The Photographers of Dripping Springs (PODS) January meeting is on Thursday, January 25th at 6:30pm. Location: The Episcopal Church of the Holy Spirit 301 Hays Country Acres in Dripping Springs, TX.

The first monthly meeting of the year for the Photographers of Dripping Springs is this Thurs., Jan. 25, at 6:30 p.m. For those who have never attended one of our meetings, we meet in the church hall at Holy Spirt Episcopal Church, 301 Hays Country Acres Road, Dripping Springs, 78620. If you’ve been thinking about attending one of our meetings, please do. Now is a good time as the club begins a new year. There’s both good photography and fellowship to be found in our formal members’ group. There’s a new set of officers, ideas, and programming in progress. You’re invited to come play and follow your creative passion. Our new club president, John Fierstien, sent out a lovely new year note I’d like to share to give you a glimpse of what’s happening with our in-person group…

PODS member,

Welcome to this exciting new year with PODS! PODS will have some changes this year. We intend to keep the best of what makes it a great place to learn about photography, and to meet and socialize with the best photographers in Dripping Springs. We are also planning to try a couple of new things that should be fun and boost your photography skills. As always your feedback is appreciated.

• There’s a new group of officers now, but first I want to thank Fred, Sandy, Tim G and Tim K for their hard work and effort in making this organization run smoothly in recent years.

• Jason Schwartz will be serving as VP, Christiane Menelas is our secretary, Elaine Wilson will be serving as treasurer and Fred Cerkan will stay on the executive committee as president emeritus. Jason and Christiane are fairly new members of the organization and I applaud them for their courage in accepting these roles. If you have not had the pleasure to meet them yet, please introduce yourself and thank them for getting involved. You are going to learn what I am learning – they are bright and enthusiastic. Expect some new and fresh ideas coming to PODS in the year ahead!

• The executive committee met on the 6th of January in a transitional meeting with the previous board. It was an essential step in moving forward and I thank them for giving up their Saturday morning to help us get started.

• Our speaker on January 25th will be Russell Graves https://www.russellgraves.com/. Russell is traveling down to Dripping Springs from north Texas. We have “twisted his arm” to stay an extra day and present one of his workshops on the following evening (January 26 at the church). If you have interest in photographing the eclipse or astro photography – you don’t want to miss this. There is additional information on the PODS facebook site. Also, see additional information on Russell’s website and click on Workshops. The executive committee has approved supplemental funding of the workshop to reduce the cost to paid members.

• Elaine has been busy working with the bank and taking over the treasurer’s job. She has a new way of paying dues using Zelle. You can pay your dues – cash, check or Zelle. Dues are $25 per member or $40 per couple. So remember your dues Thursday night if you are paying by cash or check. The 2024 budget is ready and we will be voting on it at our Thursday meeting.

• Michael Kersten has shown me the preliminary schedule for field trips this year. Although it is preliminary and things will change toward the second half of the year, it looks like another excellent year of field trips. Get more details at the January meeting.

• I have an urgent plea – I need to fill some committee positions. The most urgent is the speakers program. Patty Robertson has graciously agreed to help but she can not do it alone. We need one person to lead and coordinate it and another additional person to help. This is a really important committee that keeps us running every month and I believe having 3 people on it will keep the work to a minimum and ensure we have an excellent slate of speakers in 2024. If you are interested in helping – please e-mail, phone or text me.

• Other things: We have an opportunity to print postcards that can be sold at the Wildflower Center. Profits would go towards workshops/field trips for the club. Photographers would get credit for their pictures. Sandy will discuss details at our January meeting.

• Sandy will also talk about planning orders for baseball caps. We have 10 orders and need 10 more before we can move forward.

• I will be giving the results of the surveys at the January meeting
  
• Jason has an interesting idea he is going to be rolling out in February, and we have other PODS plans and activities in the works.

I hope to see you on January 25th!

John Fierstien