Good evening and welcome to the 1st annual Jurisdictional Bethel Installation of Officers. Thank you for those who came out to support us. Times they are "a changing" so with this change I'm giving an encouragement speech and then my acceptance speech.

 

  I was once told “change is inevitable, it's like the air we breathe, you can attempt to fight it, but you'll probably die trying.” Now for all of you that welcome change, and try to see the best in it, take a deep breath with me and accept the fun that is yet to come.

 

  We have a new beginning before us; one might say a new ship. This change can only sink our ship if there are more negative opinions and dead weight, then positive help and reinforcement.

 

  I want to tell you about a book that I read a couple of years back that stayed with me; it is called “Who Moved My Cheese” by Spencer Johnson.

 

  This book is about four characters, “Sniff” and “Scurry” that are mice, and “Hem” and “Haw” who are little people. Every morning these characters would get up, put on their running suits and go through the maze to find their cheese.

 

  Eventually they all found the type of cheese they liked at Cheese Station C. Soon after, they started their own routine every morning, get up and go to Cheese Station C where they know there is going to be cheese. One day “Sniff” and “Scurry” arrived at their cheese station to find that there was no cheese left for them to eat. So without delay they started out to find another station that had cheese for them to eat. On the other hand when “Hem” and “Haw” arrived at Cheese Station C later that day, they let their emotions get the better of them and searched and searched and searched around the station for most of the day trying to find their cheese.

 

  To the mice it was simple, the situation at Cheese Station C had changed, so they had to change. Not so easy for the little people, day after day they would go back to Cheese Station C, spend most of their time complaining and then going back to their home.

 

  The mice would go back to Cheese Station C just to see if the situation had changed back, however they moved on quickly in search of new cheese. The next day “Hem” and “Haw” want back to the Cheese Station C where there still was no cheese. That was when it hit them that the cheese supply was getting smaller but they didn't take notice to it. “Haw” realized that their friends weren't there either. Where are “Sniff” and “Scurry,” do you think they know something that we don't? “Hem” replied “what would they know, their just mice.”

 
 

  Eventually the mice found new cheese at Cheese Station N, after they searched and searched they reached their goal of finding new cheese. The little people were still at Cheese Station C analyzing the situation.

 

  “Haw” suggested that they go look for more, it was only when “Hem” reminded him of the embarrassment of failure and the fear of the unknown, that they decided to stay where they were, and hope for the best. The little people tried different things to get their cheese back, knocking down walls in Cheese Station C and just waiting there. Then one day “Haw” got the urge to go out in the maze and find cheese, of course with the disapproval of “Hem”, but he did it anyway.

 

  After searching he found some new cheese and brought it back to “Hem” who didn't want it because it wasn't the old cheese he was used too. He wasn't going to change until he got what he wanted! In the end “Sniff”, “Scurry”, and “Haw” all learned that when the times change, you have to change with them.

 

  Whatever happened to “Hem?” We don't know, he was still stuck in his old beliefs and at Cheese Station C.

 

  What I learned from this is that you can't expect everything to have a safety net when things come crashing down. You need to Re-organize, Re-build, and go out and look for new cheese.

 

  I want you to do me a favor and quietly ask yourself which character are you like?

 

  If you say “Hem” then please change, whether it's fear that is holding you back, or just the fact that you aren't going to change until you get what you wanted.

 

  My goal for this term is to turn the girl’s goals into a reality, just because we are mice doesn't mean we don't know anything. I want to get rid of the “Hems” of this world and not let our ship sink because of dead weight.

 

  Some of you know that my methods are unconventional, so this is where the acceptance comes in. If you as a body trust my judgment and feel that I will represent this state the way it should be, to help Delaware find its new cheese, than I will accept this change and this position.

 

Thank you!

Erika Peronti

Jurisdictional Bethel of Delaware Honored Queen - 2003-2004