President’s Message February 2020
Hello to all of our members! Thank you for being members of the AMTA. As your Chapter President and with our Board of Directors and Committees, our goal is to serve all of you and help you to be the best massage therapists you can be. Please let us know how we help you even more.
It’s election time!! Yes, you have a chance to be on the Chapter Board or to be a Delegate. The positions that are open are:
1. President – What! President? Does this mean that I am no longer going to be the Chapter President? Yes, it’s true. I have served 4 enjoyable years. The last 4 years have been good.
We have maintained around 3,000 members throughout the 4 years. We have worked with National to make it through all the changes National has made these past 4 years. In November, National did a Chapter training with us and they are impressed with the Chapter and all that we are doing all that we are planning. They even took some of our practices and methods with them to share with other states!
What are we planning you ask?
Membership Chairs Tonya Brooks and Alan Jacobson are planning other ways to work with members such as small meetings and get togethers. You’ll be hearing more about that. They are building quite a Membership team throughout the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
There are some key people who I want to thank for all that they do for the AMTA-MA Chapter and how they have been an integral part of the successful team we have for the Chapter Board and Committees.
We start with Lisa Parenteau who encouraged me to run for President. From the start, she made sure I knew what to do and she also introduced me to many people at National AMTA. This turned out to be incredibly helpful as it got me connected with National from the very start.
Roxanne Cunningham has been a great Financial Administrator (FA). There have been quite a few changes in the way we work with National and you’d never know it because she has made the changes so smoothly. Sue Cormier had been the FA before Roxanne and she helped us so much before Roxanne took over.
Patty Jaworski is back on the Board. She had been a Secretary and Treasurer; took some time off and was voted back on the Board in April 2019.
Brenda Thibault has been our Secretary for a while now and we’ve enjoyed her insights and sense of humor at all our meetings.
Nichole Cross has been a stable and energetic member for some years now. She has helped me so much in working through and understanding the role of being a Chapter President. She has been our Secretary and a Board Member. We’ve been able to host meetings (with no meeting space fee!) at her fantastic office in Wareham and the Chapter looks forward to her helping for some years to come.
Debbie Baker has been our Continuing Education Chair for some years now. She has grown into the position and has brought some great CE classes for you all. She is instrumental in our Annual Meeting weekend and finding CE instructors for our September and December classes. She has many great volunteers who help her out at our events.
Kristen Lutz runs our website and oversees all of our communications effort. She has such a sensible and open approach to the Board and our website. She adds common sense and awareness to our meetings. Her input has been invaluable throughout the past several years.
Sarah Ernst-Edwards and Gordon Pilotte were great Delegates at our Assembly of Delegates meeting at the National Convention.
Sarah (who I just mentioned) and Lisa Gorman (who is also on our Law & Legislation Committee) are co-owners of 360 NeuroMuscular Therapy. They have hosted us in their office for meetings (again, at no cost to the chapter!).
Along with Lisa, Matt Olds has been very helpful as part of the Law & Legislations/Government Relations Committee.
Of course, our Lobbyist Mark Molloy has been our leader in Law & Legislation issues. We hired him and his firm, Tenax Strategies several years ago and they have always been key in our understanding and decisions. They help us protect you and your rights as a massage therapist!
Jennifer Savage is our Elections Coordinator. She took over this role last year and our elections have continued to run smoothly. You have already heard from her in January since elections are open – oh yeah, I said that a long time ago! And we haven’t even gotten to the other positions yet. It’s coming!
Caressa Lynne Moy is our new Social Media Chair. She has a great energetic mind and attitude that is bringing us even more into the 21st Century!! 😊 Karen Buck had been our Social Media Chair for some years and we appreciate all she had done.
Christine Rose is an active volunteer who helps us on many levels – from helping us see details that we have missed to bringing great ideas to our meetings.
Other people to mention who aren’t on the Board or Committees anymore include Katie Adams who had helped on our Board for so many years and in so many ways. She had a great way of guiding me to improve in my role as President too.
Gail Dobinski was Membership Chair for some years and kept us on point with membership, presenting her wealth of experience in our meetings.
Kelly Dalbec and Charles Gaudette have been the primary members of the Dianne Polseno Scholarship Committee. Recently, Cathrine Thibault has become a valuable member of this Committee.
There are others who have come out to help when we’ve needed it and we send our deepest thank you to all of them!
So how can you volunteer and join this great group? You can reach out to Tonya and Alan and find a place in our wonderful group of volunteers! Filling out this form will get you started!
What other positions are open for election this year? All are two-year terms.
2. Board Member – You become a voting member of the Board
3. Secretary – You also vote at the Board meeting along with taking all the notes at the meeting.
4. Delegate – It’s another important position in which you take an active part, joining Sarah – our current Delegate, in the Assembly of Delegates at our next two National Conventions. The next Convention will be in Phoenix in August.
Sound good? We hope so! Visit our website at www.massamta.org. You’ll find the information you need to put your hat into the ring!
It has been a great 4 years. I’ve enjoyed working with National AMTA, with our Board and Committees, and with all of you.
Even though I will no longer be on the Board, I will still be part of the Law & Legislation/Government Relations Committee, so you’ll still see me around!
Thank you to all of you!
Greg Hurd
Chapter President … until the end of March! 😊