Purrz from Our Prez

JAPE is entering it's 20th month of life. During that time all of us have gone through trials and tribulations in our personal lives, yet, we have had one constant - this group. JAPE has also gone through a lot of changes - many for the good though perhaps it may not have seemed so at the time. We have seen our little group from its initial 20 people to 150 or so who are now involved on some level or another.

We have survived the resignation of two presidents and an almost complete reorganization of the elected board. We have grown from an archaic mailing list to a more reliable and freer mailing system on the Onelist. We have gone from almost no two way communication to a plenitude of communication. We have gone from just one get together per month (the munch) to monthly mixers and subs only meetings. Because of the old website and the new one, word of JAPE has spread to various other places on the web. People find out about us in a variety of ways and most of what they hear is good. I want with all my heart for that to continue. I want JAPE to continue to grow and prosper.

Because of JAPE, people have found each other and formed fast friendships as well as more permanent and committed relationships. I have seen individuals go from wandering around lonely and searching to being befriended and accepted for who and what they are.

JAPE was founded for the simple purpose of creating a central place for people from all walks of life and all variations of the BDSM lifestyle to come together. It has been a great pleasure to see this happen and to watch it continue to happen. It has also been a great pleasure to get to know those of you that I have been fortunate enough to do so with. I personally feel that JAPE is full of wonderful people....but there is always room for more.

As you know, recently, I have been given the honorable (and sometimes extremely difficult) position of president for the group. It is not an easy position to fill. Part of the heavy responsibility is to get all of you to see that YOU are the group, not just one person or even a couple of people, and that without your active participation, it cannot succeed. Each of us must reach out to find and help others who are still looking for the acceptance we have found. I do not mean to drag them to JAPE, just let them know there are others like them. Talk to them and help them where you can.