Thanks to the hard work of many, our Association enjoyed another successful kick off to the new year. In January the Supreme Council held its first quarterly meeting of 2018 here in San Diego. Many of you joined us as ESA Thomas Dement (Tennessee Beta '90) and the rest of the Supreme Council hosted San Diego Area ΣΑΕs for an alumni reception at the Kimpton Hotel Palomar in downtown San Diego. The well attended event garnered praise from the Supreme Council for the large number of alums who were present. Aside from the chance to hear from ESA Dement and others, many of you were recognized for your long association with ΣΑΕ and received recognition for 25 and 50 years of being a Brother. Another bright spot to the evening was the chance to meet many alumni who reside in San Diego and are not currently members of our Association. We look forward to having these gentlemen join us and support the great things we do in the name of ΣΑΕ.
In early February we held our first luncheon of the year and heard from Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent, Public Information Officer, Amy Roderick who spoke to us about the growing opioid epidemic in the United States. Special Agent Roderick's presentation was an eye opening look into this growing domestic crisis and how other countries play a role. The talk was so impactful that Special Agent Roderick drew interest from a number of brothers who wished to have her speak on the topic to other groups they are associated with.
In March we celebrated our 162nd anniversary at our annual Founders Day Dinner. The evening was a pleasure as Brothers young and old came together to share stories, share a drink, and break bread with one another. We heard from the EAs of our three undergraduate chapters, our Province Archon, and honored our 2018 Richard Troncone Brother of the Year, Gary Keehner (Washington Alpha '62).
Did you hear? The Association's award winning website (www.saesd.org) got a facelift. The use of a fully functioning website to bring ease to our members was something your board placed focus on heading into 2018. Association Secretary Mark Scannell (California Theta '84) and former Association Secretary Mike Templeton (Ohio Epsilon '63) have worked hard to bring us into the 21st century so to speak.
Some of the highlights of our new website are the ability to register and pay for events online. Visitwww.saesd.org/events to see what Association events are coming up, register, and even prepay online. Our next event will be Brews with Bros on April 20th at Draft Republic in UTC. Following Brews with Bros will be our second luncheon at the San Diego Yacht Club on May 31st. Our speaker will be former Camp David Commander, Rear Admiral Michael Giorgione, author of Inside Camp David, (The Private World of the Presidential Retreat.)
Another focus of our website was adding the ability for brothers to join our Association or renew their membership online. You now have the ability to visit www.saesd.org/membership-levels to view our various membership levels. Once you have chosen the level of support you are most comfortable with, simply access the link to Join/Renew to make your payment online. Please take a moment and visit this page if you have yet to renew your membership for 2018 or wish to join. Renewing your membership early in the year saves the Association time and effort and ensures our ability to continue to provide programming to you and support to our three local chapters throughout the year.
That said, I want to thank all of you who have already renewed your membership for 2018. Your early support is crucial.
As we continue to move forward this year, your board will continue to work to improve and update our Association. That is our promise to you and to our undergrads. We look forward to having you be part of this journey and appreciate your continued support and participation.
In the bonds,
Adam Porter
President