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The candidates have been nominated for the NM Men’s Wellness Board Election for 2010, the electronic ballot has been prepared and is available for download as an Acrobat PDF Form.  Ballots may filled out using the Adobe Acrobat Reader on your computer and be submitted electronically via Email attachment (or printed and mailed).  Ballots must be sent (or postmarked) by no later than Friday, July 30, 2010. Instructions are included on the ballot, and your Acrobat Reader will have a “Submit Form” button that allows you to start the process to send in your ballot.

Click on this link to download your ballot.

To make sure you download a copy (rather than just open it in your web browser), be sure to Right-click or Option-click on the link, and save the link to a file.

Any male who has attended any NMMW Event (Spring Retreat, Father-Daughter, Summer Gathering or Fall Conference) in the last two years (going back to Father-Daughter in 2008) is eligible to to vote.

If anyone has any problem dealing with opening, completing or printing the ballot, please contact Jim Connolly (the Webmaster) via Email (jrc347@gmail.com) or cell phone (505 550-2433) for assistance.

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As per the bylaws of our 501(C)3 NM Men’s Wellness Organization, we need to hold elections. The current Board, which was always designed to be operative only until we attained formal legal status, made a number of decisions about this process.

1. There will be nine Board members, with 5 constituting a quorum for major decisions (must include the President or designate).
2. The nine members include President, Vice President, Past president, Secretary, Treasurer, current fall conference leader, and three at large members.
3. Seven Board members will have 2 year terms with a maximum of 3 consecutive terms. The outgoing president will also serve an additional two year term as past president following his tenure as President. The remaining Board seat will change with each fall conference leader.
4. The elections are staggered, so that 3 board members will change one year, then 4 the next year.
5. Those eligible to vote include any male who has attended any of the yearly conferences within the last two years, including Fall, Spring, Father Daughter and Summer.

THIS YEAR WE ARE VOTING FOR PRESIDENT AND SECRETARY AND ONE AT LARGE MEMBER.

Barry Cooney will asume the post of Past President for the next two years.
Gaylon Duke will remain as Vice President for one more year.
David Pease will continue as Treasurer for one more year.
Charles Fisher and Vittorio La Cerva will continue as at large members for one more year.
Michael Wilkinson is the current chair for the fall conference, and he will be repalced by Shell Goldman as a Board member at the fall conference.

• There are many issues that the new Board needs to address, some old, some new. These include:
• The future of Man, Alive!
• Establishing a more formal Liaison to Ghost Ranch
• Creating a Conference leader book (basic instructions) to be passed down.
• Reaching out to young people and men of color.
• Strengthening the mechanism by which we support exisiting men’s local support groups, and encourage the creation of new ones.
• Fund raising & special projects (with tax-exempt status)

PLEASE SEND NOMINATIONS FOR THE THREE BOARD POSITIONS BY JULY 21.

FEEL FREE TO NOMINATE YOURSELF!

ELECTIONS WILL OCCUR THE FOLLOWING WEEK.

Send nominations with their contact info to Vittorio by July 21: heartsongs3@msn.com
or to him by snail mail to Vittorio La Cerva, 52 Zambra Way, Santa Fe, NM 87506

Thank you!

ROOTS & WINGS:  Celebrating the Connectedness of All

The  25th New Mexico Men’s Wellness Fall Conference
October 22-25, 2009
Ghost Ranch New Mexico

Co-leaders Lawrence Cook and Michael Wilkinson invite you to the 25th NMMW Fall Conference.

How connected would you like to be to yourself?  To others?  To the world around you?

Using experiential activities and exercises, creative expression, large and small group settings, and reflection, we invite you to explore with us the possibility of connection, and celebrate the innate joy, peace and creativity that come from an understanding of the relatedness of all things.

The conference opens on Thursday Evening, October 22nd and concludes midday on Sunday, October 25th.  Registration fees include three nights accommodations and meals on Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the Ghost Ranch Conference Center near Abiquiu.  Fees are as follows:

• Early Bird (postmarked by September 8, 2009): $275.00
• Regular (postmarked by September 21, 2009): $295.00

Registration is limited to 90, so be sure to register early to ensure your place.

Click on Fall Conference 2009 Registration Form to download your registration form.  It is an Acrobat PDF document that can be filled out on your computer and printed (or printed and filled out by hand).

To spread the word about the conference, we also have a printable flyer (click on 2009 Fall Conference Flyer to download) that can be shared with other and/or posted.

For more information or if you have questions, please contact the co-leaders:

• Lawrence Cook at rlcook44@msn.com or (970) 264-4882 / (505) 898-2206
• Michael Wilkinson at lookfar99@yahoo.com or (970) Home/Office: 259-2445 Cell: 779-1432

As one of the planned activities, we will all be making and flying kites like the one shown above.  (Photo and conference logo courtesy of Joseph Woods)

Dear Men’s Wellness Leader:

The New Mexico Men’s Wellness 25^th Anniversary Publication is being compiled for presentation at the Fall 2009 Conference. We want to include current comments and insights of all the conference leaders and have attached a short questionnaire as a guide. You may, of course, respond in any way that best captures your feelings and experience as a conference leader.

It is our hope to receive responses by the first week in September. Anything you can send before that time would be appreciated. (You may also attach images – preferably with dates and content info.)  Please email to me at pasacom1@yahoo.com. An attached Word.doc is fine, or you may just lop off my intro letter and reply in text within the email.

Those from whom we do not receive a response will be included in the conference listing with their year of leadership and the theme. If you are one of  the former leaders who responded to my request for the 20^th Anniversary project (which I never completed) I thank you and can certainly use that material. Even so, I would appreciate your up-to-date insights and comments for the 25^th.

Thank you for your many contributions to Men’s Wellness and for your response to the questions listed below.

Sincerely,

Patrick Sauer

Guide to Response:

1. Name
2. Profession, job, passion
3. Year you were conference leader
4. Theme you chose and why
5. How and when you were introduced to Men’s Wellness
6. Challenges, satisfactions, insights, disappointments etc. in leadership role
7. Memorable events, outstanding or poignant moments at your conference
8. Ideas about the present and future of Men’s Wellness
9. Anything (or anything else) you wish to share

The schedule for the next four planning meetings for the NMMW Fall Conference for 2009 has been set, and all who are interested in planning this 25th anniversary event are encouraged to participate.  Here’s the schedule and locations:

• August 18th – Gaylon Duke’s house in Santa Fe  located at
  46 Old Agua Fria Rd W Santa Fe, NM 87508-5948
  (505) 988-7209)
• September 16th – Lawrence Cook’s house located at
  1503 Lucyle Pl NW Alameda, Albuquerque NM 87114-8819
  (505) 898-2206)
• September 29th – Gaylon’s house
• October 13th – Lawrence’s house

All meetings start at 6:30 with food, then we begin at 7:00 pm. Meetings end promptly at 9:00 pm.  Please call if you need help with locations and directions.

New with this conference, we are adding the capability of connecting with the planning meetings and participating via Skype (a free internet-based telephone service).  All you need is a good internet connection, a Skype-capable microphone and speaker (most laptops work for this), and a free account.  We have a downloadable document that will help you get connected.  We tried it at the first meeting and it works great!

– Michael Wilkinson (lookfar99@gmail.com)