Presidential Matters 9th of our President-Elect candidate ADA Trustee Chad Gehani, who I am pleased to report won the election against 3 other formidable candidates from around the country. I also would like to congratulate Dr. Amrita Patel who was inducted as a new Fellow, into the International College of Dentist at their annual convocation event at the ADA Meeting. I want to thank my Program Chair, Dr. Frank Vigliotti for the exemplary job he did this year in selecting the speakers. The programs to date have been an overwhelming success based on both attendance and feedback. In fact, at the September general meeting we had more vendors than we have had in years and for the upcoming November Annual Meeting we have almost sold out! For those that attend the Annual Meeting on November 14th, please make sure that you stop and talk with the vendors and thank them for their support because they are why we are able to put on four free CE programs each year. Our program chair for 2019, Dr. Paul Kim is in the process of finalizing next year’s group of speakers and topics, it looks to be another outstanding program. Another objective for 2018 was to enhance our Continuing Education delivery system by way of offering live webinars – I am happy to report that we have successfully completed the test phase of the program with lectures by Dr. Ed Feinberg and most recently Dr. Minerva Patel. With the help of Professional Education Chair Ashok Soni and Vice Chair Bharat Joshi we hope to be offering a number of 1-2-hour live webinars in 2019. Watch your emails for the announcement. I want to take the opportunity to thank the members of the Audit, Budget and Finance Committee and Drs. Paul Patella and Anthony Cuomo, Chair and Vice Chair of the committee. Through their dedication, diligence and hard work, the Ninth District is fiscally sound and in a great position to weather whatever the economy may throw our way. Also, I want to once again congratulate Dr. Cuomo on his receiving this year’s D. Austin Sniffen Medal of Honor and thank him for his service as our NYSDA Trustee for the past four year, as well as his ongoing commitment as our Parliamentarian and Chairman of the ByLaws committee. I am very grateful for his counsel and support during my presidency. As much as one prepares for their presidential year, the overall success and productivity of that year depends greatly on all members of the Executive committee and I was lucky enough to have one of the best. This group of talented, dedicated “volunteers” gave of their personal time and were always ready to do whatever was asked of them. It was an honor working with this special group of people and it made the year so much easier. I have no doubt that the future of the Ninth District is in excellent hands. Incoming President Dr. Minerva Patel is prepared and ready to go, she has some terrific plans for 2019. Incoming President Elect Dr. Christopher Cuomo and Vice President Dr. Roberto Rodriguez were indispensable this past year – thank you for all your help and support. With the addition of Dr. Jason Sauer to the Executive Committee as the incoming Secretary/Treasurer we have another dynamic member of the team. Then there is Immediate Past soon to be just Past President Dr. May Ellen Lukaswitz. Thank you, Mary Ellen, for all your help this past year – I could not have done this without your insight and guidance and I look forward to working with you as Vice Chair of the Bulletin Committee. A special thank you to all the members of the Board of Governors. Thank you for your service and dedication – I am proud to say that this is one of, if not THE best component in the State of New York and that is all due to the hard work that you do on behalf of all the members of the Ninth District. It would be next to impossible for the Executive Committee or the Board of Governors to carry out all that we do without the dedicated headquarters staff. Executive Assistant Diane Darby and Executive Director Stephan Cancian, they make our jobs look easy as they work their magic, thank you for a great year. In closing, I want to thank you all for giving me the opportunity to serve as your president this past year. It has been an honor and privilege representing all the members of the Ninth District and I look forward to a bright future for this organization.  About the author: Dr. Gary Scharoff maintains a private General Practice in New Rochelle, NY. NOVEMBER, 201815