We are pleased to announce that incumbents Stacy Roscoe and Jim Ayres will begin new three-year terms on Jan. 1, while newcomer Scott Balanda will join the board and take over the Membership Secretary duties. Veteran board member Ron Cressy is retiring at the end of the year and we sincerely thank him for his service to LCOC and co-chairmanship of two Western National Meets.
This year’s election process was altered compared to prior years, with only two candidates available for three open positions. Therefore, they were automatically elected without a contest and Scott was tapped by Western Region Director Jim Ayers and stepped forward to fill the third open slot. The new board members feature a great mix of skill and experience. We are so happy to have them aboard and welcomed into service for LCOC.
Jim is a lifetime member of the Lincoln Motor Car Foundation and a foundation trustee as of Jan 1, 2020; LCOC and LZOC member; LCOC Western Region Board member and Southern California Activities Director for 11 years. He is currently serving as the Director of the LCOC Western Region. Jim is the owner of four Lincolns–a 1964 Continental convertible, a 1988 Mark VII, a 1998 Mark VIII, and a 2015 MKZ.
He has been an ardent advocate for the Lincoln brand and of our club at both the national and regional levels. He has represented LCOC on numerous event planning committees and councils and was the co-chair of the very successful 2015 LCOC Western National Meet held in San Diego.
Scott Balanda was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio. From a young age, he began to take a liking to his family members and their friends’ cars, especially Lincolns, as several owned ’80s Town Cars, two Mark IIIs and one had a Mark VII LSC.
After high-school graduation, Scott relocated to South Florida and earned his degrees in Geography and Secondary Education from Broward College and Florida Atlantic University. During his freshman year, he purchased his first Lincoln, a ten-year-old ’87 Mark VII LSC with 155K miles and drove it to 287K miles with only regular maintenance. So began his love affair with Lincolns. He graduated with honors and was one of two students inducted into Gamma Theta Upsilon, the Geographical Honor Society.
Scott then began his career in education, teaching Geography, Reading and Writing for the School Board of Broward County. There, he was appointed and served as Social Studies Department Chairperson, was elected and served as union steward and was nominated for teacher of the year his last three full years there. In 2011, Scott relocated to Southern California where he began teaching English as a Second Language and that led to his founding and running his own academy, with over 4,000 international students and professors attending. His successes have allowed him to purchase some amazing Lincolns and he is very honored to be part of LCOC and it’s Western Region.
As a member of LCOC and LCOC Western Region since 2002, I joined the board in 2010, and have served as Board Secretary, Regional News Correspondent for Comments, Director of the Board of Managers, and Website Development Manager. I am currently the Western Region Chief Judge. My wife, Kerry, and I were part of the management team for the club’s very successful 2022 Western National Meet in Palm Springs.
Kerry and I are the proud owners of a 1958 Continental Convertible that took 5 years to restore with the help and encouragement of many wonderful LCOC members.
I have served three terms on the LCOC National Board and managed the development of the new LCOC National website. I currently run the FLASHBACK feature that republishes articles from Comments magazines from years ago two times a month on the National website.
I believe in keeping LCOC a meaningful and fun part of the Lincoln ownership experience, and am especially interested in continuing to build the organizational efficiency necessary to accomplish a lot with our club’s small group of talented and motivated volunteers. I am also looking to build a new generation of Lincoln enthusiasts who will provide long term vibrancy for the Club.
You must be logged in to post a comment.