Dressage Letters March 2021

March 2021 ~ Dressage Letters ~ Page 4 weekend was a success. We had a few practice sessions, trying to make sure all the board members, chapter chairs and speakers could get on their video and audio. After seeing how nice the backdrop looked in the USDF virtual meeting I designed one for CDS that included the logo of our sponsor GGT Footing. At least one person had to buy a new computer, several had to borrow a newer model from a partner and some had to have IT helpers “in the wings”. The board meeting and all the other meetings really gave CDS members a chance to meet the board and chapter chairs in an informal but educational format. I was very impressed with how well everyone spoke and interacted. There was lively participation in all the sessions. Each session seemed to get better and better. In the chapter chair roundtables, each chapter came up with great ideas to engage their members. The educational presenters, Kristi Wysocki, Doris North and Axel Steiner gave super talks and I know the over 400 members watching learned a lot. CDS Director Sara Mosqueda gets the prize for the most fun presentation while still being educational with her Kahoots game. Lots of people joined in to play and Trafalgar Square Books gave prizes to the top two winners, Anita Nardine and Karen Sweaney. Congratulations! You know your dressage trivia! Sara also produced a wonderful tribute to the year end award winners. Sara put together a great slide showwith photos and narration on all the year end awards that CDS offers as well as announcing the Chapter Chair Volunteer Award to Ellie Hardesty and the CDS Ellie Langlois Volunteer of the Year Award to Joan Williams for their outstanding volunteer service to CDS. Sara also announced the Best Chapter Newsletter - Foothills and Best Chapter Website - Shasta along with the Top Ten Best Scribes. For our first virtual annual meeting we had our first success. Although we missed seeing everyone in person, we were delighted to share our annual meeting with so many members. Every session reached over 400 members. If you missed any of the sessions you can still view them on the members facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/groups/1505995302890306 USDF website SOUTHERN DIRECTOR KAREN NOCKET ADDRESSES THE MEMBERSHIP ON THE LINDA O’CARROLL MEMORIAL ADULT AMATEUR CLINIC SERIES FOR 2021. KRISTI WYSOCKI GIVES HER INSIGHTS INTO DRESSAGE WITH EMPHASIS ON CONFORMATION. THE NORTHERN CHAPTERS ROUNDTABLE TALK ABOUT THEIR EVENTS, MEETINGS AND PLANS FOR 2021 WITH NORTH DIRECTORS MARI NATEN, MICHELE NG, SUE CURRY AND CDS PRESIDENT JOAN WILLIAMS. SH, SO, SV, VO, LC, SO, SN. THE CENTRAL CHAPTERS ROUNDTABLE TALK ABOUT THEIR EVENTS, MEETINGS AND PLANS FOR 2021 WITH CENTRAL DIRECTORS MELISSA CRESWICK, RUTH SHIRKEY, NANCY SZAKACS AND CDS PRESIDENT JOAN WILLIAMS. CEN, CV, DS, GAV, VE, SLO, SC, SBC. DORIS NORTH, TD-r, LEVEL 1 FEI STEWARD, TALKS ABOUT THE RULES, WHAT THEY MEAN AND HOW TO FIND THEM. THE SOUTHERN CHAPTERS ROUNDTABLE TALK ABOUT THEIR EVENTS, MEETINGS AND PLANS FOR 2021 WITH SOUTHERN DIRECTORS SARA MOSQUEDA, KAREN NOCKET, PAT HART AND CDS PRESIDENT JOAN WILLIAMS. PO, TEV, PV, IC, SJC, SD.