National Presidents Letter--November 2007

Presidents Letter for November 2007 Fellow AFE9A Members November 6, 2007 To all you Marine members, Happy Birthday. On November 10, you will have the honor of serving our great country for 232 years. Thank you Marines. From Sybil and I to all my AFE9A members and families, Happy Thanksgiving. May you be with family and friends during this Thanksgiving time and enjoy all that God has done for you. Because this is Veterans Day month (11/11) thank you all for our freedom so we can have Thanksgiving. Fly your flag. I will be in Gulfport, MS with my church group (24 in all) rebuilding hurricane Katrina damaged homes so will not be in any parade or Veterans Day function. The NC Baptist Men’s Association have set up in the old National Guard Armory where we live and eat. They can house and feed 300 there. This will be our 7th mission trip and my second. I do plan on saying something to the men and women at the Armory where we are staying in Gulfport on Veterans Day, if allowed to do so. The proposed budget for 2008 has been sent out to all NEC members for approval and comments, if any. I want to thank all that have reviewed the proposed budget and have sent in your comments. We may have to do some budget tweaking at the Mid-Winter meeting in Killeen, in January. I also want to thank the COO, Finance Office, Vice Presidents, Directors and Chapter Presidents for keeping me informed on what is taking place in their lives pertaining to the AFE9A. As I stated when taking office as National President, communications is the key to understanding, keeping informed and maintaining fellowship. Keep up the good work. Membership is the other key to any organization and ours is no exception. We need to increase our membership, try to get the younger and just retired E9’s signed up. How this can be accomplished is in you hands, as you know the area, the groups and attend a swarm of meetings with fellow Sergeant Majors, Chief Master Sergeants and Master Chiefs. I am asking you to work on it. We need membership and new chapters. Speaking of new chapters, Washington (state) may have a new chapter within the next year if all goes well. An idea to earn money for your National Headquarters: Seek out a car dealership in your area and make a deal that if a member of your chapter buys a car from the dealership, they will send $100.00 to National. More than one dealership will be better. They are willing to help veterans. I have done this with the Honda dealership in my area but it is for the Legion Post I belong too. An AFE9A chapter does not exist in NC so I cannot keep track of any buyers but can with my local American Legion Post. Give it a try and help fund our association. Don’t forget that Golden Corral is offering a free dinner to veterans on November 12, 2007. No proof required. Enjoy. Nothing from the National Auxiliary members last month came across my desk. We should have a National Membership Roster to report to the members by years end as the Membership Chairman has been working hard to correct our membership roster. Trying to get an exact number is hindered somewhat by MAL’s not reporting in with changes in addresses, deaths of members, etc. I am not sure if the National’s data-base software is adequate to the challenge of tracking membership. One of the things we need to take up at the Mid-Winter meeting, January 19, 2008. For God and Country, Curtis R. Leary President, AFE9A