Greetings Homebrewers, Take me to your Liter? Rick here with a short message to the members, guests, cooks, brewers, and helpers that made the 2002 Pot Luck party such a great event! Words can not adequately describe the awesome table of food that you provided for the members. A slightly more accurate description would be 60 feet of food and 15 feet of deserts!!! WOW!! I still have memories of that coconut sauce, 6 or more chilies, vegies, meat, sausage, kraut, and all of those crock pots. I wonder what the size is of their circuit breaker? Let us not forget the other end of the table with those wonderful chocolate truffles, cakes, cookies, more chocolate. Did I mention that I'm a chocolate fan? So the last official meeting of 2002 will bring us into 2003. I mentioned at our last meeting that our club is owned by it's members and we have a purpose, function and responsibility. Please take a few moments during the holiday season to consider your contributions to the club. Following are a few hints. Contributions: The club doesn't have major expenses but we do spend money on our web site, CSPS hall, and we have been talking (without actions) for quite some time about getting new club glasses. Please ensure your dues are current. Contributions of content: Every last member knows something worth sharing with the group. This kind if information makes for interesting reading on the net and also provides topics and subjects and text to use in the news letter. We appreciate your contributions but have a hard time thanking you if no one says anything! Contributions at meetings: Tips and tricks, bad habits, problems, wonderful recipes, bad yeast, weird flavors, bad headache, ............ You all have interesting experiences worth sharing and are in a group of caring brewers. Plan ahead on talking about a subject at a future meeting. Purpose: I would like to get back to featuring a technical topic at each meeting. Subjects should start at the beginning level and can advance to the advanced level. Regular technical tips will add a real purpose to the club, provide beginning brewers with more challenges, and create contributions for future publications! Function: As 2003 begins, we are looking toward our membership for more assistance. Assistance will be required to help with meetings, discuss topics, record events and generally gain confidence with our growing group of brewing experts. Charter: The founding members of the MHBA had a simple charter. You hold office for 2 years maximum. This way, the group always changed, allowed new members to come forward and allowed older members (like me - I guess) to help from the sidelines. I would like to return to this charter and obviously, it takes volunteers. The only difference between a thought and an idea is the action of communication. This is similar to the difference between a member and an active member. We are relying on you to become more actively involved with your club. I would appreciate your thoughts and ideas via any communications method except for mental telepathy! Have a wonderful holiday season and an advanced welcome to 2003. Hope to see you next meeting at Summit! Sincerely Rick Oftel V.P. MHBA