RPC Year in review 2024
Dear members: Getting ready for 2025 with the Photo Club? I am! And since I’m writing shortly before Thanksgiving, I’ll start with the many things I was thankful for in 2024 with the Rossmoor Photography Club.
I’m thankful for a full year of interaction with a group of friends who enjoy the art and science of photography. First, thanks go to all the members who showed up. Faces in the Vista Room brought cheer and energy. Special thanks go to those folks are the members of our Management Board, who ensured that we have direction and support for our activities. And always there are thanks for the many members who volunteer as print judge monitors, or room set up, or cookie bakers, or for any other ‘ask’ that is made.
We had consistency in participation in our monthly meetings, from print competitors to digital submissions, approaching what I remember as attendance from ‘normal’ days. These members achieved success not only in our own competitions but at the N4C level.
Competitions – We met on two Wednesdays a month from January through the first week of November. Our entries in Print and Projected Images gave our N4C (Northern California Consortium of Camera Clubs) Judges plentiful material for critique and dialogue, and we had successes in each month at the highest levels. Whether or not members entered a specific competition, judges’ comments gave food for thought for current and future photography plans. I am grateful to N4C for making judges available to us, to our new judges who braved new approaches to their work via members’ thoughtful evaluations of them, and am especially grateful for Bob Adler, the Club member who made all of the arrangements and schedules for the judging. Club member Phil Meyer, who serves as our Print Competition chair, and I look forward to seeing Prints and Projected Images continue through the coming year. Vicky Richardson, a former Club President and now Hospitality Chair, made sure that we had snacks and drinks to keep us happy and sustained during all meetings. Her development of a “kitty” helped us keep the Treasurer happy, too.
Educational opportunities – In addition to the tips and techniques we learned about in our weekly sessions, we had some meetings with members to answer questions about the Club and to encourage wider participation. We also took advantage of N4C’s educational programming via free Zoom webinar registrations, and look forward to those continuing in the coming year even though many Clubs are back to in-person meetings. The Club enjoyed 5th week Wednesdays with Show and Tell sessions, and more robust snacking (except for the one in July where the food mysteriously disappeared). A special program on “Essentials of iPhoneography” was offered in May by local professional Sean Arbabi, and many in the Rossmoor community were introduced to us and became members as a result. He returned for another Show and Tell after his presentation, where he expanded some editing themes and thoughtfully critiqued members’ iPhone images.
We offered Rossmoor some Movie Nights at Peacock Hall, showing feature films and documentaries of noted photographers, so that our community could enjoy the work that many of us know and appreciate. Sean McDonough curates and presents all these movies, from his vast collection of educational and inspirational titles.
Our connections to PSA (Photographic Society of America) were ensured through the work of John Mentil, who also made sure we know of our placement in their quarterly competitions. However, given the plethora of competitions already available to members, the Board decided to put a ‘hold’ on PSA representation.
Members and Rossmoorians have read about our competition results and have seen the winning images in the Rossmoor News, along with timely announcements of current and future Club activities. Eva McDonough has been the Club correspondent with the News and with Channel 28 and consistently makes sure that we are viewed widely and in the best light. She designs our flyers, website pages, and other promotional material, and helps us think of ways to engage and recruit new members to the Club. She and I spent a Tuesday night in June playing BINGO at Rossmoor’s Channel 28 (now HDTV 1083) and throughout the evening were able to encourage new membership as well. Cheryl Stanley has embraced the Membership Chair position with dedication and flair – keeping track of our nametag needs, our membership, and welcoming newcomers with thoughtful and helpful communication.
Our meetings could not have happened without the guidance of Sean McDonough and consistent presence of Dick Bogaert. Dick trained me as a projectionist, and served in that role on the first Wednesdays until an unfortunate accident sidelined him. I look forward to his return in 2025. We are both looking for new volunteers in this role, and we thank Richard Frank who has periodically been able to step up for assistance, along with Andy Neureuther who will fill in if needed. However, we always need more support so that there is some vacation and other scheduling flexibility for us. Let me know if you are interested – you’ll learn much about competitions, I promise you. You'll need some computer skills and willingness to interact with a software program that manages all aspects of our communication with competitions and N4C. Dick is a great mentor, and you'll also have support from me and others who have enacted this role, so you'll have lots of back-up. Sean McDonough supports all of our web-based activity, from maintaining our Calendar online to managing the competition schedules and sign-ins. He, for us, is the VP for Everything.
We’ve had field trips to the Oakland Zoo, thanks to the generosity of our Club member Steve Goodall, who is the OZ photographer. We hope to have a night field trip again for the OZ “Glowfari”, and newer members will be prioritized for attendance. We will continue to have seasoned master photographers on hand whatever the venue.
Work also goes on behind the scenes – Rossmoor Photography Club gallery/exhibit chairs have continued to bring our work to the Creekside Clubhouse, Fireside Room, the Gateway/Library complex, and the Event Center. A committee of Gallery Chairs (Bob Adler, Eric Fox, Andy Neureuther, Mary Scheele and me) makes the review and installation process simple for all venues, and we urge you to think about showing your work in our Galleries when the “calls” are received.
Treasurer Mark Forrette has made sure we have rooms to meet in, AV assistance as needed, a strong savings account, and has re-envisioned the Club budget to set goals clearly for 2025 and beyond. We are pleased to be able to keep our dues at the 2022-23 level again. We are a bargain at $30 annual dues, as you can see. Rossmoor is changing the room reservation system and fees and we might have to make a small increase in dues for 2025 but that remains to be determined.
There is much that kept us active, informed, and engaged in our photography community. Planning for 2025 has begun, and I welcome the return of our meetings in Vista Room in January. N4C has added new Print divisions for the coming year so we’re looking forward to specific themes for each month, along with new specific themes four times in the year for digital images. I have committed to hosting a 5th Wednesday Show & Tell or educational meeting in any month with 5 Wednesdays, and hope that January 29th will be a special occasion to review our 2024 winning images and celebrate the new year with a small catered reception.
What do we need for a successful 2025? Each and every one of you can help with the first need: continuing participation in our meetings and competition. Robust attendance and submission of prints and images enriches all of us. New members are recruited through attendance at these meetings and their connections to you help get them settled in their own activity.
The next need is for a Secretary for our Club. Our Management Board must have an elected Secretary to fulfil our Bylaws. We can gladly take a volunteer until the next election cycle, so please consider serving your Club. The Secretary is responsible for taking minutes at Management Board meetings (every other month, on the second Thursday at 9:30 AM at Creekside) and maintenance of monthly reports to Securitas for Gate access for non-Rossmoor resident Club members.
We need a Club representative to N4C, to transport our Prints monthly and to attend the once a month meetings (7:30 PM in San Leandro; driving is required) to give our Club a voice in N4C and bring N4C news back to the Club. I am not able to continue with this double-duty. Don Columbana and Richard Frank are helping me for the rest of 2024 and I hope will continue this through 2025. If you are interested in the broader photography community and want to get connected to N4C Board members and elected officers, this is the way to start!
It takes a Village to make a successful Club, and I want to enrich our Village and Club at the same time. You can say ‘many hands make for lighter work’ or use any number of similar phrases that mean “please help; we are stronger together”, but please consider doing something other than paying dues for your Club. We are grateful for dues as they help us pay our judges and room fees, but we’d love to have YOU too.
Join us in the Vista Room on January 8, 2025, before the 7 PM judging (of prints and digital images) begins. We are changing the January schedule because the first Wednesday falls on January 1 and we did not think anyone would be eager to go to a meeting that night!…/zina