ARS Fall 2025 Virtual Board Meeting Held Sept. 27-28

The ARS Board of Directors attended its Fall meeting via Zoom on Sept 27-28, 2025. Under Carol Mishler’s leadership, the Directors were well prepared to report on committee activities, and they accomplished the meeting goals in record time. Executive Committee officers were elected for the coming year, and four new candidates were nominated for election to the Board in 2026. If elected, these new members will bring greater geographic diversity to the ARS leadership.

Board committee chairs reported on the past six months of activity, including Treasurer Barbara Stark’s summary of ARS financial status and an overview of the 2025-26 budget. ARS awarded an impressive number of scholarships and awards last year, fundraising remained strong despite a drop in the total number of donors, and membership levels have drifted back to pre-pandemic levels. Increasing the size and diversity of the ARS recorder community remains a focus for the organization. The Board learned about the online recorder classes to be offered in the months ahead, and American Recorder magazine Editor Geoffrey Burgess described several articles to be featured in future issues.

The Directors discussed possible nominees for the 2026 ARS Distinguished Achievement Award (DAA) and unanimously chose a recipient, whose identity will be announced in the Fall issue of AR magazine. 

This was Carol Mishler’s last meeting as ARS President, and the Board issued a resolution to thank her for her skillful leadership. ARS will remain in good hands with Jody Miller as the new President and Jamie Allen as the new Vice President. The meeting ended with a brainstorming session on ways to grow the recorder player community.