June 7, 2000

Kuro-kuro Ko Lamang
By: Rtn. Chuck Montecillo

Well, this Rotary Year is about over. Funny, time really does fly when you're having fun. It's hard to believe that I've been Editor of our beloved Pagkakaisa for this long. So many issues and deadlines have passed, it seems like all was a blur. I guess a weekly publication has that kind of effect. I don't even dare think about the dailies!

Now, since I haven't been around very often at our meetings, I'm not really sure about what you all think about our current Pagkakaisa. Personally, I feel that I haven't done a very good job of keeping up with the quality that my predecessor had established. Maintaining the award winning form was truly a task best left to the experienced. When I was suckered... er, asked to be Editor, I thought, "This is going to be tough!"

The first person I would like to thank is his Excellency, President Dennis Valdes. He pretty much became the Editor in the background, picking up where I left off. Without his constant attention, the newsletter that we all enjoy reading on Wednesday mornings wouldn't be all too enjoyable to read. Also, his prompt submissions of his and his Ann's columns always made my job easier. Plus, I never had anything to edit when it came to their articles.

Another thank you goes to our First Ann, "the First Lady Sea Princess", Tessa Valdes. Her column really added color to Pagkakaisa and gave us some insight to the thoughts of our Ann's. Whenever she submitted her column, I truly enjoyed reading it. I think that this should be a regular section in the next Rotary year of Pagkakaisa, though I don't think Tessa will agree. Hopefully, she will submit and article every now and again.

The next on my thank you list would be Cherry our Club's secretariat. Even in the midst of her extremely hectic workload, she always came through with all the materials for our publication. She was so effective that she usually sent me things twice! Just to make sure I got it.

Another person who put up with me was Matt Lizares of Graphics Works, our printer. Without his eternal patience and ability to come through even when materials get to him waaaay past the deadline, our Pagkakaisa still makes it to us on Wednesday morning. We have a weekly challenge, getting my email to him on time. You'd think that it would be the simplest thing, sending email, but for some reason, Yahoo! Mail doesn't "jive" with V-Link, a local ISP. Even when my email goes out the night before, Matt will get it two days later! Good thing his delivery guy also does pick-ups.

Last but not the least, I'd like to thank our beloved Club Sex... Secretary, Alvin Milton Co. Like Dennis, his columns arrive on time, every time. His hilarious and sometimes inspiring submissions were truly a treat. Sure, sometimes it was pretty difficult making the necessary grammatical and spelling corrections, but there was a definite improvement (must have turned on the Grammar and Spell Check option in MS Word).

Also, to those who contributed their articles this year, THANK YOU all!

This Rotary year's theme is Act with Consistency, Credibility, Continuity (I still think there should be an "and" in there!). I only wish I could have lived up to that that theme when it came to our weekly newsletter. It was a lot tougher than I first thought, although it was quite fun. I just hope that I didn't disappoint you all too much (The jokes were pretty good this year). Given another chance to be Editor, I would.... turn it down and take a break! But, I would like another shot at it, just not right away.

Good Morning, RCMA.