President’s Message

2003-2004
International President
Mary Cotter

June 4, 2004

Dear Friends,

As our 83rd Quota International Convention approaches, I find I have less and less time to accomplish my work! May was a very busy month.

I attended the District 27 Conference in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The views of the Atlantic Ocean were breathtaking. Our meeting location was in the penthouse with windows all around the room. At times it was difficult to concentrate on the business at hand. I received the key to the city from the Mayor—what a wonderful experience!

On Saturday, Lieutenant Governor Laura Lee Lahman held a lunchtime panel discussion for Better Speech and Hearing Month, which, of course, is the month of May. The panel included an audiologist, a deaf student, parents of a deaf child, advocates for deaf children who work with schools, and the President of the Junior Quota Club in Coral Springs Parkland. All panel members presented opinions and information concerning the non-hearing world from their corner of life. It was a fascinating group of individuals who did a wonderful job presenting an incredible amount of varying information. The conference was terrific.

I also traveled to Washington, D.C., to count the mail ballots from our first-ever Area Director election held via mail since our calendar change was instituted. A very high number of ballots were returned, perhaps because of the special interest generated during this year's balloting process. I would like to congratulate our winners:

• 2004-2006 Canada Area Director Maureen Taylor
  QI of Penticton, District 11
  
  
• 2004-2006 South Area Director Rosemary Hannie
  QI of Baton Rouge, District 21
  
  
• 2004-2006 West Area Director Toddy Silkman
  QI of Kent Valley, District 14

I also spent a great deal of time working with Executive Director Kathleen Treiber and the staff on our Convention 2004 program. I hope many of you are planning to attend our international convention, scheduled to be held at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel in Toronto, Canada, from July 16 through 19.

After I returned to Fairbanks, I received a very interesting letter from Quotarian Evelyn Horne. Past Canadian Area Director Evelyn has been a Quotarian for over 40 years. Evelyn's first Quota International Convention was in 1966, in Boston, Massachusetts. She has attended 35 conventions, and has missed only three since 1966.

Just recently, Evelyn wrote a letter accepting my invitation to read the Quota Objects at the beginning of our upcoming convention. In her letter, she wrote that she was just awarded the "Caring Canadian Award" bestowed on her by the Governor General of Canada in recognition for her many years of volunteer activities. The volunteer resume submitted to the Government House reflected back 90 years to the year 1914!

In her letter, Evelyn related an early story about her volunteerism. She described how she was an avid knitter, a craft taught to her at the age of three by her grandmother. As Evelyn wrote, "The First World War was on; trains carrying soldiers to the point of embarkation—Halifax—stopped briefly in my hometown of Truro, Nova Scotia. Somehow we knew when a train would be going through (security could not have been very tight back then), and my mother and I would go to the station—mother with packages of cookies and homemade fudge and I with a knitted woolen scarf or two to keep a soldier warm in the trenches. Those excursions are still vivid in my memory."

I am sure Evelyn would be delighted to share more of her life experiences with us in July. Our international organization is filled with Quotarians just like Evelyn who are very generous and selfless. Please consider attending Convention 2004 and having the opportunity to talk with fellow Quotarians.

Have a good month!

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