President's Message
by Charlene Bullock  

Well, here we are at the beginning of my last term and in full swing for 2003. Please allow me to introduce your new officers and Board of Directors: M. Diedre Wilton, Vice-President; Holly Silver, Secretary; Pam Buchnoff, CLA, Treasurer; Deborah Badigian, Board Member at Large; Michael Flanagan, CLA, NALA Representative; Carol O'Neil, CAPA Primary; and myself as CAPA Secondary. Our new and returning Committee Chairs are: Jennifer Sadler, Membership; Sharon Montez-White and Georgia Vercoe, Programs; Brenda Rocha and Sharon Tovar, Newsletter; Holly Silver, Job Bank and Web Site.

The first general membership meeting will be held on Wednesday, March 19, 2003, at The Old Spaghetti Factory on Shaw Avenue. Our speaker will be from CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) whose role on behalf of children is very important within our judicial system. You don't want to miss this meeting. Bring a new unwrapped toy that can be donated to our speaker to help some boy or girl see life from a better perspective. Let's show that we care for these kids. Please see the flyer within this newsletter for details.

Our first community service event of the year where the help of our membership is greatly needed will be at the Big Bar Picnic at the Coombs Ranch on Saturday, May 10, 2003. We need members to help with set up, food service, and to assist in the drink booth. The Fresno County Bar Association and SJALA want to make this a bigger and better picnic this year. Mother's Day is on Sunday so bring your moms out and show them off. This is a time to socialize and have fun with members of our courts, law firms, public defender and district attorney offices. Come out and assist SJALA in this worthwhile effort. There are many activities for the kids and a good time is had by all. Please call me at 433-2328 and let me know you will be there to help for an hour. Adults are $13.00 and kids are $5.00 with children under 3 free. See flyer insert for details.

LAPA is planning a great June conference in Hollywood June 21 at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. Please see the advance flyer in this newsletter. Hotel reservations should be made early. SJALA has reserved four rooms. Please let me know if you plan to attend. Rooms blocked by CAPA for the event will go very quickly as this annual conference is attended by approximately 300 paralegals from throughout the state. It is a conference well worth attending. Get your boss to help defray the expenses or to send you. The event provides MCLE credits. A free certificate for registration will be raffled at our March meeting.

The second community service event where the help of our membership will be needed is at the American Heart Walk/Lawyers Have Heart Run. I attended the first meeting of the Lawyers Have Heart Committee this past week and plans are in full swing for the September event to be held at Woodward Park this year. More news on this event will follow in the June issue.

For those of you out there who would like to get involved in the association on a board level, please remember that most of the current board members are serving their last terms this year. Think about who you will want to nominate in October to serve as officers and directors in 2004.

This association is for you. We want you to get more involved. The officers and directors feel we have a great slate of speakers and meeting locations this year. However, because of lack of attendance on the part of SJALA membership at its 2002 October seminar, an educational seminar will not be on the agenda this year. A great deal of time is required in putting the seminar together and attendance on the part of the membership is essential in making a seminar a success. Instead, SJALA will host the 2003 CAPA Leadership Conference to be held at The Pines at Bass Lake on November 7 and 8. Jodi Ruddick has been retained as the motivational speaker because she did such an outstanding job at the 1999 leadership conference. Please put this conference on your calendar and plan to attend the Friday night kick off and Saturday conference. You will come away with a renewed enthusiasm for your profession. And since we are hosting the event, and it is in our backyard, attendance by our members will be important. A block of chalets have been reserved for this event. More news on this event will follow in our June and September newsletters.

I look forward to seeing you at the membership meetings, to having your help at the community service events, and to hearing from you. Don't forget to check out our web site at fresnoparalegal.org with its calendar of events, great links, MCLE online courses through Taecan.com, and many other useful areas for our members. Send in your dues and support SJALA.