February 2021/March 2022 Issue

Meet your 2022 Executive Committee

Front Row from left to right: Art Allis, Richard Scinta, Holly Powers, and Alton Hagen. Back Row from left to right: Past President Jim Dwyer, Steven Rodriguez, Karen Trevino, Mark Irgang, Pam Davis and Robert Lowell

Let's meet your 2022 Executive Committee

Richard Scinta - President

Richard joined the Orlando Skål Club in 2009 and became its president in 2014. He works for Wyndham Destinations, the world’s largest timeshare company, as Vice President of Club and Association Governance where he leads a team of people that assist their more than 220 Club and Homeowners Associations with their goals and statutory requirements. His goals as President include supporting US Clubs with their needs as well as the International team's goal to transform Skål into a more visible and relevant club. 

Holly Powers- Skål International Councillor

Holly has been a member of Skal Boston since 1999 but attended Skal meetings since the mid-'80s. She served as an officer of Skal Boston's Executive Board and became only the third female Skal USA President in 2017. She established Skal SW Florida in 2017, the first new Skal club in the USA in 17 years, where she is an Honorary member. She now serves as the Skal International Councillor representing the USA. Holly is the President and Owner of Powers Travel and Event Management. Since moving full-time to Florida she volunteers weekly at a food bank which has been so important during the pandemic.

Art Allis - Vice President of Finance

Art is a proud life member of Skål having been extremely involved with Skål International Tucson. Professionally he was in both the Hotel and Restaurant business, at the corporate and the unit level. This is his second 2-year term as VP Finance after serving as an auditor for five years. 

Alton Hagen - Vice President of Administration

While Alton attended his 1st Skål club meeting in Chicago in the mid-seventies, he didn't become a member until the early '90s after he founded his Destination Management Company in the Kansas City area.  Alton is still the General Manager of that company, Agenda: USA, now with offices in Kansas City and Nashville.  His primary goal for this year is to support the efforts of the Executive Committee of Skål USA.

Pam Davis - Vice President of PR and Communication

Pam has technically been a member of Skål Hawaii for the past decade, but she actually started going to Skål events as a little girl as both of her parents have been active Skål members. She runs two publishing companies, one of which publishes a monthly hospitality industry publication that assists Oahu hotels. Her goal is to keep the Skål name out there, finish the new website and continue to grow Skål's online presence to ensure the organization's messages are seen far and wide.

Karen Jobe Trevino - Vice President of Membership

Karen has been active in Skål for almost twenty years working at the club level but also with the national committee. She is the President and CEO of the North Little Rock Convention and Visitors Bureau where she shares her love of tourism. Karen's goals for Skål are to increase membership, save troubled clubs and make behind-the-scenes efforts more efficient.

Mark Irgang - Membership Director

Mark has been a Skål member since 2014 and has been in the Hospitality industry for over 35 years since graduating from the Cornell University School of Hotel and Restaurant Administration. Currently the opening GM of the new Marriott NY JFK Airport hotel, scheduled to open this summer, he is serving his 2^nd term as Director of Membership and is also the President of The Long Island Hospitality Association. Mark also recently lost over 50 lbs., and has become a Certified Optavia Health Coach as he continues to make health and fitness a major focus and priority in his daily life.

Robert Lowell - Senior Auditor

Robert first joined Skål Boston in 1980 and transferred to the New Jersey Club in 1982. He has worked in the travel industry for his entire life, working with the airlines before opening a travel agency basically for his Maltese clients. He has held all the Board positions and was President three times. He plans to fully support the Executive Committees with all of their ideas of how Skål needs to refocus and move forward.

Steven Rodriguez - Junior Auditor

Steven has been a SKAL member of Tampa Bay since 2010 and was its 2021 President as the Club received global recognition as International Club of the Year 2020 placing 3rd overall. His company Florida Lifestyle Vacation Rentals manages condos on Florida's award-winning beaches. His mission is to assist SKAL USA with its fiduciary responsibilities related to finances and end-of-year accountability.

We would like to extend our deepest gratitude to Jim Dwyer, Tom Moulton, Morgan Maravich, and Jo Anne Ford for their dedicated work on the executive committee over the past few years. We are better off because of them. Skål!

Dear Fellow Skålleagues,

Thank you for taking the time to read through our first newsletter of 2022!  I am honored to be serving as our Skål USA President this year.  My fellow Executive Committee Members and myself were all installed on January 28^th in North Little Rock Arkansas while we helped our Skål Arkansas Club celebrate their 50^th (+1) anniversary!  President Bob Major, Karen Trevino and the entire team did an incredible job as they helped install not just Skål USA Officers, but their own club officers and the Skål International officers with USA's own Burcin Turkkan as President.  Thank you, Skål Arkansas, for an amazing few days.

