I think most of the region is now a "winter wonderland." Although travel is limited a bit, perhaps those projects (I think most of us have them, you know, the ones we start and never seem to get to) are getting some attention. I have started working on some myself.

I actually pulled out my 15mm Napoleonic Austrians after a long time sitting in the cabinet and began finishing what never got finished a decade ago. Of course, the Napoleonic Campaign that's going on in Dayton (run by Gavin Tovrea) is a big driving force. I had sold off most of my large collection of Napoleonics. Now, I'm down to the 1813 Austrians and French/Italians, plus some cavalry from the other major Nations. Cavalry is by far my favorite. I don't know how far I'll get, but it looks promising at this writing. I'm also making progress in the writing end. I am compiling another Command Decision III scenario for the Command Post Quarterly magazine (I already have one in #11). Its coming along fine.

So if you're just siting there, staring out at the snow, pull out some old figures, blow the dust off, and get painting! Or write an article. I would be interested, as I'm sure many other Great Lakes members would be, in hearing what projects the membership is working on.

Now on to a more business tack. Ferkin Doyle has officially resigned as our National Board Representative. I will be filling this role on an interim basis until we select a member to replace him. Great Lakes currently (until Historicon'99), holds the Chairmanship of the National Board. Sofar,as Chairman of the National Board, I have established contacts with the other NBOD Reps and have a discussion rolling. The assistance of National Board Coordinator Bill Gray in contacting the others has been invaluable. E-mail is the thing that is helping here. All the chapter reps except Pacific SouthWest have e-mail, so things are looking up on the communication end.

At the request of HMGS East (the Great Lakes Board was thinking along the same lines also), as the Chairman of the National Board I have sent out a poll out to the NBOD reps of all chapters. This Poll is to going to be used to help determine what the fate of the National Board will be. I don't believe (based on my discussions with various Reps) any Chapter favors completely doing away with National without a replacement of some type. However, we need to find out what kind of national organization will actually work and benefit the some 3,600+ members in HMGS worldwide.

Chapters such as East are not willing to participate in the NBOD as it currently exists, but they are willing to help establish a new national organization. We want one that is less centralized and actually gets things done that benefit HMGS as a whole. That is what the Great Lakes board has been striving for -- a national organization that does something with the dues they collect and provides a positive return for all the members of HMGS. As Chairman of the NBOD, I have been pushing to get as much participation and input from all 11 chapters so that we can settle this national issue once and for all.

I know many of you don't like to hear about all this "political crap," but I do believe it is my duty for me to keep you all up to speed. This is perhaps the biggest issue since HMGS was founded. I would hope the Great Lakes membership would be interested since it will effect all chapters in some way. Positively, I hope.

There is one more thing I need to address. There has been much discussion on the internet newsgroup "rec.min.hist. games" about National issues. While this is a great place to put forth your views and rightly so, (the NBOD Reps do see this page, by the way), the actual official NBOD business is being conducted via e-mail. So, if there is something on here that disturbs you or concerns you, please remember that the "official business" is NOT conducted here. Furthermore, if you wish to voice your views on these issues, please contact your Rep directly.

Also, Darryl Smith has replaced Ferkin Doyle as Advance the Colors Dealer Representative on an interim basis until the post can be filled. So, all dealer inquiries should go to him from now on. Although Ferkin Doyle has been replaced in the posts of NBOD Rep and ATC Dealer Coordinator, he is still a fully functioning member of the HMGS Great Lakes Board of Directors.

That's all, until next time. Let's hear about what the membership has been doing, so write an article for The Herald!