Co-President’s Message A few days ago I decided to look at the docket of upcoming RAPS general meetings so I would know what's coming up. Seemed appropriate, being as I'm co-president and all. And there it was: Bryan Johanson, talking about beekeeping on November 16. Bryan Johanson? Beekeeping? But he’s a music professor, a classical guitarist who has won a slew of awards, written symphonies, and performed across the United States and Canada. And he’s going to talk to us about bees? Now, I don't know Bryan at all. I’ve met him a time or two, and I once bought a guitar from him. OK, not technically. My daughter wanted to take lessons, the Department of Music had a surplus guitar gathering dust, and, for a donation to the department, I brought home to my daughter a pretty darn nice guitar. So I didn't really buy a guitar from Bryan. But he came by my office with the instrument, and I talked briefly with him, and he even played the guitar for me. But a beekeeper? How did he make the journey from music to beekeeping? I suppose we'll find out on November 16. But my guess is that Bryan might be enjoying that second act that Americans aren't supposed to have. (I think the line was taken out of context, but I'll leave the debate to the Fitzgerald enthusiasts in the audience.) In fact, many of us do have second acts. Some second acts are products of necessity, some are of opportunity, some are of curiosity. One of my friends left higher education to take over his father's commercial real estate company. Another, a high school speech teacher, retired to become an awardwinning plein air artist. Even Richard Nixon had a second act—and a third, come to think of it. If you've gotten this far, you're probably wondering what became of the guitar that I didn't buy from Bryan. Well, after a couple of years of instruction, my daughter took up some other activity that's long lost to my memory. One day, a friend, who's a veterinarian, dropped by the house and saw it in my home office. "Wow, nice guitar," he said. "You know, I've always wanted to take lessons." So I gave it to him. And I'd love to tell you that he gave up his practice to play guitar in hip coffeehouses in the East Village. But he didn’t. He remains a dedicated veterinarian. His second act is yet to come. —Doug Swanson, Co-President Help Update Our Membership Directory Do you have your copy handy of the RAPS Directory published in May of this year? Please check your entry and notify the RAPS Office of any updates or corrections. You can send an email to rapsmail@pdx.edu or call Rebecca Butterworth, RAPS Office Manager, at 503-725-3447. RAPS will publish an addendum to the RAPS Directory in December. Don’t have a copy of the latest directory? Let us know so we can mail you one. 2
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