Dear friends,

	Dancing with Bob Green on a community visit to St. Louis in 2013 ( photo by Doug Plummer)

I have been trying to come up with something pithy and succinct to share about my last day at Country Dance & Song Society. As I packed up a few boxes and finished some reports yesterday, there was so much to reflect upon. Words seemed to escape me. So I shall first simply share an update on our transition. 

The Executive Transition Committee is working with Third Sector New England and Marie Dalton-Meyer as executive transition consultant to guide the Board and staff through this transition. Many folks may remember Marie from her tenure at CDSS at the Interim Executive Director prior to my joining the organization in 2012. 

Doug Plummer, CDSS Board member and Chair of the Transition Committee, announced on Thursday night to the Board and staff that they have hired an Interim Executive Director, who begins next week. More information on this to follow shortly. 

I will close by sharing this picture drawn by my daughter during a meeting with our Japanese members on a visit to Tokyo I made in 2013, when she had just turned 7 years old. 

I didn't speak Japanese. Our members understood English well and spoke some, so Karana drew a picture to share what she loved about CDSS. This picture captured my heart then as it did for our Japanese friends who understood that dance, music, and song help build community across generations. We talked about multi-generational dancing, and that is what they cared about. For over 100 years, we have been connecting across generations through dance, music and song.

When we are our best selves, we have the power to use dance, music, and song to bring people together in North America and beyond. 

So, this is not goodbye... I'll see ya later at camp and on the dance floor. 

I simply wanted to say thank you for the work we have done together. Thank you for the impressions you've made on me, my daughter, and my family.

Thank you!