Santa Barbara AHEPA Chapter 243

(Unabridged) January 2007 Newsletter
ORDER OF AHEPA
SANTA BARBARA CHAPTER #243
Established October 17, 1929
“Promoting the Harmony of Greek Culture, Service, and Community”
“Keeping the Spirit Alive”
http://www.,ahepa.org/~chapter243/


January 1st of each year-it may be symbolic to start fresh on Jan.1st of each year, but we are not going to mess with symbolism.
Today is as good a day as any to stop smoking, to pursue worthwhile causes, to eat properly, to exercise, and to rid our selves of excess….though fun they may be. This is not a puritanical purging, but the pursuit of a wiser, healthier, and more exciting existence.
This is what it will be for this Ahepa Chapter, hopefully for Ahepa in general, and for me. For us it’s like watching a child mature, with age it loses gawkiness, and hits a grown-up gait; 07 marks Chapter #243’s 78th year and we are still in a position to have fun, and yet be all business. Don’t expect this chapter to slow down with senioritis.
This is a year of coming changes. You will not see changes for the sake of change, but rather an evolutionary, developmental shift to make this chapter a better, more insightful, thoughtful, and entertaining, and authoritative voice in Ahepa. I know that some don’t like change. Some have forced changes upon us, and yet I look at even this as the process of growing up. This causes us to look inward and see new opportunities which were cloaked by the routines of the past.
So let us shout with resoluteness-“Change”-“Do Over” It is a healthy thing to do. Each new season grows from the leftovers of the past. That is the essence of change, and change is the essence of life.
We will look at ways to reach the community in ways in addition to the church Epistle. This direct contact with the community allows us to give our message unfettered to a larger segment of prospective members and others who would profit by our agenda. The church has its own agenda as it should. Sometimes that is not compatible with our agenda. We should be able to stand on our own and determine our own destiny. .
Be at peace with this-“Success is not reached by chance. It is reached by choice. Resolve to succeed. The greatest discovery one can make is that nothing is impossible.”
We will “Go over, go under, go around, or go through. But never give up.” It is said to “Set your sights far above the merely secure and mediocre, and whatever course you choose will not be a chore, but an adventure.”
As for me, I make resolutions I personally can keep: to eat less, and exercise more and to try to exhibit leadership to this unique and positive thinking membership of #243.
“Peace is not found in what surrounds us, but in what we hold within.”
Jim Pashos Brown