This will be a memorable year for all members of the 20^th District. The District 20 Ahepa Family is sponsoring the first-ever Hellenic Float in the Tournament of Roses® Parade and we will be hosting the Supreme Convention in San Diego next July. I am very honored that the delegates of the 67^th Annual District Convention of the Order of Ahepa found me qualified and worthy to be your District Governor during this banner year. I would like to thank the delegates for electing a well qualified District Lodge to serve with me. I must also thank the Chapter Officers, the Convention Committee and all the members of the Tucson Chapters for being most gracious hosts during the convention.

The Daughters of Penelope during the Tucson Convention elected an outstanding District Lodge led by Governor Carol Stathopoulos from Santa Barbara. It will be a pleasure to work with the very talented and dedicated members of both District Lodges this year. I congratulate all of you on your election.

During the Tucson Convention we selected a very dedicated brother as our ‘Ahepan of the Year’, Guy Rodgers. I have known Guy through the many years of service to the chapters in both Bakersfield and Anaheim as well as to the District. Congratulations Guy, you are a role model for all of us, and are truly deserving of the title and honor!

I have set two goals for the Ahepa of the 20^th District for this year. The first, membership, is being given priority by the Supreme Lodge as well. We must increase our membership if we are to take our rightful place as a leader of the Hellenes in the United States. The second goal impacts the entire Ahepa Family: it is to strengthen the ties within the organization. We must work as a close-knit family. To achieve these goals, we have two major projects to complete this year. The Float and the Convention will both give us the publicity that we need to increase our membership. The publicity alone, however, will not do the job, we must make the contacts and seek out those potential members who posses the traits and character that we want in our Order. As we work to complete the Float and to host a successful convention, we will indeed strengthen the ties between our organizations. This will be a watershed year for the Ahepa if we all pull together and work for the Order!

This year the District Lodges would like to make visitations to the chapters jointly. We will have separate business sessions, but will hold joint socials. I, as well as the entire Lodge look forward to the visitations. It gives us a chance to do the business of the Order, renew some old and dear friendships, and provides a chance to form new friendships.

Santa Barbara was the site of the fall District Seminar on September 26^th. Approximately 15 Ahepans attended the Seminar. The day started with a District Lodge meeting at 9:00am. At 11:00am the Seminar started. We broke at noon to join the Daughters for lunch and re-convened after a delicious luncheon. Items on the agenda included membership, the results of the Supreme Convention, state of the District, important Ahepa dates for the year, the Float, the 1999 Supreme Convention, use of the Internet and tips for making your meetings more interesting.

This year your District Governor and Secretary are going to try to put out the ‘El Camino’ without an editor. It may be a foolish experiment, however, with the computer resources available to us, we want to try. There is one thing that we desperately must have to accomplish our goal. We need you to send us the newsworthy stories. As all of the editors in the past, we plead, send us the news – we’ll print it and make you all famous!