Hello members and friends of the South Sound Blues Association. As I take the reins from Andy Pasilis, who has been our president for the last 7 years, I am grateful to him for being a great role model to follow. He is highly respected in our music community and his leadership helped develop our organization into one that has a strong, positive reputation. I hope to carry on his legacy.
It’s a little daunting to go from being a member of just over a year and a half, to being the president of this organization. Thank you to those who voted for me for President. I know I was unopposed, but your participation in voting is appreciated. All-volunteer, non-profit organizations struggle to get enough people to step up to fill board positions. We are fortunate in having a talented pool of Directors volunteering on behalf of the South Sound Blues Association.
With a fresh set of eyes, I will be looking to review our goals and objectives, and how we go about realizing those. My goals include increasing our membership, and member involvement. People join SSBA to have fun, meet other music enthusiasts and artists, and support live music. We also want to have a presence at music festivals such as the Downtown Tacoma Blues and Jazz Festival and the Rainier Music Festival in Ashford, WA. This is our way to help support our musicians and increase awareness of the South Sound Blues Association. It also gives us the opportunity to earn income from our merchandise and raffle ticket sales. However, it takes manpower. I will be asking for help from volunteers. To give our members an incentive to volunteer I will be exploring ways to make it fun and accommodating. More to come on that.
I see good things happening for the Blues in our community. Thank you for being a part of it.
Susie Campbell