I am excited to serve as the Director of Region 4 for the next three years. Getting to know the members of our region and helping our membership grow is my primary goal as your director.

Until the late fall of 2013 being in a doll club was something I had never really thought about. I just retired from 25 years as a surgical nurse and serving on our State Board of Nursing so I was looking for something to fill my time. My friend Kathleen invited me to attend a club meeting as her guest and I knew from that meeting on that I had to get into a club. I discovered a whole new world that I really wanted to know more about. I completed my meeting and collection requirements and became a member in the spring of 2014. Since that time, I have served my club as their Vice President for 2 terms and am in my final year of my second term as President.

That same spring, I met Linda Axtel at a doll event and listening to her talk about some of her experiences as the RD started my mind spinning. I decided that day that I would like to hold that position someday, of course I was still brand new and had no idea of how to get elected to the position.

When I attended my first convention in Kansas City in 2015, I was so excited I could hardly sleep all week. The program, seminars, workshops, doll dialogues and gatherings kept me running from one to another all the time. Needless to say, I have attended every convention since and still love the excitement the week brings. Convention week gives me a sense of renewal of purpose, and I have made so many new friends or renewed friendships with members from previous years.

I always received dolls as a child usually for Christmas and birthday gifts but sadly most of them did not survive to my adult life. One that did survive wasn't even mine, it was my Mom's. She bought it as a teenager in the late 1940s and her grandmother fell in love with it. Mom let her Grandmother display it in her home for many years (I remember seeing it set on the shelf in the corner), then after she passed it came back to Mom. She displayed it in her home for many years and when she downsized some of her things, she gave the doll to me. The doll has a composition head, cloth body and early vinyl limbs. Her eyes have crystalized with age, but she is the most precious doll I own.

When my daughter was about 10 years old, I got her a set of 8" Madame Alexander Little Women dolls hoping to ignite a spark in her for doll collecting. Later when she went off on her own, the dolls remained with me. They may not have ignited a spark in her but having them sparked my desire to have more of them. I added more, a few at a time when I could find them and now have well over 150 of the 8" dolls and many others in various sizes and materials.

I also have Chinas, some all bisque, some carved wood, a few cloth and lots of composition in my collection. Learning about each type of doll is like stepping back in history to the time they were created.

My family consists of a husband, 3 children, 8 grandchildren, 2 great grandchildren and a very spoiled poodle. Even though they don't share my love of dolls they encourage me because they know it makes me happy.