At the risk of plagiarizing my March President’s message, I unfortunately once again must. Florida is a big state. Maybe not so much for land area, but for the population, there is no doubt. Still, as big as our population numbers are, the surveying population is tight-knit. Along those lines, I want to reflect on the recent passing of past FSMS President and Life Member Loren Mercer, and in so doing, give another brief glimpse into some of our past histories.

I first was elected to the FSMS Board in 1992, and Loren had been on the Board for a few years before me and he was President-Elect the year I first joined the Board. Loren was someone who never had a cross word with anyone, and he always had an upbeat attitude. He did his role as President without issue, of course. However, when Loren was Immediate Past President, his successor to the presidency, after a few months in office, abdicated his position. He left his work, his family – virtually everything. Apparently, he was under a lot of pressure that the other Board members did not know about. He just left town without telling anyone where he was going. After a couple of weeks, it was discovered that he was in Colorado. Without missing a beat, Loren went out to Colorado and picked him up, then returned him to his family in Florida. THIS is the type of man that was my friend Loren Mercer. I had the honor of attending Loren’s funeral, and his pastor, who was also a friend of Loren’s (everyone Loren met became a friend), put it succinctly that more folks should be like Loren. I couldn’t agree more.

Onto more current news, I would like you to join me in welcoming our newest staff member Samantha Hobbs, as our new Education Director. Prior to joining FSMS, Samantha was with the Florida Engineering Society and with the Florida Association of the American Institute of Architects prior to that. Being an FES member, I have seen Samantha’s name many times, but have never met her. I look forward to this at our November FSMS Board meeting. She can be reached at [email protected] and she goes by “Sam.”