Welcome from New NCFC President Diane Willis

Happy New Year to everyone! Thank you for electing me as your new club president. As you know, our elections occur at our annual meeting during our fall Fossil Fair, and the new electees take office at that meeting. This time our Fair was early (October), giving us the opportunity to have a November meeting. That also meant that the learning curve for the new officers was very steep! Linda McCall was our president for five years, and she did a fabulous job completing our non-profit status, finding additional quarry opportunities, negotiating with Martin Marietta officials to allow us to have a few more quarry trips while they solidified their new policies, expanding our horizons nationally both through the Paleontological Society and the FOSSIL Project, leading a week-long fossil trip to Texas, and making some presentations at professional meetings. Thank you, Linda! She will be a very hard act to follow, so I will appreciate everyone’s help, ideas, and participation! As I’ve begun my duties, I’ve been reminded of the long history of our club (since 1977!) and of the hundreds of club members who have helped it grow over the years into the successful organization that it is, with our focus on education and professionalism in our hobby. I look forward to continuing with this rich tradition!