As this is my last column as AERC president, first thanks to AERC for providing me with the opportunity to lead the organization. The sport has given much to me. I have tried to repay that debt by serving as your president.

AERC has grown in member services, absolute numbers, and financial strength. Please see the President's Message in the yearbook or "State of AERC -- February 2007," which will be posted on the web, for more information.

A parade of thanks

Many people deserve thanks for the success of AERC during the two years that I have been president. First, thanks goes to all of you who contribute as members, ride managers, ride veterinarians, and volunteers who make our sport possible.

I give special thanks to Kathleen Henkel, our executive director extraordinaire, who has supported me in many ways, and to her team. Kathleen has truly installed a spirit of service in the office that serves, you, the members very well. Thanks to Troy Smith, publication coordinator and superb editor of Endurance News. Troy has made my articles so much better despite my missing almost every deadline of hers.

Thanks to Judy Hall who leads our membership services effort and is the friendly voice of AERC on the phone to so many. And thanks to Liz Bryson who ably manages our finances, a critical function for any organization. And thanks to all in the office for teaming so effectively.

Thanks to all of the members of the board of directors who have worked with me to continue to build AERC and to all of the committee chairs and committee members which is where much of the real work of AERC is done.

Special thanks to Mike Maul who served with me as vice president for the past two years. Mike shared much of the workload and served as an advisor and confidante on many issues while at the same time continuing his tireless efforts at improving the technical and online capabilities of AERC.

Thanks to Patti Pizzo, treasurer, and Sue Taylor, her right-hand person, for taking the lead in putting AERC on a sounder financial footing with better financial tools. And thanks to, first, Jan Jeffers and then Nick Warhol who served in the key role of secretary.

Thanks to John Parke, chair of our Legal and Governance Committee. John and I have spent far too many but necessary hours on the phone solving various legal issues that are an unfortunate fact of life for nonprofits in the litigious American society. The organization owes a strong debt for the many, many days of legal services that John has provided pro bono to AERC.

Thanks to Mike Tomlinson, DVM, my predecessor as president, who has fielded many of my calls seeking guidance and counsel. Like Mike, I am a strong believer in bringing in new people with fresh ideas and new energy into leadership roles. I agree with Mike that the AERC board should have term limits as a way to ensure that happens, and hope AERC will consider that in the near future.

Thanks to some of the new people who stepped into new roles and took AERC to the "next level" in key areas. Thanks to Dinah Rojek for leading the great strides forward in our education program including the mentoring program, the great new education pages on our website, and the dissemination of great information through EN, clinics, and at the convention.

Thanks to "Team Ribley" -- Melissa and Robert. Melissa has greatly furthered the education of our vets as chair of the Veterinary Committee and with John Parke is leading the rethinking of our drug rule. Robert leads the Convention Committee which produces our single biggest event of the year, including the great success of AERC's convention in San Antonio last year.

Thanks to Barry Waitte and particularly Jennifer Nice who have led our media and marketing outreach with really great articles and a new marketing campaign.

Thanks are due to Kathy Brunjes who accepted my challenge and has succeeded admirably in revitalizing the role of AERC International.

And thanks to Jerry Fruth, the needed change agent who has worked tirelessly on AERC's trails program. Although Jerry was not in a new role as head "trails evangelist," he did what an evangelist should do and set a good example by bringing in a new leadership team to carry forth the trails work into the future.

Finally, very special thanks to my wife and alter ego, Cheryl Newman, who served as my sounding board and sanity check, who took care of many non-AERC issues that I dropped, and put up with "the grouch" the next day when I stayed up well past midnight working on issues. For those who have personally expressed their appreciation to me and other members, thanks. It is the only "pay" we get!

To "The Pony" and Super, who only received minimal conditioning due to missed workouts, thanks for the enjoyable AERC competitions.

Looking to the future

One of the biggest challenges facing AERC is to continue "healthy growth." My most important mentor and the person most responsible for my becoming president is Maggy Price. Maggy was AERC president during a period of very strong growth and led an "Each One, Get One" membership drive. In order to reignite strong AERC growth a group of us are sponsoring the "Maggy Price Each One, Get One" membership drive. Stay tuned for more information.

My passions in the sport are education and riding. My favorite Chaucer character was described by the words: "Gladly will he learn and gladly will he teach." I hope that characterizes me. So in the coming years I plan to devote energies to AERC education and research and "to ride, really ride."

See you all on the trails! Stagg