Let's Keep the Momentum Going!
We are on our way to another great year for our Chapter. Our Chapter does well because of its members, Officers and the Board. Arlo Janssen continues his hard work on programs for us. The first of its kind “Town Hall Meeting” moderated by Jim Chandler provided the members a chance to give their ideas on how we can become even better. The Ladies continue to provide new ideas and we appreciate their warm welcome at each function. Bob Buerger is making sure that the schools provide candidates for ROTC/JROTC awards. Bud Horne is working membership which is the future of our Chapter. Linda Byrd is overseeing our Scholarship program. Chaplain Alan Heneisen is ministering to our members. Larry Fagan is out there learning more about the details of our organization and possible ways to assist in membership. Phil Johnson is our point man on the ever changing Legislative issues. Tilford Smith is leading the way in providing us with a first class website and newsletter. He received MOAA Awards for his outstanding work at our last meeting. There isn’t enough space to mention and thank each and every one of you that is working hard for our Chapter – Thank you all!
Over the past several years the main concern is our aging membership. We all need to take the lead and find new members in our community. We all must know someone who is eligible, a neighbor, a person in the news, a family member and so on. We need to let them know what MOAA does, asked them to join, sign them up and bring them to our meetings. Getting new members is a job for all of us and there is no “silver bullet” solution. We are not alone in this membership challenge as most organizations are experiencing the same thing.
We need your help in providing veterans for “Veterans In The Classroom,” attendance at meetings, and support of other programs in our community. Our advertisers help us make the “Sunbeams” possible and if we need a service they provide please support them. As we make purchases we should be supporting businesses that are veteran friendly and try our best to buy American.
Thank you again for your confidence and support and please continue to provide your knowledge and opinions to us so that together we can continue the great work of our Chapter.
KOS — The Distaff Side
LtCol Sharon Murry, Chairman, KOS Ladies
The
“Wear What you Love Fashion Show” was great fun. There IS such a thing as a free lunch! Four were awarded as prizes for the best outfits at the Fashion Show. Linda Byrd wore two different party dresses she wears for dance exhibitions. She waltzed in with her partner Dennis and won the prize for the Prettiest outfit. Dan Hayes who claims Donald Duck is his hero wore his Duck shirt with a Tyrolean hat and won the prize for Funniest outfit. Bonnie Morris who wore her favorite muumuu with pearls was judged Most Original. Naida Rasbury resurrected a beautiful white suit from the back of her closet and earned the Judge’s Choice award. There were many outfits that told us what the wearers liked to do. The Pulvers strolled in wearing matching square dance outfits. Tina Fagan wore tennis sweats with a sequin-trimmed backpack complete with tennis racket. Larry Fagan, who raises and preserves over 40 kinds of peppers, wore his straw hat and red suspenders. He also brought a jar of hot, hot preserved peppers and jalapenos that he shared with those of us who were brave enough to try them. Bill Murry wore his khaki shorts and gray Army T-shirt, one of eight outfits he has that are exactly the same. Christine Heagy came in the uniform of the Francis Marion Military Academy cadre where she is teaching young people our military values. There isn’t room to tell about everyone’s great outfits, but we all enjoyed seeing each other.
Sandy Deffler completed our program by singing for us and allowing us to sing along. You missed a good meeting, if you couldn’t come.
Ladies, we need suggestions for the next distaff-produced program. We have done several fashion shows, each more creative than the last. In 2012-2013, let’s do something different that is just as much fun. If you have an idea for an entertaining program, call me at 352-347-8760 or contact me at sharonmurry@comcast.net. We won’t make you chair a program just because you suggested it, but we’ll probably ask you to help. Hugs.
Sharon Murry
The Kingdom of the Sun Chapter, MOAA (KOS) was chartered as a corporation on 13 April 1976 by the State of Florida. In our charter, we agreed to promote the aims of MOAA, as described below, and in addition included a charge to perform services considered by our Board of Directors to be beneficial to the local community. This means we also agreed to be an independent, nonprofit, politically nonpartisan organization. Thus, our status as a tax-exempt veterans organization precludes us from intervening directly or indirectly in any political campaign on behalf of, or in opposition to, any candidate for public office. While we may advocate issues, we may not advocate the election or defeat of particular candidates or political parties.
Our members may not use KOS e-mail, mailing lists, or its gatherings to advocate political or religious positions. In addition, your board has established standards over time so that KOS chaplains follow established military standards, requiring that chapter prayers or newsletter articles avoid promoting a specific religion. We have also established publication standards to ensure a non-biased and legal content in our Sunbeams publication.
In terms of our promise to be beneficial to our local community (which I will define as Marion County), KOS does very well. We can be proud of our scholarship, ROTC, Operation Stuff the Bus, Kiwanis Camp, Veterans Park, and many other efforts. We should certainly continue in this vein. But I think of our chapter as mainly an “officer’s club.” I see us as a social and professional group that also carries out community service projects, not the reverse.
While we may tease each other about the relative merits of our particular branch of service (like during our Army/Navy game event), we must treat all branches of service equally. While we may have earned a specific rank or status during our military careers, KOS Members are equal in status, with equal voices in determining how the chapter should be run.
We have been trained in the military to recognize and respect our differences, and to be gentlemen and ladies, if only by “act of Congress”. We can joke about that phrase, but, if we do it right, KOS can be one of the few safe havens from the strife and seriousness of the “outside world” that we have.
MOAA was founded as
The Retired Officers Association (TROA) in 1929 to provide assistance and advice to military officers in general. At the beginning of WWII, TROA’s leaders reorganized and expanded the organization, moving to Washington, D.C., in 1944 with a membership of 2,600.
On January, 2003, the organization changed its name to the Military Officers Association of America (MOAA). Now headquartered in Alexandria, VA, its membership is open to active duty, National Guard, Reserve, retired, and former commissioned and warrant officers of the following uniformed services: Army (USA), Marine Corps (USMC), Navy (USN), Air Force (USAF), Coast Guard (USCG), Public Health Service (PHS), and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Admininistration (NOAA). The Board of Directors may also offer Honorary Membership to officers of allied, uniformed military services.
MOAA’s purpose has grown to include career transition assistance, member products, military benefits counseling, educational assistance to children of military families, and strong involvement in military professionalism activities. It is currently the nation’s largest and most influential association of military officers. MOAA is the leading voice on compensation and benefit matters for all members of the military community. We should all be proud of the respect gained by MOAA in our nation’s capital as a voice for military personnel in general.
MOAA is an independent, nonprofit, politically nonpartisan organization. With about 370,000 members from every branch of service, it is a powerful force speaking for a strong national defense, and represents the interests of military officers at every stage of their career. While MOAA does advocate a strong national defense, it does not, as an association, become involved in matters pertaining to military strategy or weapons systems of the various services. While permitted by law to lobby, its status as a tax-exempt veterans organization precludes it from participating in political activities.