International President Jets into London
International President Charlene Berkman defied airline strikes and volcanic ash to fly to London at the end of April 2010 for the Annenberg weekend. She arrived at London’s Heathrow airport where…
…I met her and after a brief stop at her hotel Linda and I took her to the city of St Albans for a visit to the Roman amphitheatre and lunch at the famous Waffle House.
Charlene was collected from her hotel in the early evening by the London chapter president Adrian Mullish who took her to his home for dinner with his wife Sharon and the family. After dinner Charlene joined the chapter leadership for a joint meeting of the London Chapter Council and the Alpha Omega London Charitable Trust. Charlene participated in the discussions on the chapter programme, both present and future, after which the chairman of the London Charitable Trust Andrew Eder updated her on the Trust’s work and projects. Charlene spoke to the meeting about her goals and vision for the Fraternity and the transition to the new headquarters office.
The Annenberg lecture took place the next day, Friday 30 April, at the Royal Airforce Museum in Hendon. Registration began at 8.30 am when delegates had the opportunity to meet colleagues and tour the trade exhibition which had been organised by Veronica Morris. The visiting lecturer from Utah was Dr Dick Barnes whose topic was "Increasing Your Productivity". Dr Barnes outlined his philosophy for a successful practice and how to involve the whole practice team in the patient's care. There were further opportunities to tour the trade show during the coffee and lunch breaks. Before the lecture resumed after lunch Charlene addressed the meeting and updated us on the Fraternity's activities. She also encouraged everyone to join their fellow fraters at this year's convention in San Diego.
That evening Charlene joined us at our home for Shabbat dinner together with Matthew Zizmor, a visiting frater from Boston and Simon Stern who is a recently qualified dentist from London.
Charlene had a free day on Saturday and on Sunday Adrian Mullish drove her back to the airport for her return flight to New York. A whirlwind and very successful weekend which went all too quickly.
|
