President's Letter

           
     I hope this edition of the Border Bulletin finds you staying cool and hydrated. I know that in February, I will be wishing for these warm days, but right now they are a bit much.

I hope those of you who attended our last meeting enjoyed both the new venue (the Centennial Club) and the guest speaker, Gail Joyce, the Chair of the MOAA President’s Surviving Spouse Advisory Board. I found her talk on preparing for the death of your significant other as well as her sharing the details of her own personal losses to be both informative and touching. The speaker for our September 9th luncheon with be Mr. Froylan (Froy) Garza, Director, the El Paso VA Health Care System. Our luncheons will be held at the Centennial Club Pub going forward and we are already working on the speakers for our future meetings.

Thank you to LTC (Ret) Bill Moore and MAJ (Ret) Ed Stone for sharing with Ms. Joyce their angst about MOAA National not doing more to ensure our Chapter’s continued survival and success. She promptly relayed those concerns, and we had a 90- minute call with CAPT (Ret) Frank Michael, Program Director, MOAA Council and Chapter Affairs that gave us an opportunity to share our consternations. The culmination of that meeting was that towards the end of August, CAPT(R) Michael will coming to El Paso to meet with our Chapter Board of Directors and inform us of resources.

But we all know that our Chapter is skating on very thin ice and that CAPT(R) Michael will not be coming here with a magic wand. If our 68-year-old Chapter is to continue, we need to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps and save this chapter ourselves – by attending and inviting others to attend our luncheons, by volunteering to help the Board of Directors with their many tasks, and by asking eligibles to join our Chapter. A big thank you to Mrs. Connie Sullivan who has brought in several new members through her networking. However, your last several Chapter Presidents have been saying this same thing for several years and the few people who keep this Chapter going are geting tired and frustrated. So, unless you look at how you can help, do not be surprised when the Chapter folds like many have done throughout the country. We are located next to one of the largest, if not the largest, military bases in the world. We should be a thriving Chapter. As Benjamin E Mays said, “the tragedy of life is not found in failure, but in complacency.” Please rethink your commitment to the El Paso MOAA Chapter.   
 
A.  Get Informed.  Understand MOAA’s Top Ten Goals for the year, and track MOAA’s progress in fighting for your compensation and benefits.
   
B.  Get involved.     “Professional Leaders belong to Professional Organizations.” Become part of the solution.  Join MOAA.  
 
“Never Stop Serving"