Page 2 - Spring Sojourner Newsletter-Spring 2024 Final

2 THE SOJOURNER

NATIONAL PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

Greetings from cold and blustery Utah, my Dear Brother Sojourners;

Here we are already at the Spring edition of our Sojourner Magazine. Time
certainly does fly when you have enough (maybe more than enough) on your plate
to keep you busy.

I am extremely sad to share with you the passing of our Past National President and
Chairman of NASOCOCO James A. Baker in late February. He and Grande Dame
Kay both were stricken with Covid and Brother Jim succumbed. Lady Kay is being
cared for by an assisting team and is slowly recovering. Please keep her and the
family in your thoughts and prayers.

We had a great Mid-Winter Meeting in Tucson this past January. Sid and Debbie
Leluan from Southern Arizona Chapter No. 273 made all of us who were there feel
like we had become part of their family. Our sincere thanks to them for all their efforts ABOVE AND
BEYOND!! If you missed out, I am sure all of you know that the Annual National Convention is coming up
in early June, so you have another shot at participating in YOUR ORDER. All the details are now posted on
our website at https://nationalsojourners.org/. Log in and get involved. Registration is now open and you will
be rewarded for registering early. Log in to see what I am talking about. The hotel information is also on the
website and you can make your hotel reservations and arrangements at the same time.

I ask that all of you keep a close eye on the message traffic that comes out of National HQ. They are hugely
understaffed right now, and we all need to stay on top of our communications. This is the time of year when
we have several scheduled and required submittals, and those need strict attention, especially the Chapter
reports. This past year was a troublesome year. HQ Staff spent much too much time repeatedly asking that
the Chapters submit their reports in a timely and CORRECT manner, especially the Chapter Annual Report
(CAR). Those of you who are serving or have served in the past as Chapter Secretary and/or Adjutant
probably well remember the days of the multi colored, multipage reports we all struggled with. Fortunately,
our HQ folks have brought us out of those dark ages and everything is being automated that is appropriate to
do so. The CAR is one of those and, if you follow the instructions, it is much more friendly than the old
system was. Just remember – the CAR Excel Spreadsheet needs to be downloaded PRIOR TO
COMPLETION AND SUBMITTAL . If you do not download and save the blank PDF form, there is an
excellent likelihood that your data will disappear into who knows what niche of the ether and your hard work
may be lost! This sad experience happened much too often this past year (it’s still happening as some poor
souls are still struggling with getting their 2023 CAR turned in) and I sincerely hope we can avoid this extra
workload on everyone involved in 2024. Please make the effort in a timely manner to get all your documents
submitted early, or at least on time.

I would also like to send out a reminder to everyone who intends to run for an elected office this year. You
need to submit your intention via the Nominations Form to the Nominating Committee. The form is on our
website and can be found at https://nationalsojourners.org/wp-content/uploads/NSI-Nomination-form-
03082023-fillable.pdf. Past National President and Committee Chairman Harry Sanders and his Nominating
Committee will process these forms prior to the Annual National Convention and have them ready for
presentation and elections.

The clock is ticking and we have a lot of preparation to do for the ANC, the least of which is for each Chapter
and individual Sojourner to submit their Advertisement and payment for the ANC Ad Book. Due to the
passing of our beloved Brother Jim Baker who was the “guru” of this effort for many years, it is requested that
you submit your Ad form and payment to: George “Fritz” McMullin, 10305 Cary Street, La Vista, NE 68128-
3246

See you at ANC, if not sooner.

Charles E. “Chuck” Warren, Sr.
National President 2023-2024