By Brenda Tucson
The 32nd Annual Convention was held August 21 – 23, 2019 at Harrah’s Ak-Chin Casino Resort in Maricopa, Arizona. This was our first convention at Harrah’s, following their renovations, new resort tower, and addition of the Conference Center, which had only been open a few months.
The “festivities” began on Wednesday morning with the Shotgun/Best Ball Golf Tournament at the Ak-Chin Southern Dunes Golf Club, sponsored by Harmony Title Agency. The scenery was beautiful; the mountain views were spectacular, and the course was tough! Having our tournament in the valley this year – the heat was brutal – but we had 12 brave souls, 3 teams that golfed in the event. The good news was – all 12 golfers won a cash award! 1st Place honors went to Team 1; Rick Chambliss, Sally Chambliss, Steve Biskupiak and Cathe Cole-Sherburn, with a score of 69. 2nd Place went to Team 3: David Dutcher, Rande Johnson, Rosenda Cardenas and Anthony Kilburg, with a score of 72, which as equal to PAR. 3rd Place followed with Team 2; Brenda Tucson, Cindy Solomon, Ron Horwitz and Joe Gutierrez, with a score of 75.. Longest Drive (sponsored by First American-Trust Operations) honors went to Rick Chambliss and Sally Chambliss; Closest to the Pin (sponsored by First American-Trust Operations) went to Steve Biskupiak and Cathe Cole-Sherburn. Thank you to everyone who participated in the Golf Tournament and all of our wonderful golf sponsors! Special thanks to the Golf Tournament Sponsor, Harmony Title Agency, who has supported and sponsored our tournament for several years! A Taco Bar lunch in the Golf Club followed the completed tournament.
Our Welcome Reception was held in the Conference Center. This year, we had a full buffet dinner, which was excellent! Thank you to Fidelity National Title Agency & Lawyers Title for co-hosting the Bar! With the Casino right outside, no other entertainment was needed!
Our Education committee, under the direction of Committee Chair Katie TerBush, provided an outstanding 2 days of education! Our sessions included a quick course on how I-Buyers are buying and selling property in How Open Door is Impacting the Industry; an Arizona Housing Market Update; an update on the 2019 Legislative Session, and a discussion on a “wish list” for future legislative matters affecting the Arizona Trustee Sale statutes; a great discussion on Ethics and updates to Bankruptcy matters, new information from the City of Sierra Vista on Municipal Ordinances, and the always informative and interactive discussion, hosted by Kent & Chris, with this year’s topic “Sale of Thrones” – Dramatic Issues Impacting the Word of Involuntary Transfers of Castles! Many, many thanks to all of our excellent speakers, and most importantly, Katie Terbush and Rick Chambliss, who hosted our speakers and chaired our education sessions. Bringing together 2 full days of education, with quality speakers, is no easy task!
Our Thursday evening event was held at the Ultra-Star Multi- Tainment Center. The Cocktail Hour was hosted by Larry Wilk and his firm, Jaburg & Wilk. Everyone enjoys free cocktails and we appreciate the support of our generous sponsors! We enjoyed Steaks, Chicken or Salmon for dinner – followed by our centerpiece giveaways! This year – the lucky winners won a big jar full of candy! Dinner was followed by 2 hours of bowling, laser tag and arcade play! Over $2,500.00 in gift cards, plus 2 designer purses were won by the lucky folks who stuck around until the end!
This Convention, as with our previous years, would not have been possible without the hard work and commitment by our Committee; Paul Rhodes, Rick Chambliss, Sandi Overbey, Tina Biskupiak, and my awesome Co-Chair, Tracey Drummond, as well as Katie Terbush on Education. We hope to see everyone again next year – join the committee and bring some new ideas for our 2020 Convention!