At their recent meeting, Pittsburgh Flying Disc added three new members to their all-volunteer Board of Directors. These Directors serve the PFD in many ways behind the scenes, from running and maintaining weekly leagues to working with local townships and municipalities to ensure that all PFD-sponsored courses are well-maintained and clear for public use. As of late, the PFD has been working with an incomplete board, but after their most recent board meeting, three vacancies were filled by Eden Gonano, Gerald Haynes, and Dale J Miller.
Eden Gonano (top right, red shirt - PDGA 66197) may be a familiar name to regulars around PFD events and people that have worked on events in the past. From 2016-2018, Eden served PFD as the club historian and then as the Communications Director from 2019-2021, while being the webmaster (website manager, socials manager, etc.) through his tenure. Eden has also been the Tournament Director (TD) of the Sunday Devotional League since 2017 and also served as the TD of the NADGT Event in 2021.
In Eden's new role as Vice Chairperson, he will continue to help with communications side of the organization, helping in the transition with the new Communication Director. Going forward, Eden will be one of the main points of contact for the organization. He will also work with the local disc golf community on issues, problem solving, and being a liaison for TDs to help facilitate events. Additionally, Eden will manage the Players Party and player tags, as well as help mentor potential new TDs and board members.
"I want to continue to help the community grow as well as fortify the foundation of disc golf in Pittsburgh by helping community members feel confident in participation and volunteering," said Eden. "I hope to solidify a larger pool of participants that will help the club get stronger by encouraging people to be involved and helping them be involved."
The board also added a new Grassroots Director position, which was filled by Gerald Haynes (top left, green shirt - PDGA 123161). Gerald is a familiar face in the Pittsburgh Flying Disc scene and is excited to grow the sport and get the local disc golf community together. Gerald was introduced to disc golf in high school and got his PDGA number in 2019. He brings his leadership, organization, and communications skills to the grassroots director role. In this position, Gerald hopes to help build the disc golf community in Pittsburgh by hosting local events that bring people together to enjoy the great game of disc golf. "I want to bring together everyone in the area that enjoys disc!" said Gerald. "I am looking forward to hosting games and community-building events this disc golf season for all of us to have fun and connect."
Another new face on the Board of Directors is the new Communications Director Dale J Miller (bottom, yellow shirt - PDGA 164903). Dale discovered disc golf around high school when one of his friends encouraged him to attend the Pittsburgh Flying Disc Scholastic Competition, a high school-vs-high school competition the PFD used to run. One INNOVA starter pack, and many PFD stamped participation discs later, and he was hooked.
Dale brings a wide variety of skills to the board of PFD, including web design, social media management, graphic design, event planning, communication, and more. Recently, Dale worked with Eden, who will ensure a successful transition of the Communications Director role, to retool and redesign the PFD Website.
"I'm exciting about taking on this challenge and doing my part to give back to the sport that means to much to me," said Dale. "It was really a 'right place, right time' scenario for me, because I thought I would be a good fit for the role at the exact time that Eden was moving to the Vice Chairperson role - sometimes life works out like that!"
Please give Eden, Gerald, and Dale your full support as they start their new roles with the PFD!