SUPPORT YOUR GREATER CLEVELAND MOAA CHAPTER

Transcription

1 GREATER CLEVELAND CHAPTER THE MILITARY OFFICERS ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA ARMY NAVY AIR FORCE MARINES COAST GUARD NOAA -- PHS February 2015 NEWSLETTER Chagrin Boulevard Shaker Heights, Ohio FIRST CLASS DATED MATERIAL Next Meeting: Thursday, February 19 th ANNUAL DUES REMINDER GREATER CLEVELAND CHAPTER MOAA - BENEFITS AND PROGRAMS Supports our National Organization with Active Members. Provides an opportunity for Active, Reserve, National Guard, and Retired Personnel, and Spouses and Widows\Widowers to socialize and make common cause. Provides each year a $1,000 college scholarship to a deserving Junior ROTC senior. Provides an opportunity to hear speakers on topics of national and military interest. Provides a monthly newsletter with Chapter news and news of military interest to Chapter including those unable to attend meetings. Offers an opportunity for members to create programs to benefit local military personnel and their families and relatives. Offers an opportunity for members to exercise their leadership in support of active and retired military personnel and their families to meet their needs in competition with opponents of such programs. SUPPORT YOUR GREATER CLEVELAND MOAA CHAPTER

2 Greater Cleveland Chapter M.O.A.A. North Coast Military News February 2015 FROM THE PRESIDENT The 2015 Chapter year is underway. The year presents MOAA and the Greater Cleveland Chapter with many opportunities and challenges. From the National perspective, there is, on the one hand, the current military leadership, supported by the civilian administration, calls for restraints in personnel issues (pay, housing, health care, exchange, and commissary) to support training and weapons development. On the other hand, there is a new Congress with a majority party that generally supports the military but whose stance is smaller government and no revenue enhancements. These coupled with service rivalries for dollars and programs and congressional pork barrel legislation retaining programs and bases which military leadership says are not needed. The commission reviewing military personnel compensation is now releasing its report and it is proposing changes including 401(K) programs for future military personnel and streamlining the health care system. From the Chapter perspective there are opportunities. We have one of the smallest memberships of all Ohio chapters. There are many opportunities to increase membership, national members who are not in the chapter, active and reserve military in our area, and new cadets. Another opportunity is increased participation in Chapter activities. Chapter activities include speakers at meetings, social events and presentations at JROTC and SROTC awards ceremonies. We encourage more members to become involved in the JROTC presentations. Identifying speakers who provide varying perspectives on military issues is important---what are your hot button topics and speakers? There are opportunities for new or expanded directions. Recently the Chapter supported, on a limited basis, Cell Phones for Soldiers, Toys for Tots, and in 2014 was involved in getting Indians support for a future Cleveland Fisher House. Could we do more to serve the community and, in particular, active, retired, and former military and their families? We can support other military organizations by attending their events such as the Joint Veterans Commission of Cuyahoga County, Veteran of the Year luncheon on February 15. This year s the honoree is more than one individual, it is intended to honor all military chaplains. Legislative liaison is a hot button with MOAA national and they encourage chapters engage Congressional delegates serving the chapters area. We should note Senator Brown is a senior member of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee and Rep. Joyce (Lake and western Geauga Counties) has been appointed to the House sub-committee on Military Construction and Veterans Affairs. What are your interests? Where can you participate? Call or talk to your chapter officers. Cary Weatherhead President

