As many of you may know by now, Laura Johnson has stepped down from her position as the club’s Social Director. Professional and personal responsibilities have grown to the point that she felt that she could no longer give the role the attention it deserved.
The impact Laura made on ShadowChase during her time as Social Director has immense. Under her guidance, the average attendance at our monthly socials grew from around 30 to over 120 members. That is an increase of 400%.
Laura’s work got our members more engaged in the club. That led to new friendships being formed, new running partners being found, and more miles being logged. This member engagement also benefitted our club programs as more members actively participated and volunteered.
One of Laura’s biggest accomplishments was in forming the Social Committee. By organizing a committee to take ownership of our club’s social activities, Laura built a structure that will benefit ShadowChase for years to come. Through the Social Committee, our members can assist with club events to see if they want to make a larger commitment in the future. This sustainability led to an immediate payoff as Laura’s successor was found quickly among the Social Committee members.
Taking over for Laura will be Debbie Myetich. Debbie has become very active in our club in the last few years. A veteran of our marathon training program, Debbie and her husband, Fred, became regular attendees of board meetings, field trips and social gatherings. Debbie was elected to a Member-At-Large position this year and took on a leadership role in our Park Clean-up program. We are very fortunate to have Debbie in ShadowChase and look forward to the direction she will take the Social Director position.
Filling Debbie’s vacated Member-At-Large position is another training group veteran, Jerome Hicks. Many of our members are familiar with Jerome and his wife, Julia, as they have been very active members for over 4 years. As a training group mentor, Jerome’s input on board decision will be invaluable.
Thank you to Laura, Debbie, and Jerome for making ShadowChase the great running club it is.