Recording – 08-03-2024 09:26:45

00:02 This is Mark Swiontkowski coming to you from Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, here at the annual meeting of the 20th Century Orthopedic association where we continue our project to try to document the oral history of this organization. And I thought it would be a good idea to interview the past secretary chairman of this organization because it is a pretty labor intensive job and only the most dedicated members are willing to take it on. And it's my pleasure to be speaking with my friend Doctor Frank Kelly, who succeeded doctor Neil Green, who succeeded doctor Steven Gunther. Correct. And I am so pleased to be speaking to Frank because I so admired his leadership during those five years. Not only did we have some scientific discussion, but we had a lot of fun and got to know each other a whole lot better. So Frank, what do you remember about those five years? Let's hear it.

01:07 First of all, Mark, thank you for the kind introduction and gracious words. What you said is correct. It does take a fair amount of dedication and effort to run this organization. The term as chair secretary is for five years. The thing that impressed me, several things impressed me the most, perhaps the most, was the kindness of our members being willing to volunteer and help out. It takes a lot of effort to put on an annual meeting, you know, because you served as host one time back in Minnesota. It takes a lot of effort, teamwork, approach. And I was just so gratified by the help I received from our members during my five years term as chair. Putting on an annual meeting, it takes a lot of, first of all, you need to find the proper site, the proper venue, make all the arrangements, arrange a band, make sure we have a hospitality room that will serve adult beverages, and then arrange the program with the program committee. So it takes a lot of work. I just remember particularly the help I received from our members and especially from my wife, Lawson.

02:24 Lawson is so great. She's a wonderful ambassador for the whole organization and makes everybody feel so welcome.

02:32 Thank you.

02:32 Yes. So are there any of the five meetings over which you presided that are particularly stand? I know one of them. If I may recall. Right, you actually were the host for one.

02:45 You're exactly right. Double duty my first year. I had already volunteered to host a meeting at Hilton head in 2010 and then got elected to be chair of the organization. So I got to not only host the meeting, but run the meeting at the same time. That was very memorable, but it turned out to be a great meeting with great weather, so it worked out. Our other meetings during my term, we had a great meeting, great meetings. Teton Springs, Idaho, Mount Washington, New Hampshire, Crystal Mountain, Michigan. And then the last meeting was at watercolor resort down in San Destin. And it was always fun doing our site visits, going to various places, trying to see what would work and what would not work. So we had some wonderful venues, and we had wonderful hosts for our meetings. So I still remain very grateful for that all these years later.

03:42 Particular barely averted disasters that you can recall during that five years.

03:49 I can remember the meeting in 2011, Teton Springs, hosted by Hal and Kay Dunn. Wonderful meeting, perfect venue. We were having our big night, our skid night. And we had a tent set up outside on the lawn. And about halfway through the festivities, lightning and thunder started coming down. And I all of a sudden realized it was my responsibility with 150 people in that tent to call, make the decision to evacuate, which most of us did. We had a small room. We got in just to get out of the weather. But that was a frightening episode for me. A Midwest thunder, a western thunderstorm. Fortunately, it worked out okay, and nobody was injured. So that is a very memorable occurrence.

04:43 Yeah, well, imagine it. Being a keen golfer that you are. That you thought about having somebody stand outside the tent with a one iron straight up in the air. Because, as Lee Trevino said, even God can't hit a one iron.

04:55 That's right. I didn't think of that at the time. But that certainly would have a foolproof method.

05:00 Yeah, yeah. The hospitality room is really a huge part of this meeting. And it takes a lot of people to organize that. Just give the listening audience a little, little more detail about how that works.

05:16 I will. And I think what you said is exactly right to me. I think it's one of the. Almost one of the most important parts of this meeting. Because you really have the opportunity to sit down in a quieter area where you can have a conversation and really get to know people better. It works by having someone dedicated to making sure we have the proper beverages and some food to go along with that. And we always like to have a nice location like we have at this meeting. That's comfortable, close to our meeting area, and conducive to our conversation. And a chance to really get to know folks. So I think it's an important part of this organization. And it's really neat going back and looking at the pictures of meetings over the years. All of the fellowship and fun. That's obvious in these pictures taking place in the hospitality room. And that's where I've gotten to really know a lot of our members better. Just from having the conference. Just like you and I did last night in the hospitality room. It's just a great venue to foster friendships and meet new friends.

06:22 Right? And I'm pleased to note that the dear late colleague Blair Filler's ability to levitate members still continues today. Not with the same level of skill, but members are still being levitated.

06:39 Well, it's become an important part of this organization. And as you mentioned, Blair Fuller, who was the chair back, as you mentioned earlier, several years ago, really got into the levitation part. It is hard to explain without a diagram, but that was always a lot of fun and that was a rite of passage for new members to be levitated in the hospitality room after a few adult beverages.

07:09 And it's amazing how that miraculous force of nature continues to work even to this day.

07:15 We have had some difficulty with some of our members doing the proper levitation, but it always seems to work after a period of time.

07:23 Yeah, I remember a near tragedy with Doctor Ramon Jimenez. Thankfully, he's safe and well.

07:30 He survived the levitation well.

07:33 Any last parting memories about your?

07:36 Just a couple of things I'd like to mention. During my five years as chair, Duran Lackman took over running a computer and helping me so much with all of the newsletters, preparation for the annual meeting. She had computer skills unlike most of us, and she was a real blessing for me at that time. And then she continued to be a blessing for the other chairs. And also during my term, we were able to for the first time obtain CME credit for our meetings, which was a suggestion made by Dean McEwing back in 2012, and we're still doing that to this day some twelve or 13 years later. So I think those were interesting things that happened during my term and I think that's about it.

08:31 Well, Frank, it's great chatting with you and getting this as a part of our history. And really my deep gratitude for your service on behalf of all the members because we do understand how much work it is. So.

08:45 Well, thank you, Frank. It's been a pleasure and it's been a great opportunity as chair to get to know the members so much better and particularly to get the newer members as they become active in the organization. And I greatly appreciate your time and I appreciate my friendships with you and Beth. Thank you, Mark.

09:04 Thank you. Frank Kelly