President's Message
Greetings OCRA Members. This will be my last official message to you all as your acting President. It has been my honor to serve our organization in this capacity for these past 2 years. Bonnie Kubli will undoubtedly be most effective in her new role, and I look forward to taking a back seat as the Past-President and help where needed. You won’t get away from me that easily as I will be your new OCRA Newsletter Editor beginning 2023 for an unknown amount of time (usually until somebody else with a creative soul wants to take it for a spin).
It is still hard for me to believe we are already through the majority of our year. It seems to me that once Halloween passes, we wake up to January 1st again. Thanksgiving and Christmas just seem to meld together into one big blur. Tis true, time waits for no man.
A big thank you to all who attended our ZOOM OCRA Business Meeting on November 2nd. We had 42 members on the call and successfully voted to approve the proposed Bylaw revisions, as well as the 2023 budget. As an incentive, OCRA EC offered a $100.00 winner’s choice gift card in a random drawing. Congratulations to Kelly Denniston! Kelly requested her prize to be in the form of a Costco gift card.
Be sure to renew your OCRA membership before December 15th. One of our newly approved Bylaws was to have membership renewal occur during a specified timeframe. This is more in line with most organizations like NCRA and open enrollment periods. It allows us to be more efficient with tasks associated with membership duties. New members, including active and student memberships, are able to join at any time.
Here's to all of you and happy, healthy Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year!
Shelley Lindsey
2021-2022 OCRA President
President’s Message
Greetings . I hope this message finds everybody happy, healthy, and out doing
fun things. Summer is nearly over and the start of school looms for many. The
OCRA EC has had a busy summer planning and organizing our August workshop in Springfield. A big thank you to all who participated to make it a success.
We had a small group of 28 participants (26 members).
The in-person meeting was well received and who could deny the joy of seeing
each other again? It truly was a program “by registrars for registrars”. No pretty
surgical explorations photos, but great information with a focus on quality and
accuracy for sure. We welcomed new CTR’s and new members, honored Dr.
Williamson with a Lifetime Honorary Member Award, presented Nicole Davis
with the 2022 DMA, and sold over $400.00 in raffle tickets for various baskets,
flowers, gift cards, table pieces and candy-filled coffee mugs. Not to mention the
two free memberships and two free 2023 OCRA workshop gift certificates that
all attendees were eligible to win. The Welcome Committee presented a video of
‘OCRA Through the Years’ that highlighted much of our history, those who retired, and those we have lost. It was a full day.
Congratulations to our new 2023 EC. You will be in good hands with Bonnie
Kubli leading OCRA as your new President, Rebecca Berwager as your new
Treasurer and Marsha Beal serving as your 2023 Secretary. Last but not least,
Laura Wallace is your President-elect and learning the ropes for her 2024 debut
as OCRA President. We were successful in securing committee positions for
2023 as well. A BIG thank you to all who signed up for the coming year.
We continue to provide member spotlights in this issue. Just remember, your
time will come. We will continue to spotlight members until we have made it
around to all. After all members have been represented, we will have a standard
process of providing a spotlight for any new member as they join OCRA.
Please save the date for our ZOOM business meeting currently scheduled for
November 2nd, 2022. We have some necessary By-laws changes to go over, as
well as the financials, so please plan to attend. Your input is important and all
votes count. Invitations are coming soon.
Thank you.
Shelley Lindsey, OCRA President 2022
The President’s Message
In this newsletter >>>
The Presidents Message
Members Spotlight
2022 NCRA Conference After COVID
OSCaR
Announcements
Spring? Much to my dismay and as
I type this message to you, I am looking out
the window at the 6 inches of snow that fell
during the past 48 hours. I was all prepped
and ready for spring. I should have known
not to be too hopeful that winter was near
over in Central Oregon. After 20 years on
the high desert spring seems to arrive
sometime in the first week of June before
transitioning to summer a short time later.
There are two seasons in Bend, winter, and
August. At least that is what I was told back
in 2002 when I relocated to the area.
Your OCRA Executive Committee
(EC) has been hard at work doing the things
the EC does. We recently invited the
membership to a meeting on April 1st. We
did have a few members who took
advantage of the meeting. The purpose of
that meeting was to relay the importance of
a state association and what it would mean
for a dissolution of OCRA. We really do not
want to see that happen, nor do we want to
write a check to NCRA for $30K if it did.
