Dear SAS Members & Friends,

I would like to welcome you to our new year at the SAS with me as your new President. We had a great General Assembly event at the Carter Center. 34 people, including 32 voting members were present. We gave a warm Uf Wiederluege to Helen Freiermuth, as she will relocate to Canada. I cannot mention it again; we enjoyed wonderful years with her, thank her for her work and will miss her very much! (A copy of the minutes is available upon request, contact Tanja or Berti). Please join me in welcoming Max Hürlimann as a new addition to the Board. We are all excited and think with everybody else staying on the board it will be a breeze this year to plan the traditional events like the Spring picnic, August 1st Celebration, Fall Event, Samichlaus and Christmas Dinner, Fondue night and again to close the year our General Assembly.
 
New Members
We look always forward to meet our latest members. Please join me in giving the following members a big Gruezi!
            Gregor Schmid
            Leah Zwimpfer

Membership 2007 Renewal

As approved at the General Assembly our annual membership fee will increase by $5 per category ($35 for individual, $65 for family). We are very happy to get this increase approved and it will help cover the constantly raising prices for goods and services. Please fill in the enclosed Membership form and send it along with your payment to our treasurer Markus Engel by May 10th. (Please also fill out the form if you have already paid for the membership, since there are a few new points on the form, thanks a lot!)

2007 Calendar of Events

We have been able to set a few dates on our most recent meeting. Please mark your calendars!

• Spring Hike & Picnic on Sunday May 20th (invitation enclosed)
• August 1st Celebration on Sunday August 5th at the Martha Hope Cabin in Gainesville – more details to follow
• Fall Event – we are working on a new regional theme evening as we enjoyed the last two years
• Samichlaus will be again visiting the children in early December
• Christmas dinner/party also in December
• Fondue night in early February 2008
• General Assembly in March 2008

Ladies Luncheons

Sybille Hoegger has agreed to take over for Helen. The Swiss Ladies try to meet about monthly for some special outings such as a visit to a museum, exhibition, restaurant and more. In addition to have some fun it also allows you making new friends. Don’t forget to note your interest on the membership form or contact Sybille directly.

Interest Groups

As you might notice we have added a few categories for interest groups on the form. We are trying to make it easier for our members to find someone enjoying the same interest and do it as a group, like the Ladies Luncheons. Please let us know if you can think of anything else.

Voting rights as Swiss living abroad

Hermann Gammeter has reminded us how important our voice is. Stay informed about decisions and happenings in Switzerland. There are over 600,000 Swiss living abroad but only a very small number of them are registered voters. Hermann has asked everybody to think about the future of our country and consider registering to vote from abroad. Please contact the Swiss consulate to find out how to register and make your voice heard. Maybe there is someone that would like to lead a discussion group ahead of scheduled referendum dates. If you are interested please contact Tanja.

SAS Board Members 2007/2008

President           Tanja Alemany     678-947-6076          
Vice President  Rene Welti            770 448 4608           
Treasurer          Markus Engel        770 578 6410          
Secretary           Berti Mikulcic         770 487 7607  
Directors           Beat Schindler      770 751 6834                    
                            Anton Buehlmann  770 565 4178           
                           Sybille Hoegger    404 843 2942           
                            Alfred Mettler         678 319 0184
                            Max Hürlimann     770 973 9372
Webmaster       Astrid Wilkens      770 906 1346
Consular Liaison Monica Camacho  404 870 2006  
                                                                     
(Monica will be leaving her post by the end of June; we wish her all the best back in Switzerland)

Please feel free to contact any board member in case you have questions and check our site www.SASAtlanta.org for more info, concerns or suggestions. Don’t forget our board meetings are always open to everybody, for more information please contact Tanja.

We look forward to see you soon at one of our events.

Enjoy the spring!

For the SAS Board
Tanja Alemany, President