CBA Officers & Staff
CBA Announces New Officers For 2012
The Cascade Blues Association held their annual elections for the five Officer positions of their Board of Directors at the December General Membership Meeting and would like to announce the results. Returning as your President once again will be Greg Johnson. Wendy Schumer takes on the Vice President role she has been holding interim the past few months and Deborah DeSarah will move from interim Treasurer into the elected spot. Jody Gunn will once again be your Secretary and we welcome Mary Maxson moving from her At Large Board position into the Membership Secretary role. This will be a strong group of Officers leading your CBA this year as all have proven records within the Board as dedicated and hard working members. Congratulations to all.
From left to right: Jody Gunn (Secretary), Mary Maxson (Membership Secretary), Greg Johnson (President), Deborah DeSarah (Treasurer) and Wendy Schumer (Vice President).
Current At Large members on the Board are Art Bullis and Terri Schwartz. We do have open At Large positions for those who would like to help out. These are working positions, so please be open to jumping in right away if you’d like to assist. Please contact any Board member for more information. Thank you.
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Mary Maxon, Candidate for Membership Secretary, 2012
I would like to be your new membership Secretary. I was a Board member for 3 years in the early 2000's and decided to join again last year now that i live closer to Portland. I have volunteered at many events in the booth and where ever else needed.
I attend the WFBF every day each year and have been on 5 Blues Cruises! I have been a Rural Mail Carrier for the USPS for 26 yrs. I was Secretary for my Union District for 3 yrs and also Secretary for my son's Little League for 2 yrs.
I love the BLUES and wish to take on more responsibility on the Board. I believe my past experience qualifies me to act in the role of Membership Secretary. I strive to promote new memberships, renew old ones and maintain the database accurately. Thank you.
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Jody M. Gunn, Candidate for Secretary, 2012
I am currently the Secretary of the Cascade Blues Association and have been on the board for the past five years. Volunteering for the CBA doing what I can to promote and support live blues and local blues musicians is something I enjoy. I have been the Volunteer Coordinator for our CBA booth at the Waterfront Blues Festival and other CBA events for several years. I’ve served as the board of directors representative for our Scholarship Committee, as well as been a part of many other committees. I am excited to continue supporting the CBA through my volunteer work on the Board of Directors and would be honored to continue to be your Secretary.
Jody M. Gunn, Candidate for Secretary
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Greg Johnson, Candidate for President , 2012
Greg Johnson
Candidate for President
Having served in the role of the Cascade Blues Association President for nearly ten years, I have seen just how much work that the members of your Board of Directors conducts and I have to say that this past year’s group rose high above the standard. They have helped to establish the CBA as a stable organization and whoever fills the roles of those departing board members will need to continue in this ever-developing process to help us build upon recent successes. There are a lot of people out there with talents that we can use, so please feel free to speak with any board member about what you may be able to offer. And support those individuals who will continue in the operation of our blues society.
