Page 4 - Desert Oracle July 2019

President’s Corner

Happy July to all my Brothers and Sisters of the Arizona Chapter
th
Paralyzed Veterans of America! On June 8 , we had our annual Prescott
picnic and I would like to thank a number of people for their contributions
and making this a successful event. First of all, to the Veterans, families
and caretakers that came out, I hope you all enjoyed yourselves and had a
good time. To Kathy Karl, who is the Social Worker of the Prescott SCI/D
Clinic and her staff, and live performances by The Navatones, who come
out and volunteer every year at the picnic. Good food is synonymous with
picnics. Thank you Michael Wilson, who has been making sure we have
had good food at this picnic for years. Thank you to Diego Suazo, for
bringing down the Terrain Hopper. Our families and guests really enjoyed
it. Lastly Peter Quinn, our Arizona Chapter Executive Director and his staff
Matthew Jansen, Dawn Quinn and Scott Gehrke, they deserve a thank you.
There is a lot that goes on behind the scenes that makes an event
successful. These guys did everything they could and gave everything
they had to make this Prescott Annual Picnic a success. Thank you. I look
forward to the Prescott Annual Picnic in 2020.

Before the picnic, the Arizona Chapter board had its annual Board of
Directors Meeting. This was an election year and as a result a few
positions have changed. The following is your Executive Committee and
Board of Directors:

President: Leonard Smith
Vice President/National Director: Gordon Moye
Secretary: Sue Wudy
Treasurer: Dianne Brunswick
Sports Director: Diego Suazo
Board members: Leslie Craddock, Joseph Chitty, Joseph Hamilton,
Nicholas Knapton, Richard Malena, and Maurice Valeriquo.

Moving forward we have some decisions that we have to make as the
Board and the number of events that are going to require bodies. As
President of the Chapter, I think we have individuals in place to take great
strides and have an outstanding year. We have got a lot of work ahead of
us and it’s not going to be easy but I am confident we can get things done. I
look forward to working with our staff, our board and our members for the
rest of 2019 and 2020.

Leonard Smith, President