Don Laird and his family
December 20, 2012 ~ Tonight was the reception for Don Laird's retirement. Don has been an instrumental piece to our Chamber of Commerce. He has dedicated 24 years to this organization and because of Don at the helm we have achieved many successes over the years. Although I have only known Don for the past 6 years I can say that my professional life is better because of him. Don has supported me in various decisions I have made with my involvement in the Chamber of Commerce and Women's Network. He has allowed me to make choices based on what I thought was the right thing and stood behind me without hesitation. I felt that I could step up to a leadership role and not think twice about it.Taking on the role of Chair of the Chamber Ambassadors was a huge leap for me but one I was willing to try. There were a couple of interesting situations that the Ambassadors were put in and I dealt with it and then either called Don or went to the Chamber and sat down in his office to discuss what happened and how I dealt with it. Don was great at listening to my reasoning and my solution and supported the decision I made. It was nice to know that I wouldn't be in trouble or question my ability to run a group when a problem would arise. Now of course we laugh about those situations as they were a learning experience for us all!
I appreciate all that Don has done for me, the staff and our community over the years. I will miss him like crazy but I understand his family will love having him around more.... right Joey??? LOL! I am gonna miss seeing him around town but know that he will be a phone call away (and we can't talk about Chamber stuff if I call.... I got it!) and hopefully he will come out to Midway to visit every once in awhile! Good luck Don on your next chapter in life.... it's all unwritten and you have pen and paper to write your story!
No comments:
Post a Comment