In the US, it is a day of Thanksgiving, a time to reflect upon, and be grateful for, the people and bounty around us that make our lives satisfying and wonderful.
I want to express my heartfelt gratitude for our volunteers, past, present, and future. You are the heart and soul of this organization! Thank you all so much.
The current AGA Board of Directors consists of Bailin Shaw, Jennifer Williams, Paula Hofmann, Therese Neal, and Chris Smith (and myself). Other volunteers include Tom Jewell, Arlene Wagner, Omid Niavarani, and Nguyen Le. These dedicated folks spend countless unpaid hours bringing our members the events, publications, social media, and other aspects of the AGA. I thank each one of them for the hard work they do on behalf of the organization and the hobby. I know I speak for them accurately when I say it has been, and continues to be, a privilege to serve this amazing community.
I am also grateful for our AGA members, whose faithfulness and support has been humbling and steadfast. We have had many offers to help us, and we really appreciate that. We are stronger together!
With a little perspective, I am further grateful for mistakes, trials and tribulations, as they present the opportunity to learn, change, and grow. I acknowledge that the timing of the 2024 AGAIAC is not ideal, and we are working hard to make things better in the long run. The AGA experienced a challenging year with changes to personnel and technology, and a frustrating series of unfortunate events. I regret the impact of the delay to our participating aquascapers. You guys rock and we love providing you with opportunities to show off your work and creativity!
So. Expect to see exciting changes in 2025! We have some great things planned that are just over the horizon. Yes, we will have the 2025 AGAIAC in a timely fashion, along with other awesome new projects and innovations. Thank you all for your continued support.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Cheryl Rogers, AGA President
