August 08 / September 08 NEWSLETTER
GEMS
August 08 / September 08 NEWSLETTER
Gem state branch 382 - fra
Branch Elected Officers
President: Jim Doering 331-1265 Bd. of Directors: Glen Dittman 466-7002
Vice President: Hazel Bettencourt 463-4682 Bob Keith 336-3342
Secretary-Treasurer: Keith Cottrell 283-2342 Ken Nungesser 467-5686
Financial Secretary: Larry Schmitt 463-1452 Jack Rhoads 342-8422
Secretary E-Mail kwcottrell@clearwire.net Jim Shadwick 468-0036
James Taylor 921-3038
CALENDAR
August 2008
9 Saturday 0930 Branch and Unit BOD meetings
9 Saturday 1000 Branch and Unit meetings, pot luck luncheon follows.
20 Wednesday 1400 Bingo at the VAMC Community Living Center
September 2008
1 Monday Labor Day – Fly your flag
4-6 Thurs-Sat Northwest Regional Convention at Sequim, Washington
13 Saturday 0930 Branch and Unit BOD meetings
13 Saturday 1000 Branch and Unit meetings, Pot luck luncheon follows.
17 Wednesday 1400 Bingo at the VAMC Community Living Center
22-28 Mon-Sun National Convention at Branson, Missouri
NORTHWEST REGIONAL CONVENTION
The Regional convention will be held 4-6 September 2008 at the Quality Inn and Suites in Sequim, Washington (near Port Angeles on the Olympic Peninsula). Room rates are $89.41, tax included, per night, for a double queen or king. Reservation deadline is 15 August. The main business meeting will be held on Saturday, 6 September. There will be a Saturday Lunch Buffet for $13.00 and the Installation dinner for $27.50. Call the Secretary for further information or to have the flier sent to you.
NATIONAL CONVENTION
The National convention will be held 22-28 September 2008 at the Radisson Hotel in Branson, Missouri. Room rates are $79, plus tax, per night. Full information is available on the FRA website. After logging in (see below), click on “MY FRA” and then on “FRA CONVENTION”. If you don’t have access to the Internet, call the Secretary to have information sent to you.
CONVENTION DELEGATES SELECTION
Delegates to both the Regional and National Conventions will be elected at the August meeting. If you are planning on attending either convention, either attend the August meeting or notify the Secretary of your availability to act as a delegate for the Branch.
MEMBERSHIP CAMPAIGN
The Membership Chairman, James Taylor, needs some members to help contact former Branch members, Members-At-Large, and prospective members. If you can make a few calls a day, contact James at 921-3038.
VETERANS ORAL HISTORY PROJECT
The Warhawk Air Museum in Nampa is participating in the Veterans Oral History Project, which is sponsored by the Library Of Congress. In this project, veterans are video-taped telling their stories of their service to the country. Volunteers are also needed to interview veterans, operate the video recorders and edit the videos. For more information, sign up to tell your story, or volunteer to help, call Sue Paul at 208-465-6446 or email her at suepaul@warhawkairmuseum.org. Information about the project and the museum is available on their website, www.warhawkairmuseum.org.
BRANCH PICNIC REPORT
After the short meeting and Essay Contest awards presentation on 12 July, the Branch held it’s annual picnic, the first to be held on our new grounds. The Branch supplied the burgers and hot dogs, which were cooked by President Jim. The Unit ladies made their usual tasty dishes to complement the burgers and dogs. There was adequate shade and those who wanted to, ate in the meeting hall. The award winners who were present and their families all enjoyed the picnic. Bravo Zulu to Kathy Taylor for digging out a couple of games for the kids to play. That was appreciated by them and their parents.
COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN NEED
The Branch is in need of one or more members to take on the duties of the Americanism-Patriotism committee. This is the most active committee in the Branch. The A-P committee conducts the annual Essay Contest and coordinates the Branch’s participation in the Memorial Day services, the Fourth of July parade and the Veterans Day parade. One person can take the chairmanship or two or more can operate as co-chairmen. If interested, talk to the President or the Secretary.
The dues payments of the following shipmates are due during the next two months and had not been received by National as of 22 July. If your check is in the mail, disregard this list. Dues notices are normally sent out the first week of the month before your dues expire. For example, if your dues expire on 31 August, you would receive your notice in early July. If you don’t get your dues notice by the first of the month in which your dues expire, contact me. Dues should be sent directly to National using the envelope provided with the dues notice. The Secretary can forward dues in special circumstances.
Bosch, Mervin R Burian, Wayne E Call, Elton L Carr, Robert F
Cavaiani, Charles DeCouto, Edward F Finney, RobertB Funke, Harold J
Johnson, Ken W Lechtenberg, William C Lee, Kevin J Putman, Joe L
Schmitt, Lawrence L Smith, Stephen R Sparks, James L
To check your record via Internet, go to the website, www.fra.org. In the upper right-hand corner of the home page, enter your 9-digit membership number (including leading zeros, if applicable) in the “username” block and enter your first initial and last name (e.g., jdoe) in the “password” blank and click on the blank next to the “username” blank. Then click on the “MY FRA” block near the top of the page to show your personal record. You can make changes to your address or telephone number by clicking on the “edit” block. You can also change your username or password.
To check your record if you do not have access to the internet, or to make other changes to your record, call National at 800-372-1924 between 0900 and 1700 Eastern Time (0700 – 1500 Mountain Time) on regular workdays. On the opening menu, press “1” for member services. Having you membership number available is helpful, but not necessary.