But that is the reality of it. Please don’t let
that happen. It really is not that big of a time
commitment to oversee any elected or
volunteer position. So please be kind to our
Nominating Committee when they reach out
to you over the next couple of months. We
really do need you.
We are also seeking nominations
for the Distinguished Member Award 2022
recipient.
Please use the form on the OCRA
website to submit your nomination as
instructed by July 31st. Any member who
has made outstanding contributions, either
locally or nationally, is eligible for
nomination. This can be somebody who
has made a difference to you or your team
at the organizational level as well. The
DMA Nomination Form is located in the
Resources section, Distinguished Member
Awards, just below the most current
recipient of the DMA.
Friday, August 12th is the date
selected for our one-day workshop in
Eugene/Springfield. It is a free, in-person,
members only event. The workshop is
hosted by CTR’s for CTR’s. Simply
meaning it will cover topics that are in our
day-to-day workflow. CEU’s will be
available. We hope you will be able to join
us. It will be good to see all your faces
again.
The Michele Henson Memorial
Scholarship is also available. Two
members in good standing are selected
each year for this award which covers the
cost of the NCRA CTR exam.
The deadline is August 31st. You
can find more information about the Michele
Henson Memorial Scholarship at the bottom
on the website ‘Home’ page.
We are also seeking nominations for the
Distinguished Member Award 2022
recipient.
Wishing you all the best.
Shelley Lindsey, CTR
OCRA President 2021-2022
Hope you all had a happy 2022 new year!
Here at OCRA we wish you all 12 months of success, 52 weeks of laughter, 365 days of
fun, 8760 hours of joy, 525600 minutes of good luck, and 31536000 seconds of
happiness.
-Newsletter Editor, Shannon Kearbey
The President’s Message
2022! Happy New Year to all. I couldn’t help thinking back to when I was a
teenager and thinking how in the year 2000, I would be 35 years old. I never thought
about my age with any other year than 2000. Now here we are in 2022 and I found
myself thinking about this year marking my 35th year in the cancer registry field. My,
how time flies. 2022 begins my second consecutive term as your president.
As Covid continues to impact the lives of all of us on this great, big planet
earth, OCRA continues to feel its impact manifested by less volunteerism and the lack
of a regional meeting for the third year. The Executive Committee (EC) will be
discussing the possibility of offering an in-person state meeting in late summer at no
cost to members. NCRA’s hybrid meetings (in-person/virtual) will be hard to compete
with if this becomes the norm. If you have any ideas for continuing education, please
let us know, we would certainly love to hear from you.
In this newsletter we continue our member spotlights. You may recall from our
last newsletter spotlighted individuals were invited to sit in on our December EC
Meeting. The purpose was to take the ‘terror’ out of running for a position on the EC.
Two of those five members attended our meeting and provided feedback from their
experience. Be sure to read their entries in the spotlight section of this newsletter.
Some of the EC goals for 2022 include continued efforts to attain interested nominees
and volunteers for 2023. This would give the Education Committee something to work
on, a continued development with a new website platform that would create more
functionality with some of the membership tasks, as well as the month to month
budgetary and by laws requirements. Just remember, WE are OCRA. Please consider
volunteering for an elected office or other committee in 2023. We need you. OCRA
needs you. Those of us who have served will always be here and happy to help you
through any position you would like to test drive. Shelley Lindsey, CTR, OCRA
President 2022
The Presidents Message Sunset Beach, Coos Bay, Oregon
Under normal circumstances this would be my last letter to you as your OCRA President and Bonnie
Kubli would be taking the reins for 2022. We must change and adapt as things change around us. This
year due to the lack of 2022 position candidates; the OCRA Executive Committee (EC) opted to roll over
our current positions into 2022. We also asked that those serving on committees for OCRA roll over their
positions as well. A big thank you to all the volunteers! All the EC and committee members have agreed
to maintain their current rolls for our organization. I will maintain my role as your OCRA President through
2022, Martha Curl will continue her OCRA Treasurer position through 2022, Nicole Davis will remain as
the OCRA Secretary, and Deborah Towell will continue her sentence as your OCRA Past-President for
another term. For a full list of committees and positions please visit the OCRA website at
https://www.ocra-oregon.org/.
