At our December dinner meeting, I took the opportunity to acknowledge several individuals for their outstanding contributions to the ASHI NE Chapter.

When I first started going to ASHI meetings about 12 years ago, I noticed there was one guy, who when he stood to offer his thoughts on the subject at hand always seemed to speak with eloquent common sense and always seemed to get right to the heart of the matter. When he sat down, I often said to myself, "Well, there's not much more to say about that! His point of view often carried the day. The Chapter has, for many years, benefited form Bill Sutton's contributions. He served on the Board for approximately 20 years, serving as Secretary, Vice president, and President during that time. He was chairman of seven committees, and a member of at least three others. Bill has been no less active on the national level where he's chaired or co-chaired six committees since 1985 and been a member of at least ten more. He's attended 21 National Conferences. The numbers and the range of interests are inspiring : from ethics, to finance, to education, to long range planning, etc., Bill has volunteered his time to ASHI as few have done. He has set the volunteerism bar very high indeed. Bill is no longer officially on the Chapter Board, but it is rare that he misses a meeting, where his opinion and counsel are not only welcomed but actively solicited. The Chapter could not ask for a more dedicated Member or a better Ambassador to National .For his unflagging participation at the highest levels of this Chapter and ASHI National, I am very pleased to present this award for Outstanding Leadership to Bill Sutton

I think it was Bill Russell who told his Celtic teammates to climb on his back and he'd carry them through the playoffs. ASHI New England has its own Bill Russell in Bob Mulloy. He single-handedly put out the Chapter newsletter for several years saving the Chapter a considerable amount of money in administrative costs. He then stepped up and took over the very important and time consuming role of Education Chairman. This is a critical position in the Chapter as the proceeds from our Educational offerings represent two-thirds of the Chapter's annual income. He took over this position from Jim Orphanos which in itself was a very tough act to follow. Not surprisingly, he's carried us through another year of playoffs, culminating in a third terrific convention and a sell-out seminar on the Standards of Practice. Bob not only arranges for others to speak, but is a regular presenter himself; sometimes even giving talks that he wasn't scheduled to give as he did when one speaker this year didn't show up. When he got the late night call that the speaker was stranded in an airport, Bob got out of bed, got on the Internet and started putting a talk together for the next morning. Whether he comes to a meeting as an attendee or a presenter, Bob always seems just as eager to learn from others as he is willing to teach, and in this regard he personifies the true spirit of a collegial professional society. In recognition of his sustained efforts on behalf of the Chapter, I'm very pleased to present Bob Mulloy with the President's Award which this year includes not only this plaque (that Bob doesn't have any wall space left for), but also includes a much deserved weekend get-away at the Seacrest Resort on the Cape for Bob and his wife Susan. Yes, there is a hot tub. Thanks Bob.

If you haven't checked the State website, there has been a new addition to Massachusetts 266CMR; namely that: "No Member of a professionally recognized society is required to
1. Serve on the Board of Registration for Home Inspectors,
2. Sit in endless meetings of this Board, or
3. Spend hundreds of hours fabricating, revising, explaining, and enforcing the Standards created by this Board."
As you know, however, we are allowed to exceed the Standards and indeed one of our Members has done all of the above. With extraordinary dedication he has taken on the unenviable task of creating and enforcing the Standards of Practice for his peers. Talk about a minefield; trying to protect the Public from a sub-standard inspection, and at the same time protecting the Home Inspector from an unreasonable or unscrupulous Public. Though each of us may disagree with one aspect or another of these regulations, no one can disagree that at the heart of Jack's passion regarding these matters is the commitment to strengthen the integrity and technical expertise of the practitioners of this profession; a commitment that will benefit both Home Inspectors and the Public. Before all this work causes him to become "fully depreciated", we would like him to know his tireless efforts are fully appreciated by presenting the award named after an ASHI Member who was intensely linked with both of these goals. The Mel Chalfen Award is given this year to Jack Digby.

Alot of time and effort is put into the promotion and coordination of all of our dinner meetings, all day seminars, our annual conference and various other events throughout the year. This could not be accomplished with out the services of the executive office and specifically Matt Gatzke. I would like to take this opportunity to present him with the Outstanding Service Award for his outstanding committment of service in the management of the activities of the New England Chapter.
Mike Atwell, Interim President