Past President Communique #4

Submitted by: Pat Battensby

Dear Father Terry and Sisters in the League,

Internet hugs to all of you as we start our new League year in service to God and Canada. I would like to welcome new Past Presidents Anna May M……… (Kamloops), Maureen S…..(Prince George) Pat D……. (Vancouver) and Jeanne W…… (Whitehorse) and welcome back to seasoned Past Presidents, Sandra S……. (Nelson) and Mary L……. (Victoria) I believe that all of you have each others information and I would encourage you to share communiques and situations with each other.

This standing committee is difficult for some of us to handle as the role of President had demanded full time involvement and the come down is sometime hard to handle but bear with it, you will gradually fill the bill.

Our main function, as I know you are all aware is mainly to be a constant support to our new presidents. We should always be available to her in any way that we can help. We must be careful though to allow her to try her wings and do things in a manner that she finds expedient, we must encourage, applaud, reinforce and just be there. After one year under my belt in this position, I have found it really great being a mentor whenever I can and am grateful to my president, Barbara Dowding who still involves me to some extent. It has been such a pleasure and I look forward to more of the same.

So…. our jobs now.

To assist our President to learn in discreet and soft mention of something that she MIGHT have mistakenly done but NEVER in public to cause her any embarrassment.

To be at the ready to do WHATEVER our president asks of us.

To be a mentor to anyone who asks us.

To perform a teaching role whenever possible and to market the League by our personal demeanor.

To perform our tasks with great joy and happiness in our membership in our League as by your presence anywhere, you represent the League.

Above all, always be kind to all we meet and attempt to see the face of Christ in everyone.

Please check the National Executive Handbook which describes our duties extremely well.

The Constitution and Bylaws.
As you know there is a new edition, which covers the changes that we all voted on a year ago. I was somewhat dismayed in collating the Annual Reports to discover that most councils do not make the time to study the C. and B. Ladies we are a National organization, the largest Catholic lay organization in Canada and the largest women’s group in Canada. We should take great pride in studying the rules and regulations of this group. Please find innovative ways to introduce this study to your councils.

Archives are a critical component of our job description. The content of Archives is interesting and can be found on the National web page. Remember our histories are also very important and we are encouraged as we become past presidenst to write a short history of the highlights of our two-year term as presidents. Each council should have a living history, always a vibrant part of who we are and where we came from. I encourage you please to contribute much of your time to this exciting aspect of our duties.

Many types of councils will be having elections this next year. Please ask your secretary to begin to prepare an up to date election register so that if you are asked by your president to chair the nomination committee you will have a head start on the program. The fall is slipping by and will go very quickly as we all know.

God bless you and may our Lady of Good Counsel assist you to be a good and supportive Past President. Please contact me if there is ever anything that I can assist you with,

My President Barbara has also bestowed on me the honour of reporting on WUCWO. At the National convention in Montreal in August it was announced that the North American meeting of WUCWO will be hosted in Winnipeg previous to the National convention next August. This would be an excellent opportunity to learn more about this great organization. Please try to attend both of these events. Our Past National President Agnes Bedard is the North American Vice President of this organization and hopefully will be in Rome for their meeting in November. Please pray for Agnes as she is recovering from surgery.

Respectfully submitted:
Pat B……..