By Daniel M. Fordham, Adirondack Chapter President

It’s hard to believe that the Adirondack Chapter just began on June 1 its third year of existence. I’d like to extend a personal thank you to Barbara Dwyer, our first president, and also to Mary McKrell, who just completed her term as president. Barbara was the driving force behind our chapter’s conception and she remains actively involved as the chapter representative to the New York State Society of CPAs. After Barbara’s term, Mary took up the presidency and, with the help of her fellow officers, Gary Benware, Patrick Dowdle and Doug Hoffman, the chapter continued to forge ahead.

Now, as we begin the next year, we need to look to other individuals to step forward. In our organizational meeting in Malone on May 16, we had some additional people volunteer to get involved. In order to maintain the momentum that our past officers have successfully initiated, we need to form committees, especially in the areas of cooperation with bankers, attorneys and educators, as well as with membership, and continuing professional education (CPE).

Because our CPE offerings last year were successful, we’d like to continue meeting with referral sources such as bankers and attorneys. Our first, and hopefully annual, event for this year will be a steamboat dinner on Lake George.

As all of you know, our chapter tends to be “geographically challenged.” With that in mind, we strived last year to extend our events to the following geographic locations: Glens Falls, Plattsburgh, Malone, and the Tri-lakes region. However, based upon input from members present at the organizational meeting in Malone, most felt Lake Placid was sufficiently convenient to all. Therefore any CPE this fall will most likely be held there, except for the annual ethics course in September, which we would like to have once again in Blue Mountain Lake. We are working to provide programs that will be of interest to the attendees. One of these courses will be our “annual” tax conference, and the others have yet to be decided. Please contact me with any suggestions that you may have for topics.

I look forward to my term as president of the Adirondack Chapter. My hope is that we will build upon the past two years, as well as be able to provide additional resources as our members look toward the future.

Officers for 2003–2004:
President: Daniel M. Fordham
President-Elect: Gary Benware
Vice President: Douglas Hoffman
Treasurer: Patrick Dowdle
Secretary: Peter Marshall