Noteworthy 9th Son Dennis and his daughter-in-law Romina. If Dan isn’t doing dentistry then he’s out fishing or hunting or chopping wood or some other machomanly thing like that. Also seated with my family is Thomas and Donna Puma. Dr. Thomas Puma, Past President of the Ninth District, started his practice in Brewster in 1978, but before that, he served our Country with distinction as a member of the United States Air Force. Tom was stationed at the Pentagon, and as an officer, he was associated with various Generals and also, for those of you old enough to remember him, Barry Goldwater. In one of the more memorable actions of his Presidency, back in the days when our state organization went under the name of Dental Society of the State of New York or DSSNY as we called them, Tom stood up to Them when he went toe-totoe with its leadership at a time when they tried to manipulate member voting rights in a way that our 9th membership felt was inappropriate. His argument was impressive, so impressive that they backed down and did the right thing. The Leadership in Albany came to the Ninth where they took him out to dinner, for what I assume was either to curry favor and attempt to mend bridges or, as I believe, they came to calm Tom down. Tom and his wife Donna retired to Florida, and there, they opened a business that was named Pinocchio’s Italian Ice Cream. One day, Disney (the DISNEY in Orlando) found out about their business and had an issue with them using the name Pinocchio. Disney felt the name Pinocchio belonged to them. It came as no surprise to me that once again, Tom and Donna went toe-to-toe with an adversary, but this time the adversary was a giant, the real Disney! What can I say, Tom and Donna continue to own the Pinocchio’s Italian Ice cream franchise without any changes to its name. They have a daughter, Stephanie. I was privileged to have been present at both her baptism and her wedding. The Puma’s honor me today by their presence. They flew from their home in Ft. Myers Florida to be here today to support me. I am grateful that they took the time to be here today with me. Also, with us today, is a familiar face to most of you, Dr. Paul Patella and his wife Anne. Paul and I first met when he joined the Board of Gov- ernors in 2006. Now who is Paul Patella? He is the calm, voice of reason you turn to when everyone else is losing their wits. He is looked upon by many in this organization as the man who has all the answers. He is a loving husband and proud grandfather. In his youth, he and his wife Anne were quite the skiers, both remain more active today then I could ever hope to be at this stage of my life. However, he does envy me in that I have a flame thrower and that I can run a backhoe….. (But that is a whole other story)…Paul, eat your heart out. Paul introduced me to my first drink of Makers Mark. For those who are not aware of Makers Mark, it’s a bourbon whiskey and when its over ice it should be slowly sipped, Paul didn’t tell me about the slow sipping part. So just imagine how that evening turned out! Paul is a Past President of this organization and the current Chair of the Audit Budget Committee. He is an active member of this organization and I am happy that he and Anne could join us today. I also want to congratulate each and every dentist here today for your decision to enter the healing arts of Dental medicine. According to the US News and World report of the 25 best jobs in 2018, five are in the field of dentistry. General Practice Dentistry ranked #2. Who knew that at an early age, we were that incredibly insightful to enter such a highly coveted profession. Our profession has its roots in humble but honorable beginnings. The services that we provide to the public such as pain relief, restoring dietary function by improving occlusion and mastication, management of diseases, and infections, AND cosmetics, which improve one’s self-esteem is essential, in today’s world. The Dental education we receive today is second to none. BUT, Dental education is also one of the most costly among all those offered by our universities. When we went out into the world to begin our practices, we had all the scientific tools and all the skills to treat patients but no significant background at all in business. Somehow, we have earned the keys to the kingdom, able to open a potentially lucrative business (and make no bones about it, we are business owners) and had no idea what the heck to do with it or literally how to run it. Some of us got lucky and caught on pretty fast, others are not as fortunate. NOVEMBER, 201817