October 01st, 2016

  Happy New Year my chili family! It’s once again that time where we all start with no points and begin
the ever elusive hunt. Good luck this upcoming year to everyone and be safe out there.

We begin this year with a major upgrade to our information systems. In the next several weeks the
conversion will begin. Please be patient.  Anytime there is a major change in something like this there
are bound to be a few bugs to work out. The IT team is diligently working to ensure a smooth transition
to the new system. You will receive more information in the next week or so.

At this time I would like to express my gratitude and appreciation to the following people that have
served and contributed to our organization. Richard Knight, Ted Fichtl, Harvey West, Tim Collier and
David Manske. Thank you all for everything you have done and continue to do.

To your new slate of directors, Nancy Hewlett,  Allan (Scotty) Parker, Randy Pittman and Rick Powell. We
are all on an accelerated learning curve. Best of luck to you.

Susan Armand has been especially helpful to me these last several weeks helping me to try and
seamlessly adjust to my new position. Thank you for all you have done and continue to do for me.

I am looking forward to the next two years as your Executive Director. The day to day operations of our
organization are varied and many. Staying on top of things is a new challenge and I am working hard to
keep up with tasks at hand.

In closing, we are on the edge of new time in the chili world. We have seen tremendous growth within
our organization tech wise. We have new, fresh ideas being presented and members that want to share
their time and talents to help CASI continue being the premier charitable non-profit in the chili world.
I look forward to seeing you, meeting you, and discussing with you, your ideas, thoughts, and criticisms.
Because without knowledgeable, caring, passionate members like yourselves, we as an organization
can’t survive.
Take care, God bless and see you on the chili trail.

Keith Karaff