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Kentucky Heritage Quilt Society
HomeState of the Society 2018

KHQS State of the Society Address

Sue Marshal

President 2017 – 2018

 


Thank you for joining me and the rest of your board at Getaway 2018. I would like to inform you that the State of the Kentucky Heritage Quilt Society may be leaner than the past few years with only 493 active members but I feel it is as strong as ever with member interest for sponsored events often exceeding the venue capacities.

 

One hundred thirty members have registered for Getaway this year. The Kentucky Heritage Appliqué Society’s Spring Retreat at Blue Licks State Resort Park was fully attended and the upcoming KHQS Fall Retreat at Rough River State Park is at capacity and has a waiting list. Quilting Adventures this September with David Taylor, is also full and has a waiting list. And looking forward to 2019 Ann Reed will be teaching at the KHAS Spring Retreat at Natural Bridge State Park Resort, we also have Rosalie Dace teaching for Quilting Adventures in March, and then Becky Goldsmith will be our feature teacher next year at Getaway. I anticipate these events to have full membership participation as well.

 

The 2017 President’s Challenge “Simply Solids” issued by Sarah Frye has been enjoyed by roughly 7,000 people this year. I want to thank your President-elect Diane Acosta for organizing the schedule for the traveling exhibit of 26 quilts and to all the people who helped her with transporting, hanging, and packing the quilts – great job you all! I also want to thank Diane for collecting and displaying for us this week the 2018 President’s Challenge “For the Birds” issued by Mary Bauer which has 45 entries. Forty-five Entries - can you believe it?!? Wow, member participation at it’s best. Diane has done an outstanding job in every endeavor that KHQS and myself have thrown at her and she is going to be a wonderful President.

 

Vice President Anne Honaker did so much work behind the scenes to make sure that the first online registration for Getaway was accomplished flawlessly, she was amazing. And that was only one part of organizing EVERYTHING for Getaway. Anne has been a pleasure to work with. Your Treasurer Nadine Cox has put in several hours this past year updating our financial records to QuickBooks. She did an amazing job and I can’t thank her enough for all her time spent on behalf of KHQS. I think Ann Pigneri is like a magician in Long Range Planning, finding and booking years in advance the wonderful Quilting Adventure teachers and the feature teachers for Getaway. It is no easy task, even though she makes it look that way.

 

How many of us can’t help but smile when we think of our Fund Raising and Merchandise Board member Linda Marean? She has been at almost every quilting related event that she could get Bill to drive her to the past few years, and done it all with a smile on her face and a kind word for everyone she encounters. And with that warm smile of hers she has recruited new members for KHQS all over the state. Myra Arnold has done an outstanding job helping anybody with membership questions in a quick and professional manner.

 

Sharon Crawford, our Museum and Archives board member, has done an excellent job this past year keeping our records updated at the museum and helping organize future Quilt Registries. We are looking forward to a registry this Fall in the Spencer County/Bullitt County area, and in the Oldham County area in the Spring. Please talk with Sharon if you may be interested in working at one of the registries or maybe to plan a registry in your area. Pat Brown has supplied us with another year of interesting and informative newsletters.

 

Ashley Bandy has worked this year in Publicity to enhance our social media presence. And also to bring a few laughs at the Lexington Quilter’s Day Out with her alter ego the T-Rex “Stash” posing for pictures reminding folks “Don’t let Quilting Go Extinct.” Cindy Parker is the KHQS webmaster. She has put in several hours learning the ins and outs of our new website and she is doing an excellent job. Her skill has hidden my technical short comings. And everything at our board meetings was recorded and organized into a concise compilation by our Secretary Amy Aldenderfer.

 

Thank you ladies for a job well done and for all your help and support this year. Each of you helped make this a wonderful experience for me.

 

Thank you to all the other people who helped keep everything running smoothly this year, the board could not have operated so seamlessly without all the behind the scenes helpers, from bulk mail to retreat coordinators and all of you in between. Your efforts on behalf of KHQS is appreciated.

 

I would also like to thank Sandy Staebell the Collections Curator for the Kentucky Museum at Western Kentucky University for organizing the “KHQS Members Month at the Kentucky Museum” as a thank for leading the effort to keep the “Kentucky Sun Quilt” in Kentucky with our donations and fund raising efforts. KHQS members received free admission during April to tour the exhibit “Kaleidoscope: Kentucky Museum Quilts” without charge. More than 200 quilts and quilt-related historical textiles were on display, some that had never been displayed before. I hope several members were able to take advantage of their gracious offer.

 

And a very special thank you to my good friend, Mary Bauer, who has helped me so much this year, I’m sure she wondered if she was still president at times.

 

I want to thank all of you for allowing me to be your president this past year. It has been a growing experience for me and I have made some wonderful friends along the way. If you would like to know more about what is involved with being a board member please ask me, or any of your board members, we would be happy to tell you how rewarding it is to serve such a deserving group.