I want to thank you all for the opportunity to serve on the Board of Directors for the last three years and as your President for the last year. These are challenging times but I believe we are ending the year with a positive strategy to position us for resilience in the face of a difficult economy. Our focus is and has been on protecting the services provided by the CWC that you expect while strengthening our financial health. I appreciate the comments and concerns voiced by shareholders this year and I hope that the decisions we made will be borne out as sound. We too are shareholders and bear similar concerns and financial interests as you in protecting this precious asset that is Lake Cherokee.

Please take these parting words to heart…you may have heard me say them before. There will be a brand new board every year with new personalities, new special interests. Likewise, there is a new and constantly changing community with new demands, new interests. And although we may sit on different sides of the board room table, we are a team. And it takes individual commitment to that group effort in order for that team to work (Vince Lombardi). So, I’m asking you to suit up. Be a participant. Attend board meetings. Hold board members accountable. Ask questions. Be Alert. Discourage rumor and encourage truth. If it sounds crazy, it probably is. Express, voice, be heard. Use your sphere of influence to foster change. Don’t get complacent. Dream big for your community and work for that dream, and encourage others to do the same. Protect what is special to you about this place.

I look around the country today and it concerns and saddens me to see so much anger – anger borne from fear – and fear fostered to a great degree by self serving politicians. The very ones we elect to serve and protect our interests will often use our fears to their own personal gain, instigate action through anger and shroud the whole movement in the guise of some ambiguous value. Be alert. Be diligent. The loudest voice isn’t always the right voice. And arguments based on 1% of truth are really 99% lies. Think for yourselves. Lake Cherokee is my home and I am so grateful for that – I’m grateful for the community of friends known and those I haven’t yet met; for the old fashioned respect we still honor, and for the different view points we bring based on experiences, values and understanding. I embrace this melting pot of differences shaped by our similar interests in the community and encourage you to do the same. In doing so, you become part of the team. Thanks again.

Angela Dunlap