Happy Trails

The time has come for me to ride off into the sunset. I will miss this job as President. It has truly been a privilege to serve the past year. I can now turn the reins of this Society over to Dr. Hollander. I know it will be in good hands.

He will be busy. We have taken the divide and conquer strategy and run it in reverse. We have divided our own organization into three separate entities to accomplish three very specific goals. Our Foundation was formed to attend to charitable and access to care issues. This year we also formed a separate "for profit” corporation. This is similar to TDA Perks, but will run on a local level and any income generated will be used by the Dental Society. While the CADS board does not run these separate organizations, it is responsible for approving members for them and oversight of their activities. As a Society we have taken on a much larger workload. We will need more motivated members to serve on these boards to make them what we envisioned when they were founded. We must always remember that even though they are separate, they are still a part of CADS.

Many thanks go to the committee chairs who have continued their commitments to serve through the coming year. Dr. Atarod, Dental Health; Dr. Stokley, Membership; Dr. Cronin, New Dentist; Dr. Machen, Peer Review; and Dr. Kelp, Editor will all return next year. This level of service to our Society insures continued success and a smooth transition to next year. Our Society is looked up to by many others in the state. They always ask how we are able to accomplish the things we do. The answer is in the commitment and participation of our members.

Special recognition must be given to several of our members:

When I was installed I proposed an ambitious program to get CADS dentists into local schools as preventive educators. This has come to fruition as the DOC's program. Dr. Ensy Atarod not only spearheaded the program, but also focused it into something that was achievable and repeatable. What started as a "pie in the sky” evolved into something of which we can all be proud. Her leadership was exemplary and was certainly part of the reason she was recognized as our New Dentist of the Year.

Dr. Davies distinguished himself as a most successful fundraiser in his efforts for our annual Gala. "A Night in Wonderland” raised a record amount of money for our Foundation and gave us a tremendous public relations boost. Just in case you think you're off the hook, he plans to do even better next year. Go Roland! Thanks also go to Dr. Kelly Keith for his untiring work as chair of the event.

Dr. Katz got the effort to form CADS Member Benefits off the ground this year. Since he serves on the TDA Perks Board, he has stepped aside somewhat and Dr. Don Taylor is chairing that organization. As I write, they are preparing to make their first endorsement announcement to kick off the program officially.

If you can read this you have Dr. Kavin Kelp and Nancy Nisbett to thank. We have one of the finest newsletters in the state due to their dedication to producing a quality product every month.

If I've left anybody out, please don't shoot me. The entire Board and all the members of CADS who volunteered throughout the year deserve more thanks than I could ever give them. As a group they are highly motivated to succeed. All I can claim is the direction I pointed them. After that, the best thing I could do was get out of the way.

On my way up the ladder I always said it was my job to make my President look good. The payback has been incredible. Thanks to all. Good luck Dr. Hollander and the rest of the incoming Board.

Respectfully submitted,

Stan LaCroix

President, Capital Area Dental Society