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 Carlos
Massiatte, the Chapter President, called the meeting to order at 1610 at the
USO with the following members present: Gary Copsey, Chapter VP, Chuck
Ervin, John Shroyer, Eric Bailey, Mary King, Tom Peterson, Debra
Westmoreland, Dave Stoltz, Ralph Chalfant, Joan Lopez, Ed Garland, Annie
Howell, Todd Spann, Jim Finch, and John Politi. Carlos expressed his
appreciation for everyone's attendance and stated that future meetings will
be open to all military and civilian organizational representatives, chapter
program VPs, chapter activity coordinators and support group members. The
EXCOM members decided at the December EXCOM meeting that face-to-face
meetings would enhance the participation of members and execution of planned
chapter events. Everyone introduced themselves. Dave Stoltz, Chapter
Treasurer, passed out the December monthly financial statement. Carlos
pointed out that the Alamo AFA Aerospace Education Foundation (AEF) money
was maintained by the foundation and was not included in the chapter
financial report. He also stated that he wanted all quarterly and annual
activity reports sent to all the representatives or posted on the chapter
website so everyone can have a whole picture of the chapter's activities.
Gary will work on this issue.
Gary Copsey,
Chapter Vice President, then gave a synopsis of the Combined Awards
Banquet. Mary King will be the overall Awards Program Manager and Joyce
Hons will be Awards Program VP. Since Gary and Carlos are new, he asked for
everyone's support in the preparation for the 28 March Awards Banquet at
Mitchell Hall at Lackland AFB. Col Rich Mihalik will be putting out the
letter to all area commanders announcing the banquet and nomination process
in the near future. (Note this was done on 11 Jan 07.) The Chapter
Secretary Kaye Biggar sent all the organizational representatives a copy of
the letter via email. Over 90 awards will be presented and up to 400 people
are expected to attend since the banquet will include the Blue Suit and
Civilian awards. Dave Stoltz will print banquet tickets and provide to Mary
King so she can pass to organizational VPs to sell. Award winner meals will
be paid for by the Chapter. Advertising for the banquet was in the recent
chapter newsletter the Defender and Marie Vanover will help with
advertising in the base newspapers. Debra Westmoreland mentioned that most
of the base papers had gone virtual or would be going virtual versus hard
copy. Tom Peterson expressed concern about civilians being able to get on
base. Mary King will provide a list of attendees to the base security
forces so if they don't have a base decal on their vehicles they will be
able to get on base. Organizational VPs need to make a list of ticket
buyers and explain the base entry procedures to them. Although it is now a
combined awards banquet, the individual awards will still reflect either Joe
Kellogg or Carlton and Charlotte Loos name on the citation. Ed Garland will
assist Mary in setting up the printed banquet program. Carlos will extend
an invitation to the son of Joe Kellogg and Loos' son Richard. If they
attend, they can assist in the awards presentation. Gary will draft a
letter to go potential sponsors of the banquet to ask for their monetary
support.
Carlos then
reminded everyone that the responsibilities for the organizational VPs and
other chapter positions are located on the chapter website (www.alamoafa.org)
under the Resources Library. He urged everyone to review these documents
and to get an alternate representative to attend meetings in their absence.
He also mentioned there were several other chapter events upcoming in 2007,
e.g., Fiesta parade, Birthday Ball, Veterans parade, Air Show at Randolph
AFB, etc. Tom Peterson pointed out that there had been minimum payback from
participating in the Veterans parade and that the Fiesta parade gave the
chapter more visibility. John Shroyer and Annie Howell will assist in
providing a humvee for the parade from the 433 AW. The Combat Breakfast was
cancelled last year, but Carlos would like to see it reinstated if
possible. He will talk with the Chamber of Commerce about the event for
this year. He will ask Kaye to post the yearly events calendar on the
chapter website. Gary pointed out that the chapter should be reaching out
to the younger generation to become involved in the chapter. They both
stated that a team effort is needed to put on these events and encouraged
feedback on the chapter events so that they can be improved. Carlos stated
he would attempt to keep all meetings at an hour.
Joan Lopez
related that Kaye Biggar the Chapter Secretary had asked her to give the
Nominating Committee report. Election of officers will take place at the
Combined Awards Banquet. The nominees are: President – Carlos Massiatte,
Vice President – Gary Copsey, Secretary – Kaye Biggar and Treasurer – Dave
Stoltz. This was also announced in the recent
Defender.
Ed Garland,
AFA Texoma Region President, encouraged attendees to share the meeting
information with their people and to publicize the chapter events to
maximize participation. He pointed out that the Alamo Chapter has the
support of General Looney and several current and past National AFA
officers. Their expertise can be valuable to the chapter. Past AFA
National President John Politi mentioned that the 501c(3) tax exempt status
for the chapters is still being worked and hopefully the IRS will provide a
written ruling soon. He encouraged everyone to attend the National AFA
Convention in September. Its many events and the Air and Space Symposium
are very informative and worthwhile.
Jim Finch
related he had been a National Director for four years. He mentioned that
National AFA is currently looking for a replacement for General Peterson the
current National President as he would be leaving by summer. Jim also sits
on the Retiree Council and AAFES/DECA Retiree Council and would be glad to
pass on any issues or concerns that meeting attendees or chapter members
might have.
Eric Bailey
expressed his appreciation for the new meeting format. He felt it was very
informative and suggested that maybe future meetings could be held at one of
the bases depending upon the meeting agenda. Tom Peterson related that the
USO was not charging the chapter for the use of the facility and that it was
centrally located. Todd Spann the AF Village representative offered the use
of one of their facilities. This would allow the AF Village personnel to
attend especially if a follow-up medical briefing was given similar to last
year's event. Eric mentioned that possibly another Force Shaping briefing
could be given since it had just been announced that the Captains Group was
being reviewed for downsizing. Annie Howell suggested the chapter might do
a Christmas event at the AF Village. Carlos stated that all these ideas
would be explored at future meetings.
The meeting
adjourned at 1720. The next meeting will take place on 13 February 2007 at
1600 hours at the USO.
ACTION ITEMS AND POINTS OF
CONTACT:
Combined
Awards Banquet Mary King 977-3144/6755
Combined
Award Nominations Joyce Hons 977-4532
Invite
Kellogg/Loos Sons Carlos Massiatte 977-2732
Awards
Banquet Sponsorship Gary Copsey 531-6258
AF Birthday
Ball Col Rich Mihalik 652-5000
Combat
Breakfast Carlos Massiatte 977-2732
Yearly
Chapter Event Calendar Kaye Biggar 696-4591
Activity
Reports Posted to Website Gary Copsey 531-6258
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