The Society has seen a growth in membership this year - quite a few new members and an increase in the number of search queries either by phone or email. The Board continues to meet regularly, yet it is a challenge to balance the needs of our lives and families against the needs of the Society.

Our quarterly newsletter is a huge success. Sandra Walters has done an excellent job on developing a focus for each issue and profiling specific individuals. She has interviewed Joan Vanstone (founder of Parent Finders Canada), Marianne Auger (search angel), and Joe Soll (Adoption Crossroads), just to name a few. Our winter edition will look at what our loved ones and friends think of our journeys through the adoption search and reunion process.

The website is up and running www.adoptioncircles.net. It does take a lot of work and it would be great to have a dedicated resource to manage the site and keep it updated and fresh. Marnie and Marianne have done a great job in keeping the content current. However, if you have an interest in this area, we would love to hear from you.

We continue to keep abreast of what is happening with Ontario's fight for open records. They recently had a challenge of Bill 183 and were forced to hire legal representation. Many, many thanks to the Forget Me Not Family Society members who sent in donations.

Plans are under way for another Pub Night in May 2007. Our first pub night in May 2006 was very successful and we hope to repeat that. Other fund raising included "Movie Night" - we charge a nominal fee to watch an adoption related movie, serve popcorn, and then follow the movie with a discussion. "The Other Mother" is a favourite and we are looking forward to other great movie nights in 2007. In November 2006, during Adoption Awareness Month, we held a 2-day workshop with Joe Soll from Adoption Crossroads in New York. Thirty-one participants spent a heart felt weekend together sharing their pain associated with adoption, and finding ways to move forward. This workshop was very well received and allowed people to really express their feelings associated with relinquishment and reunion. We hope to be able to offer this workshop again. Thank you to the Victoria Foundation for providing the Society with a $1,000 grant toward Joe's expenses.

As the Canadian Liaison and Secretary to the American Adoption Congress, I attended a Board meeting in Columbus, Ohio. There were some difficult times during this past year for the AAC and I decided to not stand for re-election in March 2007. This ends my "term" of nine years on the AAC Board. I have met many people through the AAC and look forward to seeing some of them again at future conferences. I did submit a nomination for Wendy Rowney to take my place (she was part of the CORE team in Ontario).

We continue to accomplish a great deal throughout the year, in spite of families, work and all the things life throws at you (Marnie, Lisa and I all lost a parent in the past year). Some of our accomplishments include:

• Surrey monthly support group - this group has been meeting for a year now (for adopted adults only). It is still small but does allow for more in-depth discussions of issues and concerns.
• New Westminster support group - we are now in year 16 for this group. It is not unusual for 20 or more people to show up. It's difficult to allow for everyone to speak, but we do our best.
• Vancouver support group - thanks to Lee Crawford for taking on the job of setting up a Vancouver chapter and facilitating the meeting. They meet on the first Wednesday of each month.
• Public Speaking/Awareness - some of us continue to speak to pre-adopting parent education groups and local high schools. Marnie works hard to keep in touch with her media contacts in the hopes of bringing even more awareness to our group and the issues of adoption search & reunion.
• Web Site - needs some more work and someone to help us out in this area. It's great to have it and many people have found us because of the web site.
• Joe Soll Workshop - this was a huge success - thanks to Marnie and Sandra for taking the initiative to pull this together.
• Adoption Circles - the articles, profiles and focus for each edition are excellent. Thanks to Sandra for her commitment to produce a quality newsletter and to Lisa Chan Couling for her typesetting and layout. Remember - we are always looking for contributions.