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NOVEMBER 2005 |
PRESIDENT'S NOTES I hope you and your families have been able to resume life much as it was before Rita. Although things will eventually get back to normal, nothing will ever be exactly the same. As we clean and clear and deal with the loss we should not lose sight of the fact that the devastation of Rita has offered opportunities for creativity, reevaluation and improvement. Following the hurricane, the Executive Board of the League has worked to salvage our programs in a financially responsible manner. We have worked closely with the Executive Board of SOST and they have been a wonderful source of ideas, information and support. It has been a cooperative effort. We truly are all in this together. Deb Chairman Sonya Coffman’s commitment to making this a wonderful deb season and her grace and diplomacy in dealing with a difficult and at times emotional situation will serve as a wonderful example to our debs and remind us all of the true meaning of the program. With the help of Ways and Means Chairman Carol Smith, and Ball Chairman Chelsea Brandimarte and their committees and with unfailing support from past Deb chairmen, the Deb program will go on just as planned. Remarkably ALL the Deb events have been rescheduled and relocated in spite of severe damage to so many of our usual venues. A special thanks to Gina Crenshaw of For Heaven’s Sake. Gina persuaded Crane to reprint the Deb Ball invitations at no charge and she reworked and reprinted the fabulous invitations to the other events at a tremendous saving. With the help of Gina and other generous supporters we hope to maintain the program’s budgeted revenues for the Symphony. With a great deal of disappointment, the decision was made to cancel the Symphony Ball this year. The financial success of Ball depends on substantial underwriting. Underwriting efforts had been hampered by Katrina and after Rita the Board felt it would be neither right nor productive to ask our hard hit supporters for money for a ball. Funds are available in reserve to make our budgeted gift to the Symphony and to provide additional financial support for the Symphony. The Ball would put these funds at risk. Faced with the very real possibility of losing money on a ball we decided the prudent thing was to cancel it. Although the Symphony Ball is not held for the Belles, it is an important event in the Belle program and was the forum for presenting the Belles escorted by their fathers. Becky Funchess and her Symphony Ball committee have shifted focus and are planning a dinner dance for the Belles and their families and the junior escorts. In addition the Symphony has graciously offered to make a special introduction/ presentation of the Belles at the Christmas concert. Crissy Clarke and Lori Anderson have done a wonderful job of keeping the Belle and Jr. Escort programs on track. In an effort to plan for what may be difficult days ahead, we have advised Texas Association of Symphony Orchestras that we would not be able to host the conference in 2007. The uncertainty about the availability of facilities and the need to devote all our resources to our own Symphony made this decision inevitable. The $30,000 we currently have in reserve for the TASO conference will be available to assist the SOST and to help us meet our future financial obligations. We were relieved to learn that in spite of significant damage, Lamar University will still be available for our April 1, 2006 String Competition and Kara Wied and her committee are hard at work.
I know you all appreciate how difficult it has been to make these decisions. I want to thank everyone who has worked so hard to reschedule these events in a manner that will be financially sound while also maintaining the quality of the event. The spirit of cooperation and the creativity demonstrated is truly amazing. I am so impressed with the ability of our members to put aside personal preferences and consider the larger objectives of our organization. Thank you all for your hard work. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to call me.
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