Janice's announcement is indeed unfortunate for the Club and a sad day for the membership she has served.

Relatively few other than those of us who have worked with Janice know of the tremendous effort she and Jerry have devoted to the Club, both in terms of time and money. Janice never met a collector she didn't like, and I'm quite sure that the vast majority of Club members owe Janice in one way or another.

The Club is poorer for her resignation.

I'm quite sure that so long as she is able, she will be helping collectors and contributing to the club, officer or not. That's the kind of person Janice is. As an ex-officer, I'm not privy to the conflicts that led to her decision.

I urge the membership to support the newly-elected board. They have a tough job, and it will be tougher without Janice's participation. Divisiveness and name-calling is not going to help the Club, nor will it help the membership. We need to pull together, to express our opinions and give our input civilly and constructively.

We need more members helping to run the Club, not taking potshots, and becoming more involved in the difficult task of conducting the Club's activities, rather than sitting back and letting a few people do all the work while the rest of us sit back and enjoy the benefits.

For the 11 years I served as a board member, constructive and innovative input from members was always welcome. Complaining, quarrelling, and unwillingness to volunteer to do some of the work were discouraging and dismaying.

Janice, thank you for your years of dedication to the Club. I know you've done what you thought was right for you, and I can only hope that the membership, while respecting your decision, will work to keep the Club growing and dedicated to its membership.

Michael