It has been my great pleasure this past year to have served out the unexpired portion of John Seferian's term on the HOA board. I believe the current HOA board has begun some very useful and innovative undertakings in terms of enhanced cooperation and clearer communication. We have focused both within and external to the community in several areas that will serve all of us well into the future.

Like many of you, I have been captured by the opportunities volunteerism provides the members of our community. Currently I serve as a member of Dawson County CERT and am the vice-chair of the Dawson County Board for Parks, Recreation and Community Activities. I am an active member of the Big Canoe CERT program; serve on the handicap committee for the BC Men's Golf Association; and, am pleased to sing with the Chapel Choir.

 I enjoy the opportunity to help others through service with the "Vets helping Vets" organization whose focus is to help veterans confined to wheelchairs. I am a member of the Rotary Club of Dawson County, the northern chapter of the Atlanta Vietnam Veterans Business Association, and the Society of American Military Engineers. I graduated from West Point and earned a master's degree in civil engineer-economic planning from Stanford University.

Prior to Sandy's and my coming to Big Canoe, I was privileged to have been the president of the homeowners associations for two Atlanta communities. These experiences plus those from my professional life after the Army working with architects, engineers and planners give me a very useful base from which to help push the program the HOA board started this year to "Build an even better Big Canoe." We started some good grass roots efforts that I would like to see brought to fruition.