The Executive Committee will be working closely with Burcin and supporting her team on the many goals set for 2022.  Ensuring proper governance and continuity, proper financial acumen & responsibility and supporting strong membership are some of our top goals for the year. We all are the stewards of this great organization and ensuring its health is our mission.  We are here to serve you and have committed to assist you with your own clubs’ goals in any way we can, so please don't hesitate to reach out if you have any questions.

Please remember to register to for NASC in Orlando from May 13^th to 15^th.  Take advantage of the least expensive NASC in years!  Also, our AGM is being held there on Saturday, May 14^th and is mandatory for all clubs to attend.  Remember, each club that attends receives a $500 credit!  More details are shared further down in the newsletter.

Have a great month and I look forward to seeing many of you at NASC ’22 in Orlando!

Skål!!!

The Skål USA Executive Committee Members met in North Little Rock, Arkansas to conduct their first Executive Board meeting and held three-days of meetings working on the strategic plan for 2022. The International Executive Committee was also meeting there at the same time and both groups met to align their plans and to celebrate Skål Arkansas 50th anniversary (one year late due to the pandemic). The Mayor of North Little Rock even proclaimed January 28th Skål International USA Day! It was a productive three days where both committees worked on plans to move the organization forward in 2022 and celebrated the accomplishments of Skål Arkansas. #skal2022 #wearebettertogether

Skål USA 2022 President Richard Scinta, Skål International Director Annette Cardenas, Skål USA Past President Jim Dwyer, Skål International President Burcin Turkkan and Skål International Councillor Holly Powers

Skål International Executive Director Danielle Ortero was on hand for the meetings. Also shown In this photo are Skål International Senior VP Juan Steta and International Skål Council President Julie Dabaly Scott

Skål International President Burcin Turkkan takes a picture with Susan West, Skal USA rep for Skål Arkansas in the photo booth set up for the Gala Dinner

Eric Braendel with Scott Sudduth, VP of Tourism for North Little Rock CVB

Richard Scinta presents Jim Dwyer with his commemorative plaque

Jim Dwyer, Andres Hayes from Skål Washington D.C., and Robert Lowell

What is Skål? It's a question most of us hear often. It's time the rest of the world learns what Skål is. The next time you hear what is Skål, there is only one answer... I AM SKÅL! We want the world to know what Skål is, so we are calling on all of you to post your video telling the world.... I AM SKÅL!

Please post your I AM SKÅL video and be sure to tag all videos with the hashtag #IAMSKAL and tag Skal USA so we can see it and share it.

Are you Skål? Show us! Post your video today!



Please keep videos to around 30 seconds and post online. Feel free to post them to the Skal USA Facebook page, tag us on Instagram and Twitter and LinkedIn. We will post all videos to our YouTube page. Please tag all entries with the hashtag #IAMSKAL. Let's let the world see who Skål really is!

The Florimond Volckaert Fund is a solidarity aid fund aimed at providing assistance to Skålleagues and their immediate families who are in serious need of assistance. Created in 1954 in the name of the founder of Skål International, its purpose is to provide an International aid tool members can reach out to during tough economic times. The funds available for these grants come from voluntary contributions from individual Skålleagues, Clubs, National and Area Committees. We encourage all Clubs to make a donation in the spirit of solidarity and International cooperation among Skål International members.

How does the Florimond Volckaert Fund work? 

1. APPLY - If you or your immediate family require assistance, apply here.

2. CASE STUDY - Three Trustees carefully screen confidential grant applications.

3. GRANT DECISION - The applicant is informed of the decision and money transferred to his/her bank account.

We will celebrate our first in-person NASC together since the start of the pandemic in Orlando May 13^th - 15^th, 2022. After two long years of being apart, Skålleagues from across the U.S., Canada, and Mexico will get together to conduct business among friends and network, and you know the Orlando Club is busy setting up what's sure to be a fun, memorable event! Clubs booking the full Congress and staying at the host hotel with a delegate attending NASC will receive a $500 credit for attending. If you haven't registered yet, please do so today. Can't wait to see you!

Happily we have not heard of any passings to share this time around.

If your Club does suffer a loss, please let us know at info@skalusa.org.

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Skål USA Journeys is the bi-monthly official publication of Skål International USA. A special edition will be sent out when there is breaking news to share. We want to share your news with SKÅL members across the country. If you have breaking news or Club news for the newsletter, please send them to info@SkalUSA.org.

Skål USA Journeys & Lightning News Editor | Pam Davis | Vice President PR & Communications | (808) 225-8229