3 FEBRUARY 19 TH, NORTHEAST OHIO SEWER DISTRICT GUEST SPEAKER Did you ever wonder what you are paying for with your quarterly water bill? At our next meeting we will host Mr. Daniel Hancock from the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District (NEORSD). Mr. Hancock will be speaking on the topic of the Renewable Energy Facility located at the Southerly Wastewater Treatment Center located in Cuyahoga Heights. Join us at the Independence Holiday Inn at 6:30PM, Thursday, February 19 th. MARCH, MOAA LUNCH AT THE HAUFBRAU HOUSE The Greater Cleveland MOAA Chapter will be gathering in downtown Cleveland the third weekend in March. Enjoy a hearty meal at the famous Haufbrau house followed by a play of your choice at one of three fine Playhouse Square venues. We will make a final determination of date and time during our February meeting, however, the following performances will be available: The Pianist of Willesden Lane - Cleveland Play House At age 14, pianist Lisa Jura was separated from everything and everyone she knew and loved. In The Pianist of Willesden Lane, Jura's daughter, Mona Golabek, brings her mother's true tale of survival and triumph to the stage. Featuring live performances of classics by Chopin, Beethoven, and Debussy, Pianist is a deeply moving story infused with hope and the life-affirming power of music. Dirty Dancing DIRTY DANCING - The Classic Story On Stage is an unprecedented live experi-ence, exploding with heartpounding music, passionate romance and sen-sationally sexy dancing. Seen by millions across the globe, this worldwide smash-hit tells the classic story of Baby and Johnny, two fiercely independent young spirits from different worlds, who come together in what will be the most challenging and triumphant summer of their lives. Featuring hit songs, including "Hungry Eyes," "Hey Baby," "Do You Love Me?" and the heart stopping "(I've Had) The Time Of My Life Dial M for Murder, An Unforgettable Classic Thriller, By Frederick Knott When murder calls hang up! Deception, betrayal, passion and greed prove potent ingredients for a perfect mystery in this intense and darkly gripping thriller, famously filmed by Alfred Hitchcock. Ex-tennis professional Tony Wendice married his wife Margot for her money. Now he plans to kill her for the same reason, convinced that she is having an affair. When his precise murder plot goes awry, can he improvise an equally deadly plan B? The exciting ending of this erotic and psychologically suspenseful story, which has thrilled audiences for decades, will leave you breathless at the edge of your seat.

4 2015 CHAPTER LEADERSHIP Officers: President Col. Cary Weatherhead st Vice-President: Capt. William Keller nd Vice-President: Col. Bart Stovicek Treasurer: Recording Secretary: Ethelann Duncan Corresponding Sec: Capt. George Williams Directors: Capt. Charlie Albert Lt. Frank Bartkowicz Maj. Tom Jenks, Past President Maj. Richard Reusch Comdr. Lester Stone Committees: Legislative Programs Membership ROTC Liaison Appointments: Chaplain TOPS Representative State Council: Delegate Delegate Maj. Thomas Jenks Capt. William Keller Maj. Thomas Jenks Capt. Charles Albert LCDR. Richard Asbury Maj. Tom Jenks Col. Cary Weatherhead Newsletter Editor/Publisher: Col. Bart Stovicek Bart.Stovicek@att.net Chagrin Blvd UPCOMING CHAPTER MEETINGS Please note our varied schedule. We try to introduce variety into our meetings. Meetings are open to a spouse/friend and we encourage their participation. Always check dates, times and locations. Details of meetings will be published as soon as they are established. Feb. Mar. Thursday, February 19 th ; 6:30 PM Holiday Inn Independence Rockside Rd. & I-77 March; Date &Time TBD Haufbrau House Playhouse Square Lunch and a Play 2015 Annual Dues Annual dues for the 2015 calendar year are payable immediately. A 2015 form is included in this newsletter. Please provide all requested information. Care Concerns and Vital Statistics If you know of a member where a caring word or other help is in order, please call and let Chapter leadership know of the situation. Also the dues form asks for some vital statistics. We like to recognize individual birthdays (month only). Mary Bartkowicz, Mildred Albert, Charlie Albert CARE CONCERNS JANUARY AND FEBRUARY BIRTHDAYS A HAPPY BIRTHDAY to: Frank Bartkowicz, Adrian Rule, Ron Schwachenwald, John Jenkins, Louis Aliberti, Audrey Weatherhead, Paul Hederstrom, Donald Stallard, Richard Asbury, Thomas Lippert, John Hawkins ANNUAL DUES REMINDER THIS IS TO NOTIFY ALL MEMBERS THAT MEMBERSHIPS FOR THE 2015 CALENDAR YEAR ARE NOW PAYABLE BY JANUARY 1, MEMBERSHIP FEES HAVE NOT INCREASED THIS YEAR. THEY REMAIN AT $20 FOR REGULAR MEMBERS AND $5 FOR AUXILIARY MEMBERS. JUNIOR OFFICERS 0-1 TO 0-2, WO 1-TO WO 2 WHO ARE CURRENTLY SERVING ARE NOT CHARGED IN LINE WITH NATIONAL MOAA PRACTICE. MEMBERSHIPS NOT RENEWED BY MARCH 1, 2015 ARE CONSIDERED LAPSED.

