Edwin Jones
We are here.
We are here in spite of the challenging budgets back home for many of us. I dare say that none of us could have predicted the challenges we have faced in the last several months.
We are here because of the foundation established for this organization by our past leaders. All of whom are still very active and engaged in the efforts of NACDEP. Personally I am humbled to be a part of the leadership of this organization given the caliber of those who have built and nurtured it. I am sincerely grateful to the executive committee, committee chairs, and all those who have volunteered to help make this organization and conference successful. I want to thank our conference sponsors. Each of the Regional Rural Development Centers contributed funds, as did BREI and Hank Cothran made a significant personal contribution. Thank you all very much. I am especially appreciative of all the work that Connie, Shelley, Jim and Jim’s colleagues at the Western Center, did in the past months and while here to made things run smoothly. I appreciate Hank and the track chairs for ensuring quality programming, and I also want to thank Dick Senese for being our keynote speaker. He has challenged us and inspired us. Please join me in thanking them all again.
We have definitely learned some lessons with this conference that we will apply to future conferences.
One of my fears was that in the list of presidents of NACDEP that there would be an asterisk next to my name with a footnote much like they do with athletes when they achieve something, but their record is tainted somehow, being on steroids or some such thing. I was afraid mine would say something that 2009 was the year that the organization was driven into financial ruin and the president mysteriously disappeared in Tijuana. As you heard from Hank, that may not be necessary, and our fiscal picture is not as gloomy as we had feared. Given the level of respect I get from some of my longstanding colleagues and friends, there may still be an asterisk for some other reason.
The theme of the conference is Creating Sustainable Communities in a Changing America. When we started working on the conference, we believed the theme to be relevant and timely for this year. We took to heart trying to be frugal and responsible at this meeting by minimizing the number of handouts and programs for the business meeting and overall. We are recycling the name tags and there are boxes available for you to drop them in. We wanted to minimize the number of things you would have to or want to leave in the wastebasket in your room so you had room for those items you won at the dollar auction or bought as souvenirs. We might even be so bold as to claim that it is no accident that our meeting coincides with Earth Day, but honestly that was just a coincidence. However, the economic crisis has raised the urgency and relevance of sustainability to an even greater level. There are people and communities in your county or state that are depending upon someone to help them to take advantage of new opportunities or to competently face compromising and changing circumstances. That someone is you and me.
At this meeting you have shared experiences and knowledge. You have presented curriculum and programs and research. We have all been challenged to look at things differently. I hope that the result is that you have been energized to try new things when you return home. I hope this meeting has been an opportunity for you to develop new friendships and professional partnerships that you will call upon for advice and support.
It is my fervent hope that when you are no longer here, but back home in your office you will take that minute to reflect on what you have learned from this meeting and that you will think about what you can offer to your clientele and what you can offer to your colleagues. I hope you will consider contributing to NACDEP through participation as an officer, member or committee chair, you will make future presentations, and that you will engage a new member. There are any number of ways we can each contribute and it takes all of us working together to build our capabilities as professionals and strengthen our organization to support us and be our advocate in the Cooperative Extension System. I am about to butcher a quote, so I hope all of you Minnesotans as well at the rest of you will forgive me, but to paraphrase Hubert Humphrey: He said that the mark of civilized society is how it treats the people in the shadows. Not everything we do directly addresses that segment of our population. But I remind you that the concepts of sustainability do not apply only to some parts of society and not to others. It applies to all. And I believe that if we keep our fellow citizens who are in the shadows in mind, we will carry with us a frame of reference for how we should live out our professional and personal lives. And from that can only come things that will benefit all communities.
Thank you for listening, and most of all thank you for being here.