President William Spruill ’ s Address to the House of Delegates with vendors and exhibits , followed by an evening House of Delegates . On the following day begin with Reference Committees then after the discussion , draft resolutions in plenary ( committee of the whole ), convene the House and adopt our resolutions . Then enjoy our accomplishments and celebrate with a social event . Please give it some thought .
IV . In my President ’ s Address to last year ’ s House , I asked each of you to become a PAC contributor at some level and the owner of at least one PDAIS product . PDAIS is our single largest asset and our single largest contributor to our endeavors throughout the year even though the market penetration into our own membership is a mere 16 percent . Please , please allow them to quote your auto , workers comp , professional liability or business property and casualty insurance . Imagine the possibilities if we would double or triple our own participation . You should know that all of my practice policies are with PDAIS .
V . I also asked local leaders to strive to create a welcoming environment for nonmembers as an encouragement to all . In January , I spoke to the Cumberland Valley Dental Society on workforce issues . They have an 89 percent overall member market share and 100 percent of their women colleagues are members . Outstanding !
Our dental school classes became 45-55 percent women in 1994 and have been ever since . I would love to see a dedicated effort to recruit , retain , encourage and involve greater numbers of our women dentists at the district and local level . I don ’ t know how specifically . Perhaps it will occur as a natural by-product as those of us with 20-30 + years in our local leadership continue to step aside for younger leaders . Every district needs to avoid “ churning ” from the same pool of folks and create capacity to involve our new leaders . Our vitality depends on it and the women are out there . The first step is to invite them .
Observations and Reflections
One of the more somber duties of the President is to honor the passing of a colleague . We lost John Staubach and Charlie Ludwig on the same day last summer . Both men were giants in the Fifth District and important in my accepting leadership responsibilities decades ago . I was gratified to see to strong support from their many friends who attended their services .
John was a WWII vet , one of the “ Greatest Generation ” a man with many , many talents . I was particularly warmed by his obit which said he was “ survived by his loving wife of 54 years .” We all were very used to seeing John and Lois together . Lois joined John on New Year ’ s Day .
My reflections on these events coincided with my own family research . Genealogists and social historians caution that , if you are an immigrant , ( aren ’ t all Americans ?) when you research your ancestry you will rarely find nobility or greatness . Those who succeed well in a society are not those who emigrate . They are more usual folk , sometimes without means , seeking a better life . Satchel Page said , “ ain ’ t no man can help being born average , but ain ’ t no man got to be common .” I would add , commonness has never been a negative . My parents , many of your parents and others of the greatest generation shared that commonness in large part ; ordinary people who accomplished extraordinary things . After all it was the middle of America that stormed the beaches at Normandy and Guadalcanal not the Harvard elite .
Our dads , William Hester Spruill and Mun Him Wong , were like 74 percent of their peers who personally shared the WWII experience , which taught them in the two decades that followed , if you join a large organization with dedicated values and work hard , you can only succeed . I liken that to our PDA . We all share a commonality and we are an organization with dedicated people , dedicated values and shared commitments .
July / August 2011 • Pennsylvania Dental Journal
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