Many people make New Year’s resolutions on or before New Year’s Eve.  I don’t know why, but it seems like I’ve not heard of many people making New Year’s resolutions for 2020.  Maybe since it’s the dawn of a new decade, people are giving it a pass.  What are your thoughts?

When New Year’s resolutions are made, however, something that’s usually pretty popular is to spend more time with family and friends.  Apparently, this isn’t new.

On January 3, 1901, readers of The Comet, the first newspaper in my hometown, learned that the young women of the Merry-Go-Round Club had recently given a reception at a spacious home. The account was that it “was a greater success than anything of this kind has been for years.  The custom of making New Year’s calls has for several years been more or less neglected all over the country, but seems to have been pretty generally revived in honor of the new century.”   

In the same issue of the newspaper, readers learned that  “The principal social event of the year was the reception given by the Monday Club  of Johnson City, to the Tuesday Club of Jonesboro, (a local town)  and other friends at the elegant resident of Mr. and Mrs. J.J. Hunt on Unaka Avenue last Thursday night.”  

Many of you know of my love of membership based organizations;  the Monday Club, dating back to 1892, is still in existence and is a part of the General Federation of Women’s Clubs.  Unfortunately, the Tuesday Club isn’t around.  I’m a proud member of the Monday Club, and we support the local library, as do many GFWCs.

On this date, 105 years ago in 1914, The Comet reported that on the previous Monday evening,  the Johnson City Lodge No. 486, F.&A.M., held an elaborate banquet at  the Hotel Windsor.  Over a hundred masons and their guests attended. That Lodge is still in existence;  their website shows their history goes back to 1875.

It’s remarkable and to the credit of Johnson City that we have these two membership based organizations that help those who can’t help themselves, and have done so for well over a century.

No matter the year, keeping in touch with friends is a great resolution.  Membership based organizations flourish when members are happy, when they feel a friendship with others in the organization.

Many people make New Year’s resolutions to be more organized or to reduce the clutter in their home or office.

Mary Pankiewicz, whom I’ve known for probably twenty years, gives a lot of great advice about those topics in her e-book, Reduce Mind Clutter, Feel the Freedom. One such gem:  Mary writes that eighty percent of what we file, we never look at again.  With that in mind, before you print and file something, ask yourself how easy it will be to get, should you need it in the future.  Reduce Mind Clutter, Feel the Freedom is available for purchase at www.clutterfree.biz.

Everyone appreciates great customer service;  for people in business, being organized makes it much easier to give superior customer service.  You’ll remember Elsa, whom I wrote about last week;  I’ve ordered dog food from Chewy.com for years.  When I told Chewy about Elsa’s death, they thoughtfully sent flowers, along with a note. 

Lest you think Chewy sending flowers doesn’t have the first thing to do with membership based organizations,  great customer services easily translates into great member services.  Being organized makes it much easier to give great service to members.  When membership based organizations have great member services, their membership is much more easily retained.  Just as it’s easier to keep a customer than to get one, it’s also easier to keep a member than to get a new one.

Goodbye, 2019!  Hello, 2020!

Copyright,  December 30, 2019 by Rebecca Henderson