Ray Williams of New Jersey writes:

David Gladfelter writes:

It is difficult to believe that ten years ago, Spencer Peck handed me the gavel and introduced me as the new president of the GSNA. It is now time for me to step down.

I have treasured the honor of being your president, and I am proud to have served all of you for the past ten years. I was greatly assisted by my governing board, as well as the great support of our membership. I wasfortunate, that whenever I lost a fabulous board member, someone eagerly jumped in to fill the breech.

Looking over my term I would like to highlight some accomplishments that the GSNA has made in order to keep it relevant with today's collector:

1. We have had ten successful shows. (Thank you, Tom Hyland.)

2. The printed and mailed journal of the twentieth century has been replaced by a digital journal emailed to our membership, thanks to the efforts of Joe Pargola (our editor) and Eric Knapp, (our webmaster). Thisconversion was extremely time consuming but the results were worth it. Joe can produce a very outstanding journal, in color, without any restrictions of size or postage / printing costs limitations. The journals are nowdelivered to the membership, on time, and on a regular quarterly basis, while saving the GSNA thousands of dollars. This enabled us to keep the dues at a very reasonable ten dollars a year.

3. A journal editor needs great articles in order to create a great journal. Since we no longer have to spend money to print the journal, the GSNA now is able to pay $50.00 to the GSNA member who submits an originalarticle that is published in the journal. This program has provided our editor with a backlog of quality numismatic articles to choose from. If you ever had an idea that you wish to share, consider contacting Joe, and hewill guide you in creating an article to be shared with the whole NJ numismatic community.

4.Realizing that local clubs are the heart of New Jersey numismatics, we put into effect a "Member Club Technology Assistance" program whereby the GSNA would reimburse a mem ber club for half the expense of digitalpresentation equipment (up to $400). This equipment can elevate the presentation and "Show and Tell" experience to be enjoyed by all members.

5. "Speakers Stipend" - In order to assist member clubs in obtaining quality speakers, the GSNA instituted a guest speakers stipend of $25.00 to help offset the travel expenses of GSNA members who give a presentation atany GSNA member club - one in which they personally are not a member.

As president, I was most fortunate to have a super great board assisting me along the way - both past and present members. Thank you all.

For more information on the Garden State Numismatic Association, see:
http://www.gsna.org/