Happy New Year!!!!! Here we are again, starting another new year of carving for The Tri Valley Carvers. Before going into all the fun things for 2026, I first want to talk about ending 2025 this last December with our annual Christmas luncheon. We had great fellowship, food, fun, and a wonderful auction. Twenty-five members of our carving family attended, and our fun auction was a fun event. What a wonderful event to end another great year for TVC! A merry Christmas was wished to all who participated. Many thanks to Ken for managing the challenging bidding, Jeanne Morgan for keeping track of the highly active bidding and collections. We will have our first business meeting in the new year in February at the fellowship hall at the Holy Cross Lutheran church at 1020 Moucho street in Livermore.  I have asked for the second Saturday of February, but will have to wait for approval. The meeting date should be OK, so plan on it. We have several new members to meet and get acquainted with, so make sure you attend. Again, the meeting time is 9 -12am on Saturday February 14th. Election of officers: Every two years we have an election of officers. This is a formality of our bylaws. The officers are President, Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary and Advisor. If you are interested in any of these positions, please present your nominations at the February 14th meeting or to the present officers prior to the meeting.  We need to make sure nominees are willing to run for the office to which they are nominated. We will finalize the nominations and hold elections at the February 14th meeting. Annual dues: The annual dues for 2026 are due again in January. The $20 dues for the club are used to keep our activities going, including a basswood assortment available in the shop and our annual show in September. This year, after the delinquent notice, (see below), we will be updating the club active roster. The club Bylaws require: 1. Dues will be payable to the Treasurer in January of each year. 2. Dues will be considered delinquent by the last day of February. 3. If there is no response by the end of February a ‘delinquent/drop’ notice, giving a 30-day grace period, will be sent by the Treasurer. We have a lot to look forward to in the next year, and I hope it will be even more exciting than this year. I wish all of you and your family a happy and healthy new year.