Am I Really Almost Done? – Bruce Smith, National President

Hello Brothers and Sweethearts!

This is my second to last article that I am required to write. Trust me I will always write articles when the mood strikes me. I enjoy writing more than most do. I enjoy talking too, as most of you already know. I do want to thank all of the National Officers for not missing any articles this year. I forgot to email mine in once in my seven years. I felt like horrible about that mistake. We came up with a system at an SEC meeting to make sure it should not happen again. So far it is working well. That is what I like about problems, there is almost always a good fix when good minds get together and work it out.

The Chapter Chase is in the books again. Thank you to National Master of Ceremonies, Doug Leach, for getting it all set up. Thank you to Beta Eta for bringing the majority of the travelers. Thank you to all of the Indiana Chapters for your fantastic hospitality. I missed the stops in Peru and Plymouth due to my baseball coaching responsibilities. I apologize to both of those chapters. I was hoping to be able to do the whole chase again this year but a quitter made it impossible.

We did have a third coach this year to help us out. He got his feelings hurt and quit. A week or two later his son quit the team. It just reminded me of something my dad told me years ago, and that was “Winners Never Quit and Quitters Never Win!” That mentality still follows me into all aspects of life.

I know this is also very true when it comes to fraternal matters. If enough of the brothers quit caring about their Chapter it will fail. If there are no new members to take over for the ones that do it all now surely that Chapter will fail. I am not a quitter, sometimes when I really should quit I still continue to battle and try to win. It all comes down to how much you care and appreciate what you are fighting for.

I love our Phi Delta Kappa Fraternity. I will continue to work to better the Fraternity for as long as I draw a breath. I love the brotherhood. I love traveling to other chapters. I love the events and the charities we support. I just can’t see my mentality for success ever changing. How about you? Do you believe in PDK enough to continue to fight the good fight? Do you care enough to step up your game to help your chapter and the fraternity as a whole? I sure hope you do. We need your support. False allegiance is really not acceptable now, is it?

I hope to see many of my brothers and sweethearts in Kokomo for the National Convention in July (17th to the 20th). I am sure Beta Nu will put on a great convention. The convention tells me that it is getting close to my time in the National Officer Chairs to be done. Next month I will convey some of my final thoughts as a National Officer in Phi Delta Kappa. It may be my longest article ever. Then again it just may be tears on the page.

Don’t forget to buy your 20/20 tickets from any National Officer. Some really need to get their allotment of tickets sold. National VP Todd Gullett is our best salesman when it comes to 20/20 tickets. His salesmanship has helped out with all of the SEC members travel expenses over the years. He has made it possible to donate extra money to our National Foundation and St. Jude’s and other charities. Thank you to everyone that buys the 20/20 tickets to help support the SEC brothers, the National Foundation and St. Jude’s. It is people like you that keep the fraternity growing and doing the great work we do.

Until next time remember to tell your loved ones every day that you love them. Hug a brother and get involved. Proud to be a Phi Delta Kappa!

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