I would ask that you consider myself once again when filling out your ballots to continue in the role of your CBA President. Having been laid off from my regular job this past year gave me an extra amount of time to pursue ideas with the CBA and besides my routine involvement with events like the Journey To Memphis and the Muddy Awards, I oversaw the creation of the first CBA CD in nearly a decade, Puddletown Blues, Vol. 1. I am currently piecing together Vol. 2. I also put the line-up for the 25th Anniversary Concert together and scheduled the musicians for all CBA events this past year. Though I am actively seeking employment I still believe my time and commitment will be available to continue in pushing the status of the CBA even higher on a national level and finding the recognition for our local musicians far outside of our region
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Wendy Schumer, Candidate for Vice President, 2012
I have lived in Portland since March of 2010. One of the driving forces that led me to decide to move here was the amazing blues talent and blues music community. I have been a huge fan of the blues and prior to moving to Portland I served for 6 years on the board for the Santa Barbara Blues Society, the oldest blues society in the country. My
responsibilities there included overseeing all volunteers as well as managing our merchandise. I became a member of the Cascade Blues Assn. even before I relocated to Portland. I have been a Board Member At Large for a little over a year and am very excited about the energy and commitment of this organization, as well as its’ members, and am proud to be an active participant. Living here and being part of the blues community, meeting the CBA members and getting to know the amazing musicians in the Northwest, has been more rewarding than I ever imagined. Aside from the activities I support locally, I also attend the Legendary Rhythm and Blues Cruises. I have been blessed to be on 7 of these and January makes 8. There’s nothing like it! My participation in that has rewarded me with many friends (whom I refer to as my framily) throughout the blues world, professionally as well as socially. I attended the Waterfront festival even before moving here. In the past few years I have attended a myriad of festivals throughout the country. I recently attended Bluestock at Hunter Mt., NY (where we met Hurricane Irene) as well as Doheny Blues Festival, Chesapeake Bay Blues Festival, Fire on the Mountain, Bronze, Blues and Brews – to name just a few. I have attended the Blues Music Awards in Memphis the past two years and have been a member of the Blues Foundation for almost 10 years. You have most likely seen me working at many of our CBA events, or seen me out on the dance floor at the various wonderful venues around town. Professionally I am employed at Hewlett Packard as a marketing program manager and am entering my 23rd year there. I am excited to offer my services acting as the Vice President for the Cascade Blues Assn and would be honored to accept that role.
Wendy S. Schumer, Candidate for Vice President
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CBA Officer Position Election Coming in December, 2011
Though the Cascade Blues Association’s election for officer positions on the Board of Directors for 2012 doesn’t actually take place until December, we want to get the word out early because due to life and employment changes within our current board, we will have a few openings that will need to be filled. If you are interested and not afraid of giving your time and help for events and other special needs, please consider running for one of the following positions: President, Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary and Membership Secretary. All are vital for the continued success of our organization. The current board has been hard working and one of the strongest I have seen within my tenure with the CBA. I hate to lose any of them, but changes do occur from time to time. These positions are chosen by the membership at the general meeting in December, but it is never too early to state your interest by submitting a brief bio to introduce yourself to the members, which we will publish in the December issue of the BluesNotes (please have these sent in to CBA, PO Box 14493, Portland, OR 97007 before November 15th to make the December issue). If you have any questions about board responsibilities, please speak to any board member.
Greg Johnson
CBA President
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CBA Board of Directors for 2011 Elected
The elections for the Cascade Blues Association Board of Directors were held at the December Membership Meeting. Your new BOD is (pictured left to right, back row) John Etten, Treasurer; Greg Johnson, President; Chris Todd, Membership Secretary; (front row) Jerri Shelton, Vice President; and Jody Gunn, Secretary.
(Photo by Terry Odor)
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Greg Johnson, Candidate for President, 2011
In the nearly nine years that I have had the pleasure to serve as your Cascade Blues Association President, I have witnessed a lot of ups-and-downs with our organization including nearly going broke twice during the economic downfall of our country the past couple of years. I am happy to say that with the cutbacks and changes that we implemented over this past year, the Cascade Blues Association is once again on stable footing and possibly in the best financial state we’ve seen in the past decade. Give a big hand to the members of your current Board of Directors for this turn-around. I highly endorse each of the current officers for re-election in their positions.
I would ask that you also consider myself when filling out your ballots to continue in the role of your CBA President. Over the past year my involvement has included overseeing the Journey To Memphis, the Muddy Awards, the Holiday Party talent line-up and putting together the CBA-produced Gulfsongs fundraiser at the Trail’s End in conjunction with Gulfsongs Oregon, amongst numerous other behind the scenes CBA business efforts and BluesNotes production. It takes a lot of time and a lot of work, but I am committed to fulfill this position and to pursue to bring the CBA to an even higher level of stability and recognition supporting the music we all love.
Greg Johnson, Candidate for President
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