President's Message

By Scott White 2023 PRESIDENT, ORANGE COUNTY REALTORS®

My sincere thanks to you for a wonderful year and to our veterans for all they have done to secure the many freedoms we enjoy.

This issue of OC REALTOR® is appropriately titled, "Wrap Up the Year on a High Note." As the title implies, we are concluding 2023 with this issue, which also means that this President’s Message is my last.

When I stepped up to this honor, I had no idea how important the Association Management Team, REALTOR® Members, and Affiliates would become to me. All of you have become my family, and I have an affinity for each one of you that I never knew I could have. This year has been a blessing to me. I think every President of Orange County REALTORS® has said the same thing: Just when you feel like you are getting the hang of this (volunteer) job, you must give it to the next person. I do not want it to end.

But all good things must come to an end, eventually. Short of a one-man coup in the coming weeks, your next President’s Message will be written by our 2024 President, Jeffrey Jackson. I wish Jeff all the excitement and satisfaction from his year that I have had during mine. And I invite each of you to congratulate Jeff when you see him.

Jeff will be installed as President on November 30, at the Balboa Bay Resort, immediately before our Association’s 75th Anniversary Gala. All Association members are invited to join the Board of Directors and the rest of the leadership team for a festive night of fun on the bay, in Newport.

I am so proud of what Orange County REALTORS® has accomplished in the past seventy-five years. We are now the largest REALTOR® Association in the state and the sixteenth largest Association in the nation. That accomplishment is well worth celebrating. A link to the registration form (on the Orange County REALTORS® website) can be found in the Gala advertisement in this issue of OC REALTOR®.

Finally, I’d like to wrap up my last President’s Message with something that is very important to all of us. November 11 is Veterans Day. As a nation, we owe all that we have to the men and women who have donned the uniform and served the United States of America with honor and distinction. We enjoy more freedoms than any other nation in the world. Defending those freedoms takes dedication from the finest fighting force in the world.

Our Association has many veteran members working and serving in South Orange County. Probably because of our proximity to several military bases and so many defense contractors, our number of veterans is well above average. In September, when I had the honor of participating in a charity golf tournament sponsored by the Veterans Association of Real Estate Professionals (VAREP), I felt as if I was surrounded by greatness.

During November, make a special effort to thank a veteran. We owe them so much.

In closing, I thank each one of you. It has been an honor and a pleasure to serve as your President for 2023. Here’s to our 75th Anniversary and to the Association’s future. From where I stand, it looks strong.

“Just when you feel like you are getting the hang of this (volunteer) job, you must give it to the next person. I do not want it to end.”