topics of interest at this time are the development of Youth Programs in an attempt to attract new members in the 25 to 35 age group, sustaining and increasing membership and chapter levels and a movement in the Judging guidelines to reward those who save rather than replace the old wood during restoration or repair. I have also placed our chapter on the list to sponsor an International Quarterly Meeting and hope that it will become a reality in 2007. What a great time it would be to have members from all corners of the country here on Chesapeake Bay enjoying all this grand estuary has to offer. I'll keep you posted. I'm proud to report that your club is in excellent financial shape and that this year we will be bringing the membership together often to just have fun on the water and enjoy the boats and each other. One of the positive things
I came away from the International Annual Meeting with was that the most successful chapters are the ones that have the most fun. That's the number one goal for 2006. Summer is just around the corner so please come out, join your fellow members and lets have some fun. Hope to see you soon, BE WELL and as always .......
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