5 NEW MEMBERS A warm welcome to LCDR Frank Nelson OHIO DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS SERVICES The Ohio Department of Veterans Services has a monthly newsletter found at the following web site; There is also a mobile app which is available for Apple (iphone), Android, and Windows devices which provides a wealth of resource and contact information including jobs, small business development, veterans benefits, veterans organizations to name a few. ACTIVITIES FOR 2015 Date Location Event/Activity Jan 15 Holiday Inn Installation of Officers, MG Hahn officiating Note: Feb 15 Joint Veterans Council of Cuyahoga County Annual Veteran of the year Luncheon; Embassy Suites, Independence Feb.19 Holiday Inn NE Ohio Water & Sewer Speaker and Dinner Mar TBD Haufbrau House/ Lunch and Play Playhouse Square Apr TBA Severance Hall Women s Orchestra May 15 Cleveland Brewery Tour, Samples and Dinner Jun TBA Progressive Field Baseball Game July N/A Aug 15 (Sat) Euclid Annual Picnic Sep 18 Holiday Inn NEO Media Speaker and Dinner Note: Sep Ohio MOAA State Convention in Dayton Oct 15 Holiday Inn Cuyahoga County Veterans Services Speaker and Dinner Note: Nov 11 City Hall Veterans Day Parade and ceremony Nov. 19 Holiday Inn DFAS Speaker and Dinner, Election of Officers Dec 13 Alfonso s Holiday Party

6 GREATER CLEVELAND CHAPTER January 15, 2015 ANNUAL MEETING MINUTES HOLIDAY INN INDEPENDENCE Maj. Tom Jenks, Chapter President, opened the meeting at 8:10PM and led us in the Pledge of Allegiance. Our next speaker is a representative from the NE Ohio water and sewer district. Our guest speaker tonight is Major General Dan Hahn. He retired from the Army in October 2009 with 36 years of service. He graduated from West Point and has also been awarded the Distinguished Sevice Medal and 3 Bronze Star Medals. His presentation was called Challenges to Maintain a Strong, Effective Defense in a changing world. The question is the Nation State System Declining/or beginning to fail? A definition of a Nation State is a political entity (sovereign state} that governs a cultural entity (nation) by successfully serving all its citizens. A close example would be Japan. Theocracy {Dark Ages} refers to the rule of God. The concept of an official state religion is similar to a Nation-State which enforces moral norms and traditions of the people. The problem is that it does not adapt to new ideas, science and other circumstances. This was called the Dark Ages because heretics were burned at the stake, books were burned and entire towns were destroyed to keep religion pure. The Age of Enlightenment/Age of Reason was an intellectual movement from 1600 to 1800 which took them out of a long period of irrationality, superstition and tyranny. Examples were the United States fight for freedom and the French Revolution. Our current landscape is changing with terrorist like Boko Haram who forbid Western Education and ISIS who claims it will destroy the United States. These movements are based on ideas/beliefs. Imperatives for the US is rule of law, integrate new groups and ideas {Cultural Shift}and a strong defense capability. Thank you Major General Hahn for a very informative and enlightening speech. Maj. Tom Jenks read off the following list of names who were installed by Major General Dan Hahn as the Officers and Directors for Officers: President: Col. Cary Weatherhead 1 st Vice-President Capt. William Keller 2 nd Vice-President Col. Bart Stovicek Treasurer Secretary Ethelann Duncan Directors: Maj. Richard Reusch Maj. Tom Jenks, Past President Capt. Charles Albert Comdr. Lester Stone 2Lt. Frank Bartkowicz

7 JANUARY 15, 2015 ANNUAL MEETING MINUTES, con t. President Cary Weatherhead talked about the following issues: A reminder that the 2015 chapter dues need to be paid. We need to recruit younger members to carry on the goals of this organization and it is very important that the retention of new and current members be maintained. We already have some planned events for We also realize that we need to bring in good speakers who will talk about the hot button issues people will be interested in hearing. Thank you all for coming. The meeting was adjourned at 9:16PM. Respectfully submitted, Ethelann Duncan, Secretary GREATER CLEVELAND CHAPTER January 16, 2015 BOARD MEETING MINUTES HOLIDAY INN INDEPENDENCE Members Present: Col. Cary Weatherhead, Capt. William Keller, Maj. Tom Jenks, Col. Bart Stovicek, Maj. Richard Reusch and Ethelann Duncan. Pres. Cary Weatherhead opened the meeting at 6:33PM. Ohio Council Report Ohio Council Challenge Coins--we really didn't formally make a decision on ordering additional coins. However, my sense was that we are not really interested in any more than the we would get from the base order. Unless someone strongly disagrees, I will let the council know by the Feb 15 deadline. Legislative liaison--national and the Ohio council have sent chapters a list of US reps in our chapter area. I am not on each reps mailing list but do get Sen. Brown's and Rep Joyce's weekly messages. Note Brown is a senior member of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, Joyce (replaced Steve LaTourette) was appointed to the House Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Committee. Potential speakers Maj. Tom Jenks has scheduled a speaker from the Water and Sewer District for the February 19 th meeting at the Holiday Inn.

