By: Stephen Anderson
Partner, Gammage & Burnham

On December 9, 2011, Valley Forward will host its Annual Luncheon at the Arizona Biltmore. My law firm, Gammage & Burnham, is serving as a major sponsor of this event for what I’m pretty sure is our eleventy-billionth time – seriously, I’ve lost track of how long we’ve been involved with this event. We enjoy doing it. The Annual Luncheon is always a chance for Valley Forward’s members and guests to step back from the day-to-day, and consider something outside our small world, whether it be David Breshears’ harrowing experience atop Mount Everest or Jaret Diamond’s thoughtful challenge about the stability of our very civilization. The event is always held in December, a time when we can all look both backward and forward.

This year’s speaker, Richard Picciotto, will surely achieve all of our goals for an Annual Luncheon speaker. As you likely know by now, “Pitch” is the highest ranking officer of the New York City Fire Department to make it out of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. I’m not certain what Pitch will have to say to us, but I am sure he will make us pause, make us look back, and make us consider the future that awaits us.

I was the Chair of the Valley Forward Board on September 11, 2001. You may recall that was a Tuesday morning. Ten days later, on September 21, 2011 Valley Forward was supposed to host its Annual Environmental Excellence Awards dinner at the Phoenician Hotel. On that terrible day, September 11, you may recall that none of us was quite sure what would happen next. Would there be more attacks? Would airline service return, and if so what would it look like? When would the markets reopen?

I can remember that Diane and I were holding our collective breath. As part of her job to motivate the rest of us, Diane often gets to pretend to hold her breath a lot, but on that day, she was really holding her breath. Would we be able to proceed? And just as importantly, should we be proceeding in the face of such loss and such sorrow? Diane and I shared a conviction that day and in the untethered days that immediately followed: not only should we proceed, but we had to proceed. We had to celebrate the achievements of those in our Valley committed to a better future, and we had to do so as a community. At that moment, we had to emphasize that our future was hopeful and full of promise.

Ten years have now passed, and we’ve just completed another outstanding Environmental Excellence Awards Program, and there remains much to look forward to. Not just here in the Valley, but now across the State, with this year’s successful launch of Arizona Forward. Arizona Forward is a bold step for our organization, an opportunity to share our experiences with a wider audience and to face a broader set of new challenges. It promises to be exciting.

I look forward to seeing everyone at the Annual Luncheon!