I would like to thank all of you who voted for me for NWMHC President. I feel that it is an honor to be your president and look forward to working with all of the members to make this club the best club in the country.

First, I would like to thank all of the outgoing board members for their dedication to the club. Sheryl Peterson has done an excellent job as our President and her time and energy have certainly been sincerely appreciated. Dave Miller, as past President and Treasurer has given much to our club over the years. Barbara Ashby has done a great job as long time News Letter Editor and Secretary. Without her tireless dedication to the News, it would have disappeared years ago. I would like to thank LaVon Read for her years of hard work for our club. Lavon has spent many hours working for this club in years past she has worked as our show manager, and then she retired and took over our clubs Administrator position. Last year when we needed a show manager she again stepped up to the plate and ran our NW Shows. Lavon has decided to retire once again. When you see LaVon please thank her for her years of service for the NWMHC. Last, but certainly not least, I would like to thank Kate Sherry for all of her hard work on the schooling show. Our volunteers are crucial to the continued success of the NWHC.

We cannot forget a person whose voice is recognized by anyone who has ever attended a NWMHC show, The Western Regional Show or The AMHA's World Show. This is Mark Bulllington, his years of service to our club as announcer for 20 plus years, as a board member and I hope as a friend to all of us. I think I can speak for most of the members when I say "THANK YOU FOR ALL OF YOUR YEARS OF SERVICE". We are known for the very professional and well announced shows that we put on and Mark has and will always be partly responsible for that. Mark we wish you all the best and we want you to know that we are thinking about you.

The NWMHC is also bidding farewell, a huge thank you and wishing the best to Frank Parker. Frank has been a huge part of the success that our NWMHC shows have achieved. His professionalism both in the show ring as our Steward and as our official Measurer has always been a large part of the show experience for everyone. We thank you Frank, for all of your wonderful years with the club.

When we have outgoing board members we of course, have new Board Members and at this time I would like to welcome the new members to the board. Joanne Ross - Director, Jodi Bennett - Treasurer, and Nickie Gunther - Secretary. I am very excited about having these individuals and their enthusiasm and ideas on the board.

Now that we have installed the new board members, we are already hard at work on 2012. This year looks to be a fantastic year and we are all very excited about the decision that AMHA has made changing the Western Regional Horse show from Reno to our own Eugene, Oregon. I hope you all have or will send Polly Hyde a big thank you for all of the hard work that she has put into this event. We are already working hard behind the scenes on making this show a huge success.

Our Membership meeting is just around the corner and I am hoping to see a lot of you, the members, in Centralia on January 21, 2012. I strongly urge you renew your membership prior to the start of the Winter Meeting. Your Membership allows you the right to vote and we would like for your vote to count.

Again I hope to see you all next week.

Sincerely,

Matt Davern