CONVENTION LIAISON COMMITTEE
Charles Oakley

Department Commander Craig Wilhelm appointed the following individuals to the Convention Liaison Committee for 2023-24: Department Chairman – Charles Oakley; Eastern Vice Chairman – John Tomosky; Central Vice Chairman – Richard Schloendorn; Western Vice Chairman – Ted Minich.

In accordance with Article XII, Section 1.c. of the Department Constitution, the place of the Annual Department Convention shall be fixed by vote of the Convention three years preceding each Convention. As you may recall, at the 2019 Department Convention in Harrisburg, it was approved by the DEC to hold the 2022, 2023 and 2024 Conventions at the Harrisburg Hilton. The 2020 Convention in Lancaster was unfortunately cancelled due to the COVID 19 restrictions and safety of our membership. Again, per Resolution No. 1119, the DEC body voted to approve awarding Lancaster the Convention of 2024 instead of the Hilton as a sign of good faith. We will now be at the Lancaster Marriott for 2 years – 2024 & 2025.

However, the Lancaster contracts were never signed. Because of that reason, the 2024 dates were no longer available and the pricing had increased drastically from the previous prices. For those reasons, we canceled our partnership with the Lancaster Mariott.

The Hilton will be our home for 2024, 2025. Moving forward, Gettysburg will be our location for 2026, 2027, 2028. I thank the committee and Commander Lavelle for the appointment.