It has been a quiet year where OCRA is concerned. The lack of an annual state or regional conference
makes for a lot less work. Some of the things we have been working on include a new website that will
allow us to be more self-sufficient and save us time and money. We have also been discussing ways to
encourage people to be involved and volunteer. It is through volunteering that we succeed.
This newsletter will be piloting a new section which spotlights the OCRA members. The EC will select
four to five candidates for each quarterly newsletter. A short interview their photo will be included. These
spotlighted individuals will be invited to participate in the following EC meeting. The concept behind this
new idea is to invite you to learn who our members are by providing some information regarding their
professional and personal life, along with a face to match their name. The second piece is to let each
member experience an EC meeting, which in hopes will encourage them to volunteer at some point. We
hope to elaborate more as they idea develops; A work in progress. It has been a pleasure being your
2021 OCRA President and I am looking forward to a new year and another term in 2022. Again, thank
you for your continued support during these unpredictable times. OCRA President, Shelley Lindsey
The President’s Message
Greetings, I hope this finds everybody
well and knee-deep in summer fun. I still
cannot believe how quickly time passes.
Spring is already behind us, NCRA has
come and gone, and there is no doubt in
my mind that each of you have had a
calendar already filled with summer
activities.
Many Metriq users had a rocky April and
May with the outage that lasted 7 weeks.
For Providence Oregon that constitutes
about 1750 cases that did not get
completed during that time frame. But just
like the 2018 changes, the 2020 covid
fields and the 2021 changes, we will
persevere as usual. Rest assured, there
will always be a surplus of work to do.
The Executive Committee is still meeting
on even months. It is business as usual
going over financial reports and individual
committee updates. Please continue to
consider volunteering in some capacity.
The Nominating Committee will be gearing
up soon to recruit next term positions. As
a reminder, running for President is a 3-
year commitment with the first year as
President-Elect, the second as acting
President, and the third year as PastPresident. I know it seems like a lot, but it
really is manageable and not the busiest
of positions. Treasurer and Secretary
positions are a 2-year term occurring in
opposite elections years. Personally, I
think the Treasurer and Secretary
positions require most of the work on
the Executive Committee. They both do
require good organizational skills, but
all CTR’s must be organized as it is so
you’ve got the skills already. Please
think about it.
The Executive Committee is still going
over the specifics regarding the
proposed one-day workshop which is
tentatively set for November 4th. More
to come.
OCRA participated in the NCRA State
Basket Raffle with a $250.00 Visa Gift
Card who was won by Mary Jo
Mahoney from Louisville,
Kentucky. The State Basket Raffle was
a big hit again with 29 participating
entities and over $15,000.00 in ticket
sales. Our own Martha Curl won the
Illinois State Basket. Congratulations!
Until next time. Be safe and enjoy all of
life’s treasures. Happy summer.
Shelley Lindsey, CTR, 2021 OCRA
President
Presidential Opening
By Shelley Lindsey
Once again time stops for no one. It seems like just minutes ago I was composing my first message of the year yet here we are into the second quarter and Spring has arrived for many. In my neck of the woods, Sunriver, Oregon, that isn’t always the case. Springtime for us seems to come a little later.
The Executive Committee is meeting for even months this year. You may have noticed the membership options have changed with this years’ renewal. Membership options have been simplified. Spread the word, students are FREE!
President’s Message Fall 2020
Wow, I cannot believe we are in October already. I feel like I have been in limbo most of the year and often times cannot even remember what day of the week it is! 😊 I hope I’m not the only one with this problem. Three quarters of the year is gone and with just a couple months left, I wanted to let you know that the
Executive Committee has still been meeting every other month. We will have some suggested changes to the OCRA By-Laws for your approval and those will be sent out soon for the membership to review. We will be scheduling a virtual general membership meeting so please be on the lookout for that meeting news and invitation. We will need to have the majority of members in attendance for voting on suggested changes to the By-Laws. I hope most of you were able to attend the virtual NCRA and SEER Workshop Conferences. It was hard for me to take it all in and will plan on watching/reviewing some of the presentations later. A lot of information was shared and the SEER Workshop gave me some ideas to discuss focused quality assurance activities with the OSCaR QA team.