8 JANUARY 15, 2015 ANNUAL MEETING MINUTES, con t. The following is a list of tentative dates for the following programs: March 19 th meet at the Hofbrauhaus and then attend one of the following plays: The Pianist of Willesden Lane at the Cleveland Playhouse Dirty Dancing at the Connor Place Dial M. for Murder at the Hanna Theater April we will attend a performance at Severance Hall for the Cleveland Women's Orchestra. Following the performance we will meet for dinner in Little Italy. To receive special pricing for Indians's tickets a decision needs to be made by the end of February. June is when we plan on going to an Indian's game. July is possibly a Brewery Tour and at that time we will also invite the Coast Guard. August a picnic is planned for an afternoon event on either the 8 th, 15 th or the 22 nd. It was suggested that we might want to set up our own chapter web-page. Capt. George Williams contacted a Chief Warrant Officer who manages the Coast Guard's web-page and he is willing to join our chapter and set up a web-page for us and also maintain it. There was a discussion stating that the National web-page would need to be linked to ours. The information cannot be repetitious, it needs to have hot-bottom issues that would draw people to the web-page. Also if the person that has volunteered to take on this task gets transferred or leaves who will take over. The other issue is the cost of maintaining this program. Col. Bart Stovicek will check on whether this will be something our chapter wishes to pursue. There was also a discussion about Honorary Membership for Mayor Frank Jackson and Marty Flask. The next Board Meeting will be March 5 th. Meeting adjourned at 8:30PM. Respectfully submitted, Ethelann Duncan, Secretary A WORD FROM THE EDITOR Since this is my inaugural issue of the MOAA newsletter, I will take this opportunity to encourage you all to feel free to submit articles or news that you feel will be of interest to members of the MOAA. In conjunction with the newsletter I will be working on establishing an online presence that we all can use to stay abreast of MOAA activities and issues. I encourage you to reach out to me. My is bart.stovicek@att.net, and my phone number is I look forward to hearing from you. Bart Stovicek

9 GREATER CLEVELAND CHAPTER, MILITARY OFFICERS ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA DUES/APPLICATION FOR MEMBERSHIP/CHANGE OF ADDRESS 2015 Dues: Member -$20.00**; Auxiliary-$5.00 Dues use are payable in December for the next calendar year. Date Name: $. ** Last First Middle Aux. $. Last First Middle Will you help our Scholarship Fund with a Tax Deductible Donation? $. Will you help our Chapter with additional support? $. Address: City State Zip (+) Phone: Birth Date / / Rank Service Status: Active Retired Former Officer Widow(er) MOAA National Member? Y/N Nat. Member Number Spouse Name Biographic Summary (Military & Civilian) ** Jr. Officers (O 1-3, WO 1-3) and age 35 or younger may choose a no fee membership, personal address required. PLEASE MAIL TO:, Ryan Drive, Walton Hills, Ohio /50 Raffle Purpose and rules: The 50/50 Raffle raises funds to support the local ROTC/JROTC units with certificates, medals, financial assistance, etc. and/or the Scholarship fund. There one senior (serving five colleges) and thirteen junior (high school) units. The raffle winner receives 50% of the amount collected and 50% goes to the ROTC fund. Drawings are conducted each meeting from tickets/receipts collected prior to or at the meeting. If there are only one or two donors at any particular meeting, tickets will be held and included in the next meeting s drawing. Send tickets and your check to:, Ryan Drive, Walton Hills, Ohio Drawing Winner: There was no drawing in January The next drawing is planned for: February 19. Tickets are printed below. Tickets are $1.00 each or six for $5.00 PLEASE NOTE THE RAFFLE IS A SIGNIFICANT COMPONENT OF OUR JROTC/ROTC SUPPORT FUND