From The President’s Corner

Pennington Research Association, Inc.

During our last PRA Reunion board meeting, our former President/CEO, James W. Pennington of Group 31, resigned as President.   This came as no surprise as Jim gave Gene Pennington, our Chairman and Research Director, several months notice and Gene had been talking with me and several others over the phone regarding the open position.  I told Gene the only way I could do it was if someone could take over the leadership position of Group 6, as it takes up much of my time.  Long story short, Roy Howell of Group 6, agreed to take over the Group 6 Leader position and the PRA Board of Directors voted to elect myself as the new President/CEO.  I want to express my gratitude to Roy for accepting the Group 6 leadership position.

The PRA owes a debt of appreciation to Jim Pennington for becoming the President/CEO when Barbara Pennington concluded her service as PRA President in 2006.  Since becoming involved with the PRA, I’ve noticed how difficult it is to find volunteers to keep the PRA going.  Jim stepped forward and filled the position of President when the PRA needed him most and he did an excellent job.  Under his rein we converted from paper book Pennington Pedigree’s to the CD version.  With the CD version, we can easily perform searches, add more articles and content, include beautiful photographs, plus it saves money on printing and shipping.  The future aspect of having the Pennington Pedigrees on CD is endless.  It’s a wonderful research tool for us genealogist. 

Jim and his wife Sharon Pennington also hosted the PRA Reunion in Raleigh, North Carolina in August, 2008 and they did an excellent job.  The rooms at the Holiday Inn Brownstone were wonderful and the meeting rooms were ideal.  I can’t say that I got to stay and experience the entire reunion because I had a family emergency and had to leave the morning of the actual reunion meeting but I did attend the board of directors meeting and got to meet many of the PRA volunteers.  These are the people who keep the PRA going for you.  They are wonderful people who really care about the PRA and its reputation.  They are dedicated to the PRA and really enjoy genealogy.  It was amazing to hear about each group’s research and I wish everyone could have experienced the conversations regarding Pennington research.  I loved the North Carolina maps that Jim brought of each county.  He marked each spot where Pennington’s were given Land Grants or sold land.  It was truly amazing.  I was very disappointed to have to leave early as I missed meeting many PRA members.  It was my loss.  I look forward to the next PRA Reunion two years from now.

I did hear that the NC Archives trip was a success and many found wonderful Pennington documents.  My only request to those who found Pennington documents at the archives would be to please scan the pages and submit them to the next issue of Pennington Pedigree’s so we can all share in the new wealth of information.  I am one of those genealogist that can’t stress enough regarding sharing your research.  Please SHARE, SHARE and SHARE.  This will help us all in the long run!

Other PRA positions I hold are the Membership Chair, Assistant Research Director of Family Groups and PRA Board of Directors.  I’ve been a member of the PRA from 1995-1998 and again 2005-present.  I have really enjoyed being part of the PRA.  It would be nice if each and every member could get more involved with the PRA.  We certainly would all be more successful with our Pennington research if we did.

The PRA Board Meeting in Raleigh, North Carolina was very productive.  The Board discussed some very important issues.  Items discussed included decreased membership and how to increase it, the financial future of the organization, low attendance at the annual meetings and how to address this problem at the next meeting, publication of the Pedigree’s on CD, Group Leaders and vacant positions, President/CEO position, Pennington Periodicals Volume 2 CD, possible questionnaires to be sent to past members asking them specific questions regarding their PRA membership, rewards to be given to existing PRA members for recruiting new PRA members,  and a new Regional Pennington document database project.  We also discussed the Earlham Library archives scanning project, future advertisement for the PRA and approval of all reports submitted by the officers.  It’s difficult to list all the items that were discussed as there were so many.

As your new President of the PRA, I will strive to keep the PRA successful and keep the members happy with their membership so they will stay with us for a long time.  I understand that the members want a bang for their buck and I promise to assist each Pennington member find new ways to help further their Pennington research.

Melinda Pennington, President/CEO

Page Last Updated:  09/09/2008

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