And the winner of this year’s Cup is… 

Lathrup Village with its TimeBank project!   

Plante & Moran, the official accountants for the CEA awards, participated in the competitive fun with their “You vote.  We count.  Who will win?” tagline.  Following a quick slideshow overview of each project, all eyes turned to the back of the room as “The Pink Panther” theme song began.  Two of the firm’s accountants walked down the center aisle in “secret service” style—with dark sunglasses and the official briefcase containing the much-anticipated winner’s name.  With seven outstanding projects, it was a real nail biter! 

The city of Lathrup Village was announced the winner for its wonderful TimeBank project as confetti was shot into the air!  TimeBank coordinator Richard Reeves explained the Lathrup Village TimeBank as a "community bartering organization where neighbors earn time performing services for each other.  Each person's time is banked and recorded on an easy-to-use online database to be traded for future services by other members.”  What started in April at the Region 1 meeting culminated in an exciting win and a dramatic finale to the Convention. 

Learn more about the Community Excellence Award and view a list of all seven Regional finalists!

We've just arrived at the Kalamazoo Radisson Hotel in Kalamazoo and things are already in full swing! It's been great to see and chat with members that I've not seen since the Capital Conference or Regional Seminars. We're definitely going to have a great Convention and so far it's off to a great start! One of the new things we're doing is to have League staff blog about the happenings at this year's Convention, such as keynote speakers, sessions and whatever else strikes us. Checkback periodically throughout the week to keep in touch with what's going on!

More to come soon!