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A Brief History of the Destin Snowbird Club I have often been asked, "What is the Snowbird Club?" So for those of you who are new to our Destin winter home, I will try to give you a brief history and current status.During the winter of 1973-74, "Red" Lyon and his wife, Virginia, who were spending their first retirement winter in Destin, organized a small group of similar winter visitors for potluck dinners and other activities. They called themselves "The Snowbird Mockingbird Club". By 1978 there were 278 members and were still growing.In April of 1979, the club filed papers for incorporation as a non-profit club and officially became the Destin Snowbird Club, Inc. with a five member Board of Directors. They had many activities - card games, trips to the Dog Races, fishing, sunset cruises, parties, golf scrambles, bowling and a Par-3 golf league. Meetings were held on Tuesday mornings and there was entertainment. Red was the president and served in that capacity until 1986. Virginia Lyon originated the idea of soliciting meeting door prizes from the area businesses and did so until Red's death in 1994. April 2007 marked the 28th anniversary of the Destin Snowbird Club, Inc.In 1985-86 the membership had grown to 1300 and Red stepped down as Chairman due to health reasons but remained active,serving as Chairman of Entertainment until his death in 1994. In April of 1986 a group of nine active members amended the By-Laws and a seven member board was established, consisting of a President, 1st Vice President, 2nd Vice President, 3rd Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer and Publicity Director. The president and each VP were each responsible for a number of the activities. Membership grew rapidly so that the club was forced to conduct two Tuesday morning meetings, back-to-back, in order to accommodate as many members as possible. Not only was the entertainment excellent but door prizes were valued. Some of the early members are still with us. Destin Snowbirds return year after year and many new members join each year. Membership has grown so that we have counted 3000 more or less each year. All of the Board of Directors and all of the chair people, who handle the day-to-day activities, are volunteers. Listed below are the names of the past presidents and their terms of office.Ivan "Red" Lyon - 1979-1986; Harry "Doc" Wagner - 1986-87; Bob Nicholls - 1987-88; Bill Main - 1988-89; Smokey Callahan - 1989-90; Chris Misener - 1990-91; Leo Gryn - 1991-92; Jeanne Kowalski Boyd - 1992-93; Bob Maxwell - 1993-94; Les Miller - 1994-95; Carol Young - 1995-96; Frank Turner - 1996-97; Adeline "Addie" Selid - 1997-98; Tom Van Krevelen - 1998-99; Frank Cassin - 1999-2000; Fred Bussa - 2000-01; Lise Walsh - 2001-02; Ken Yee - 2002-03; Grace Fostmeier - 2003-04; Brian Walsh -2004-05; Don Cooksey- 2005-06; Jan Werner - 2006-07; 2007-08 Ford Sims; 2008-2009 Jack Ballinger: 2009-2010 Marge Marcella: 2010-2011 Paul Hewitt: 2011-2012 Bill Pasel; 2012-2013 Timi Millar.   Our current Board is as follows: President - George Olson; 1st VP - John Testa; 2nd VP - Tom Franklin; Members at large - Sandy Holzer and Jay Kinder; Treasurer - Ken Lemire; Secretary - Gail Carson; Publicity Director -Sigrid Aeschleman and Gene Holzer-Webmaster.  Each year a nominating committee nominates the members of the Board. To reach the nomination to become president, it has always been a matter of progression, giving the nominee the experience of learning the "ropes" from 2nd VP up to president. This system has worked very well over the years and the skills of new volunteers are always welcome. Nominations may also be made from the floor at the meeting when they are announced. Our election is held at the last general meeting of the year with all members voting. Our Snowbird Club has a great history.   The records of the early days and each president's term of duty were documented and "The History of Destin Snowbirds" was published in 1998. This document has been updated annually by our former Club Historian, Addie Selid, who originally recommended the project. It represents years of voluntary endeavors by hundreds of people to guarantee the success of our winter activities and community involvement. If you are interested in reading this document, please contact a member of the Board of Directors or our current Club Historian, Gail Carson, for details.
   

2012 - 2013  BOARD OF DIRECTORS

President     George Olson 850-654-1917

1st V.P.     John Testa

 2nd V.P.    Tom Franklin  218-230-3212

Treasurer    Ken Lemire   850-351-0672

Secretary    Gail Carson  850-424-3816

                 Publicity Director    Sigrid Aeschleman  309-824-0626                 

           Member at Large   Sandy Holzer   651-303-0885

            Member at Large     Jay Kinder     850-682-9989

Webmaster   Gene Holzer 850-837-4700  ext 1406

destinsnowbird@hotmail.com

2012/2013 Board Of Directors

Back Row - Judy Willson, Member at Large; Gene Holzer, Webmaster - Nancy Hewitt, Publicity Director; Gail Carson, Secretary; Ken Lemire, Treasurer; Elise Eggert, Member at Large. 

Front Row - George Olson, Vice President; Timi Millar, President; John Testa, 2nd Vice President.

PAST PRESIDENTS DINNER

Past President's Dinner 2011

Back Row - Ford Sims, Fred Bussa, Tom Van Krevelen, Jack Ballinger, Bob Maxwell, Marge Marcella, Ken Yee, and Don Cooksey                                       

Front Row - Jeanne Boyd, Jan Werner, Addie Selid, and Gracie Fostmeier