You might be interested to know how this all comes about.  The Alamo PC Organization has many committees of people behind the scenes who keep everything running smoothly.  One of those committees is the Volunteer of the Month Committee, of which I am now a member because of writing this column.  That committee selects a Volunteer of the Month for each month of the year, and a Member of the Year once a year, culled from the people who have been honored as volunteers of the Month for that year.  Perhaps you have a name to suggest to the committee - of a volunteer you have especially been impressed with - for consideration for this honor.  The chair of the committee is Mike Bianchi.

The volunteer selected by the committee for this month is "Mac" McConnell, currently treasurer of the organization.  I met Mac recently and talked with him about his relation to the organization, and his role as treasurer.  What I discovered, in addition to those facts, was a delightful and humorous person, who is highly respected by the Board Members of Alamo PC.  Mac suggested that he was respected because he held the strings to the money bag!  But I could tell just from talking to him and others that they really liked the fellow, even though he sometimes had to say "no" to their requests for expenditures.

Mac connected in with Alamo PC in the earlier years of the organization, and was asked by one of those presidents to take on the role of treasurer  for a while.  That ended up being his job for several years.  Mac told me that he has seen the organization grow dramatically, and also the responsibilities for the treasurer.  Eventually an auditor/bookkeeping type organization was contracted to provide the banking and legal elements of the treasurer's job.  But Mac still checks the budget requirements related to requests for expenditures, authorizes payments, and writes the checks.  He used to use Quicken a lot for the job, but uses it less lately, since he has help on the bookkeeping side.

Mac's professional career was as a chemical engineer, from which he retired several years ago.  He's like a lot of the behind-the-scenes volunteers in the Alamo PC: he saw a need, and helped fill that need.  Mac's contributions of time, effort, and careful guidance in handling the budget have been greatly appreciated by the Board of Directors of Alamo PC.

Since Mac is retiring from the position of treasurer in the next few months, I asked him what his advice would be for the next treasurer.  He listed several things that he considered important, including:

1. getting along with the Board of Alamo PC
2. keeping the Board in check on expenses, and
3. always getting receipts and keeping good records.