Message from the President
Hi. I’m Al Kolis, your new President & CEO for the Lionel Collectors Club of America. I’m proud to be a member of and a leader for our club. My family has been involved – immersed is probably a better word – in LCCA since 1992, the year when my son, Alfonse II, was born. My younger son Vincent was born in April of 1996, and he has attended every convention since then. Gina, my wife of 22 years, along with our sons and I, are a family of dedicated LCCA conventioneers.
I’m very excited about this opportunity to serve as your president. I promise to you, I will do my best, be fiscally responsible, and work with the new volunteer Board of Directors and officers:
Ed Richter -- Director
John Ellingson -- Director
Bill Schmeelk -- Director
Dave Miller -- Director
Dick Johnson -- Immediate Past President
John Fisher -- President-elect
Susan Ellingson -- Treasurer
Jerry Calkins -- Secretary
As a team, we will continue to make the LCCA “The Best Toy Train Club on the Planet.”
My mentor and predecessor, Dick Johnson, provided outstanding leadership through many years of service to this club. He previously spent four years serving as our treasurer, another two years as president-elect, and two additional years as president. Thanks to him, I am better prepared to serve you. I’m also grateful for the time and energy invested in LCCA by outgoing board members and officers Lou Caponi, immediate past president; Dennis DeVito, treasurer; and directors Eric Fogg and Johnny Ourso.
During our 39th annual convention recently held in Sacramento, California, I outlined to the incoming officers and directors my goals for the club. I will emphasize family involvement and expand our newly created junior member category. Now is the time to walk the walk, and not just talk the talk about bringing younger members into the hobby we love.
It is also my intent to provide our members with more frequent communication via our LCCA website. In addition to our award-winning publication, The Lion Roars, members with access to the Web will benefit from enhanced communications at our website. Be on the lookout in the future for timely information about club news and events.
THIS CLUB IS YOUR CLUB. I cannot emphasize this enough. Active members make this club what it is today. I welcome your involvement and participation. I strongly believe we have the best members of any train club in existence. If every member would spread the good word about the benefits of belonging to LCCA and recruit one person to it, we would double in size every year.
I want to express my sincere appreciation for your past support of our great club. I believe we can continue to move forward and make the club even better. If you ever need to contact me, please e-mail me at:
agkolis@comcast.net. Thank you for making the LCCA the Best Toy Train Club on the Planet.
Sincerely,
Alphonse A. Kolis, President & CEO
Lionel Collectors Club of America
Oh! I almost forgot my primary rule for our LCCA members. Rule #1: Let’s have Fun! This is our hobby, and we as members should always have fun. Are we having fun yet?