NEWSLETTER

MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT

Fellow GPA Members and Prospective Members, You should have received correspondence from GPA at the beginning of 2011. I wanted to follow up on that with a summary of the information I sent out in the letter earlier in January 2011. - Joining a professional organization indicates that you are not just concerned about what happens in your local office. It makes a statement that you want to broaden your knowledge base to things that are happening Statewide and Nationwide. - By joining “your” professional organization, GPA, you open many doors to a variety of activities and organizations that promote professional probation supervision in Georgia and the United States. - GPA offers two training conferences per year geared toward professional development, current events, and motivational topics that give you a break from the mandated training that we attend annually. The networking at these conferences is priceless. - There is strength in numbers. I want to take this opportunity to once again invite you to join GPA which, as I stated previously is “YOUR” professional organization. The GPA Board is hard at work planning the 26^th Annual Mid-Winter Training Conference to be held in Helen, Georgia on March 16 through March 18, 2011. Please come and join us for some informative training in a relaxed atmosphere. I look forward to hearing from you regarding any questions you may have about GPA. You can find more information about GPA on our website – www.gaprobationassoc.org Hope to see all of you at the Conference!

Drew Chestnutt - GPA President

INFORMATION ABOUT MID-WINTER

Plans are coming together for the Mid-Winter Conference to be held March 16-18, 2011. It will once again be held at the Country Inn & Suites in Helen, Georgia. You can call them at 706-878-9000 to make your reservations. Many have asked in the past for us to change the date of the cookout from Thursday to Wednesday so they could go to Paul's Steakhouse for dinner. Well, we aren't changing the date for the cookout it will still be on Thursday night (by the way we are having Mike & Tony's famous Pork Loin - YUMMM). However, Paul's Steakhouse will be open on Wednesday night and they offer a coupon on their website www.Paulssteakhouse.com taking $6.00 off your meal.

We are requesting members be at the Business Meeting on Wednesday afternoon - much to discuss and we need your help and input.

HOW TO GET YOUR CONFERENCE REGISTRATION PAID We are once again offering free conference registration for anyone who sells $250 worth of ads (please check the forms link on our website).Also, if you have a business that would like to sponsor a meal, break, dance or hospitality - you can get your registration paid and they will get an ad in the Program (so get an ad from them when you get the check - the ad will need to be to Bo Payton by February 28, 2011).

MESSAGES FROM YOUR COMMISSIONERS

C.W. Smith, Southeast Commissioner - I would like to express my sincere gratitude for being allowed to serve the Georgia Probation Association for another years as Southeast Commissioner. This is the year we need to combine all efforts to encourage old and new employees to join GPA. Membership is very important to our Association. GPA wants to represent ou, all probation personnel. We need your support and assistance in recruiting new members. Remember your board is working for you! I look forward to seeing all of your at our winter conference in Helen. ```````````````````````````````````

Mike Walraven, Northeast Commissioner - Thanks to the membership for returning me to the executive board for another year of service. We have once again planed for the Winter Training Conference to be in Downtown Helen this March. For those of you who are interested Paul’s on the River will be open on Wednesday Night this year. We will have our cookout on Thursday evening. For those new to the association please try and attend the conference. You will not only getting training hours but you can develop friendships that are invaluable in advancing our profession. If needed I can be reached on Groupwise as Mike Walraven. Hope to see you at a training conference. `````````````````````````````````````

Stacey Rivera, Southwest Commissioner - I am honored this year to serve as the Southwest Commissioner for the Georgia Probation Association. As a member of GPA for many years, this is a chance to give back to an organization that has given so much. This year we want everyone to realize that GPA belongs to you and to encourage you to join your organization today! So much has changed in Probation over a relatively short period of time and GPA is evolving too! We want to represent you and be your voice in Probation. We are fortunate to have an administration that recognizes your worth and are willing to listen, so let me know what you think. I encourage everyone, but particularly those in the Southwest Region (Chattahoochee, Cordele, Dougherty, Houston, Macon, Pataula, Southern, South Georgia, Southwestern and Tifton) to join. You can go to the web-site, www.gaprobationassoc.org/, for the membership application and for more information on upcoming events. The mid-winter conference is right around the corner. We are once again offering free conference registration for anyone who sells $250 worth of ads (please check the forms link on the web-site for more information). We are only as strong as our membership and this is a very exciting time in our association so don’t miss out! Please join “your” organization today and make plans to join us March 16 –18 in Helen. ``````````````````````````````````

John Kelley, Northwest Commissioner - It has been an honor to serve you as the Northwest Commissioner for the Georgia Probation Association this year. I am originally out of the Lafayette Probation Office, but now assigned to the Probation Training Unit as the Northwest Probation Training Officer. I have been a proud member of the GPA since joining the Department in 2004 and strongly encourage each and every one of you to join, and maintain membership of your Professional Organization. The more members we have the better voice we have within the Department of Corrections especially considering the ever changing environment of community corrections. I encourage all officers and support staff in the state and especially the Northwest Region (Applachian, Atlanta, Blue Ridge, Cherokee, Cobb, Conasauga, Douglas, Lookout Mountain, Paulding, Rome, Tallapoosa, Atlanta DRC, NW DRC, and Rome DRC) to join the organization and show that we in the Northwest area are dedicated to supporting our profession. I would also like to see a huge showing at the mid-winter conference this year from our region. This will be a great time to not only socialize but to build a strong professional relationship with other officers and staff from all over the state. If you have any concerns, questions or comments, please forward them to me or your representative for your area. As a board member, we are here to serve you and I look forward to working with each and every one of you.