What an honor it is to serve as President of Central States Water Environment Association (CSWEA), one of the founding member associations of WEF. It is humble to think about the distinguished professionals and wastewater pioneers that have served this association before me and I hope I will continue this great legacy.

As I write this article, I am reminded of the many great activities during the CSWEA 81st Annual Conference in Minnesota. The Minnesota Local Arrangement committee put together excellent programs that keep everyone extremely busy at the conference for a full three and a half days. A sincere thanks goes out to the Local Arrangements Committee chair Doug Henrichsen and all the members of his committee Kevin Regan, Patti Craddock, John Glatzmaier, Dave Raby, Rich Ashling, Phil Parsons, Kim Reynolds, Ed DeLaForest, Connie Gundlach, Eric Evans, George Sprouse, Angella Craft-Reardon, Kris Evans, and Dennis Lindeke. Without all of their hard work, this event would not have been a success.

The conference started with the Golf Outing at the Braemer Golf Course and Mother Nature treated us to a little wind, rain, and maybe some snow (at least it seemed cold enough to snow). Everyone that golfed was a trooper and stayed the course to the bitter end. There was also a morning bike ride that Chuck Weir, WEF Treasure and our WEF representative for the conference enjoyed. I would like to that Chuck for attending our conference and updating us on WEF's plans. His good company and WEF insight was enjoyed by many.

The Technical Program Committee chaired by Jason Benson did a fantastic job selecting 37 papers for the technical sessions. Special thanks go out to him and his committee consisting of Scott Fronek, Pavel Hajda, Steve Reusser, Beth Vogt, and Dr. William Boyle. The highlights of the Technical Program were the papers given by the three Stockholm Junior Water Prize students and the two Student Design competition teams. Even though I served many years on the Students & Young Professional Committee, it never ceases to amaze me how smart and talented these students are. Big thanks go out to Dan Busch and Rich Hussey for their work on the S&YP competitions and Pamela Ann Kiel Massaro for her work with Stockholm Junior Water Prize contestants. Although they only exhibited at the conference for a short time, the sixty seven (67) different exhibitors offered very positive feedback on the exhibit hall attendance. The "No Conflicting Technical Session" format, vendor talks, and giveaways seemed to keep the hall busy at all times. As always, I would like to thank the exhibitors for supporting the association.

The Annual Awards Banquet was a success. The food was good, the drinks were flowing and many of our peers were recognized for their accomplishments. I would like to thank Rusty Schroedel for his work on the Association awards, because it is a monumental task. Special recognition needs to go to Steve Reusser from the Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District for receiving the Hatfield Award and Dan Lynch for receiving the Bedell Award. Dan's award was well deserved and a long time coming for his hard work and devotion to the Association. Another notable award was the "Bill Boyle Outstanding Educator of the Year" and it went to Dr. Bill Boyle (Thank you Dr. Boyle for mentoring many of our Associations members). The end of the evening was capped off by a comedic performance poking good natured fun at many of the Executive Committee Members.

My final thanks go to Anne Lecuyer and her assistant Eric for their hard work behind the scenes prior to and during the conference. Without them the Association would not be what it is today.

During the business meeting, the Association voted and passed the proposed modifications to the Constitution and By-Laws. The purposes of these amendments are to: 1. Add a Young Professional Representative to the CSWEA Executive Committee and 2. Create an Associate Member, CSWEA only membership category. Full details on the modifications can be viewed on the website www.CSWEA.org. During the meeting, the membership voted Jim Miller Second Vice President, Carol Strackbein Treasurer, Scott Trotter CSWEA/WEF Delegate, and Rachel Lee YP Representative. I welcome Jim and Rachel to the executive committee and look forward to continue working with Scott and Carol.

The CSWEA-CSX Exchange is July 17th & 18th at the Kalahari in the Wisconsin Dells. I invite all State Section and CSWEA Committee members to attend and brainstorm on how to attract more facility operators to our organization. This event will coincide with a new Young Professional Exchange YPX which is open to all Association members 35 years and younger. While the program for this event is still being finalized it promises to be fun filled and educational.

In closing, I plan on growing our successful Students & Young Professional Committees; partnering with other water and wastewater organizations; and supporting programs and activities for the operators.