Greetings Dear California Daughters!

This State Regent would first and foremost like to take a moment to thank each and every one of you who sent birthday greetings. Cards began arriving a little beyond mid – month and the display grew and grew! Totally covering my buffet, I moved them to the dining room table, and your wishes then covered that as well. You did not stop there – texts, emails and Facebook posts arrived too. Each and every one of your encouraging personal notes, poems and original artwork brought a smile to my face and warm thoughts of how much you all are missed. I sincerely hope, Daughters, that you are doing this for each other too. Keeping in touch, encouraging each other, reaching out to those of our members who may be isolated, those who may be ill and those who may have suffered the loss of a loved one during this past year is so important to all of us and our wellbeing. During these times when all we hear is doom and gloom, a simple phone call, or note can make such a difference. Thank you all for taking the time to make a difference in the days of this State Regent!

Hopefully, your chapter membership renewals have all been submitted and your chapter treasurers can breathe a sigh of relief. NSDAR highly encouraged electronic dues submission this year due to the decrease in staffing in DC and many of our Chapters took advantage of this method of submission. State Treasurer Christina Ramos helped Chapters set this up, and worked with many needing help with submission. We will be working with Chapters over the next year that are not yet set up and will be encouraging 100% participation for 2021. This method of submission is easy to do and takes the pressure out of wondering if the mail is going to arrive on time! Please continue to reach out to those members who are unpaid and remind them of all the good that their membership renewal dollars accomplish in supporting their Chapters as well as their State and National Societies. Thank you to each Chapter Treasurer!

Looking ahead as we close this tumultuous year, there is much to be looking forward to on the horizon. Keep your eyes on the members website for a new Treasurer’s Manual updated with the information that each chapter treasurer needs in order to remain current and keep the Chapter in compliance.

Your VIS committee is working to bring us all into the 21st century with new technologies for electronic meetings that will come at no charge to a chapter as long as their 501c3 status is compliant. While we all have hope that electronic meetings will not be our only way of conducting the business of our chapters and our Society, this new technology will offer many other applications as well, including Office 365 for chapter boards, digital record storage, the ability to host larger meetings (i.e.., State Conference), training and support, and the ability to host creative Chapter websites with a variety of templates to name a few. Be on the alert over the next few months for emails from VIS on this note. Roll out will be at the State level first, followed by chapters. I know ladies that technology can be overwhelming, but with new tools and training We Can & We Will move into 2021 well equipped!

Currently, all chapter public websites are being brought into compliance with NSDAR requirements and being resubmitted for approval. To be clear, when you are contacted by VIS regarding changes to your public site, this is not an unnecessary request from them. The requested changes are being required by National. This Regent respectfully requests that all chapters work with our VIS team to make any required changes in order for the chapter site to be approved. With your cooperation Daughters, We Can & We Will have 100% approval for our chapter public sites and social media pages.

Daughters, make some time during this month of peace and goodwill, to rest, recharge and spend time with loved ones. Join us for the Virtual Victorian Christmas Tea presentation on December 12th. The flyer will be posted on the CSSDAR website soon. Catch up with dear friends, savor the sights, sounds and joys of the holiday season. Make those cookies and holiday treats and enjoy them!

Wishing you all the merriest of holidays!

With much DAR love and appreciation,

Susan
Susan Broderick,
State Regent, CSSDAR