Pat Chan – SWS Governer

The 2023 Southwest Section Winter Workshop, hosted by the Los Angeles Chapter, was very well received. About 73 registrants, of which about 19 were virtual, attended the workshop that helped us learn wellness techniques. Yoga, meditation, and a sound bath were introduced as self-care means, for staying healthy, to meet the challenges of aviation.

Anele Brooks, SWS Secretary, shared some interesting information she discovered about the Winter Workshop and Southwest Section. The following was excerpted from her report:

“We have 99s attending virtually from the Western New York, Mat-Su Valley, Tennessee, Alberta, San Antonio, Air Capital and Hampton Roads Chapters as well as 2 members from the Arkansas Chapter who are here in Los Angeles.

Our Southwest Section is the largest of the 29 sections of the International 99s. The top three sections are: SWS (1774), South East (1058) and South Central (976) Sections. The smallest sections are Mexico (2) Brazil (3) and the Far East (3).

Our smallest chapters: Payson Rim (7) and Redwood Coast Flyer (7) have more members than the smallest sections have. Our largest chapters: San Diego (156), Phoenix (136) and Ventura (114) each have more members than 19 of our sections.”

We are very pleased to have 99s from other sections join in on our Southwest Section Meetings and Winter Workshops. Hopefully we can all come together more often to share experiences and information.

It’s interesting to see the comparisons between the Southwest Section with other sections and chapters. As the largest 99s section, coordination and implementation of section meetings can be a challenge. Seemingly simple things become magnified and complex.

The chapters who host section meetings put in lots of time, energy and dedication into successful section meetings that we all benefit from. Virtual meetings allow us to continue with the business of the Southwest Section and stay in touch with each other. Still, there’s something about in-person meetings that can’t be replaced. Somehow, we will manage to get together.

Best Regards,
Pat

Pat Chan
Governor
Southwest Section 99s