Hello, WDALA Members. It’s spring! Can’t you feel it in the air? Wait, what?? You say you can’t? Well… I guess when it’s spring time in North Dakota, it could be 40 below. This will date me, but I’m hearing a verse of Johnny Horton’s “North to Alaska” as I type this. Some of you have no idea who that is, and that’s OK. I grew up in Alaska and know the tune well!
It’s hard to believe as I look out my window today, but summer is quickly approaching. My June through August calendar is already crowded with lots of fun activities. Before we know it we will celebrate Legal Assistants Day (Thursday, June 28, 2018) and the NALA Convention will be around the corner. The 2018 NALA Convention will be July 11-13 in St. Louis, Missouri, at the “Hilton St. Louis at the Ball Park” hotel. I have a stadium-view room and hope I will get a fun and unique view. This will be my fourth NALA Convention, and I look forward to getting the extra shot of encouragement and enthusiasm for the paralegal profession that I always leave with. NALA Liaison Alice Johnson, ACP and I are also hoping to sneak in a little time to play tourist and maybe see the famous St. Louis Zoo or the Gateway Arch or both.
I want to say a special thank you to all the members of the Minot Education Committee for your hard work on the Spring Seminar, particularly Mary Sue Knutson, CLA and Becky Hillerud. Mary Sue spent hours calling and visiting various hotels in Minot, and Becky rounded up the speakers for half of the presentations. Thank you also to Corrina Pfaff for monitoring the P.O. Box in Bismarck and receiving and tracking the registrations. By the time this article is published, we will be looking at the spring seminar in the rear view mirror, and I hope we will feel a sense of accomplishment and pride in a job well done. I know we will also feel a sense of relief!
I ran across a poem recently that I thought was fitting to share:
Roses are red, violets are blue.
You’re brilliant and funny, too good to be true!
Keep working hard, keep doing great stuff,
You’re awe-inspiring, no praise is enough!
Your colleagues respect you, your friends think you’re swell,
And plenty of others would tell you, as well,
That the energy you bring, the ideas you share,
Are the best that they’ve seen from anyone, anywhere.
(Keep it up! You rock!)
Author Unknown
Keep up the good work, fellow paralegals, and know that the talents and input you bring to WDALA are much appreciated. Please feel free to contact me at any time with suggestions or ideas about how WDALA can better serve its members.
Have a great summer!!
PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
Afton J. Basden, CP
WDALA President