Happy Winter, Pennsylvania! Greetings, to you, from our state capital, Harrisburg. As some of you already know, I recently got married to a wonderful man of God, Jonathan Brown. We are currently living in the suburbs of Harrisburg in a town home with prays of buying our own home in the next couple of years. I have been juggling the wonderful things in my life including PA DMA, working at Messiah Village, being a wife and new mother and most importantly working in the Events Ministry at my church.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Board members and Committee members for all of their hard work and dedication. We could not do what we do without volunteers! Everyone has a wonderful gift to contribute and I am thankful for all of them.

PA DMA held our Fall 2006 Meeting at Willow Valley Retirement Community in Lancaster hosted by our current Past President, Jim Dierolf. Everyone had a great time and agreed that Willow Valley would be a fantastic place to hold our annual fall meeting. Look for a date coming soon for our Fall 2007 Meeting.

Watch out Philadelphia! Here we come! PA DMA is coming close, at least. We are teaming up with Sysco Philly and their Food Show in Atlantic City, NJ for our State Spring Meeting. Let’s get excited! National DMA will be having their Annual Meeting and Expo in our home state in the City of Brotherly Love, Philadelphia, in the summer of 2008. We must get prepared to welcome our fellow DMA members from around the country and around the world.

PA DMA, I challenge you to do something new this year. Get involved with your organization. Something as little as making a monthly phone call to welcome a new member in your area would be a huge step in building our state. Meet someone new and share ideas at a local or state meeting. Write an article for your state newsletter. There are 900+ very talented professionals that are members of PA DMA. Imagine how much experience and talents we possess as a whole!

May the Lord bless you,
Crystal A. Brown, CDM, CFPP