The_Granite_Slate_Page-2-Jun03

*President’s Corner* By Paul L. Bernard A few weeks ago, with assistance from our Board of Directors, I submitted a package to MOAA so that our chapter would be considered for one of the annual chapter awards. In the past we have received awards in the “jumbo” classification (more than 900 members) as an excellent chapter and as an outstanding chapter. With the award comes a substantial donation from MOAA for our scholarship fund. This year the rules are different. Instead of competing against all other chapters in the size category, with only one chapter coming out on top, this year MOAA will announce 5-star and 4-star chapters. All chapters that meet the criteria will receive the award. There is no way to predict whether we will receive an award, and if we do, which one it will be, but the numbers look good. One criterion considered by MOAA for the annual awards is the percentage of regular chapter members who are members of MOAA also. I was rather surprised to find out that after some very detailed analysis by Michael McLean, only 95% of our chapter members also belong to MOAA. Because of the point assignments for this criterion, it is questionable whether we will qualify as a 5-star chapter. A chapter must have 98% or more of its members also as members of MOAA to receive the maximum number of points for this criterion. Of 240 total points, we lost 10 because we only had 95%. 220 total points are needed to get the 5-star rating. I would urge all chapter members, who are not members of MOAA, to join MOAA at your earliest opportunity. I will not go into detail about the benefits associated with joining MOAA here, but they are substantial—not the least of which is the monthly magazine. Also, you will be helping the chapter in the award competition for next year. Although I have been talking about awards, the real incentive for getting the 5-star rating is the donation to the scholarship fund. Our children and grandchildren benefit from this fund – so please join MOAA if you have not done so already.		On a separate note, we have a few events coming up that you should plan to attend. First, we have the “world famous” clambake on August 2, 2003, at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard. The past two years we have had more than 400 members and guests attend and the reviews have been fantastic. We are looking to break our attendance record this year. Don’t miss it. Also, we have a social weekend at the Mount Washington Hotel from September 12th to the 14th. The guest speaker at our regular fall luncheon, on Saturday the 13th, will be Congressman Jeb Bradley. He serves on the Armed Forces Committee and the Veterans Affairs Committee, and we are fortunate that he plans to join us for this event. Last, but not least, we have the chapter’s annual meeting on November 8th at the Manchester Country Club. The guest speaker will be Associate Justice James Duggan from the NH Supreme Court. Our intrepid program chairman has been very busy. As you can see from the last page, all of the 2004 events are planned. There is a rumor afloat that he has 2005 planned out as well but that schedule has not been published. You can see from the schedule (on page 8) that variety, both in locations and speakers, is a key component of the schedule. One last item. By the time you receive this newsletter, the vote will be in on the proposed By-Law amendment to change the Chapter’s name from the NH Chapter of TROA to the NH Chapter of MOAA. As stated in the flyer for the June 7th luncheon, you had to be present at the luncheon to vote. In order to keep all members informed, we will send out a brief announcement reporting the results of the vote. Keep your eye on your mailbox! *Paul L. Bernard* *Reminder* Mount Washington Resort Weekend, September 12-14, 2003. Get your reservations in now for the social weekend at the Mount Washington Resort. We have booked the entire Brenton Arms Inn for Friday night and the majority of rooms for Saturday night. The rooms are going quickly, so send in the reservation form that came with your April Luncheon flyer. You don’t want to miss out. Do it today!

President’s Corner
By Paul L. Bernard

A few weeks ago, with assistance from our Board of Directors, I submitted a package to MOAA so that our chapter would be considered for one of the annual chapter awards. In the past we have received awards in the “jumbo” classification (more than 900 members) as an excellent chapter and as an outstanding chapter. With the award comes a substantial donation from MOAA for our scholarship fund. This year the rules are different. Instead of competing against all other chapters in the size category, with only one chapter coming out on top, this year MOAA will announce 5-star and 4-star chapters. All chapters that meet the criteria will receive the award. There is no way to predict whether we will receive an award, and if we do, which one it will be, but the numbers look good.

One criterion considered by MOAA for the annual awards is the percentage of regular chapter members who are members of MOAA also. I was rather surprised to find out that after some very detailed analysis by Michael McLean, only 95% of our chapter members also belong to MOAA. Because of the point assignments for this criterion, it is questionable whether we will qualify as a 5-star chapter. A chapter must have 98% or more of its members also as members of MOAA to receive the maximum number of points for this criterion. Of 240 total points, we lost 10 because we only had 95%. 220 total points are needed to get the 5-star rating.

I would urge all chapter members, who are not members of MOAA, to join MOAA at your earliest opportunity. I will not go into detail about the benefits associated with joining MOAA here, but they are substantial—not the least of which is the monthly magazine. Also, you will be helping the chapter in the award competition for next year. Although I have been talking about awards, the real incentive for getting the 5-star rating is the donation to the scholarship fund. Our children and grandchildren benefit from this fund – so please join MOAA if you have not done so already.

On a separate note, we have a few events coming up that you should plan to attend. First, we have the “world famous” clambake on August 2, 2003, at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard. The past two years we have had more than 400 members and guests attend and the reviews have been fantastic. We are looking to break our attendance record this year. Don’t miss it. Also, we have a social weekend at the Mount Washington Hotel from September 12th to the 14th. The guest speaker at our regular fall luncheon, on Saturday the 13th, will be Congressman Jeb Bradley. He serves on the Armed Forces Committee and the Veterans Affairs Committee, and we are fortunate that he plans to join us for this event. Last, but not least, we have the chapter’s annual meeting on November 8th at the Manchester Country Club. The guest speaker will be Associate Justice James Duggan from the NH Supreme Court.

Our intrepid program chairman has been very busy. As you can see from the last page, all of the 2004 events are planned. There is a rumor afloat that he has 2005 planned out as well but that schedule has not been published. You can see from the schedule (on page 8) that variety, both in locations and speakers, is a key component of the schedule.

One last item. By the time you receive this newsletter, the vote will be in on the proposed By-Law amendment to change the Chapter’s name from the NH Chapter of TROA to the NH Chapter of MOAA. As stated in the flyer for the June 7th luncheon, you had to be present at the luncheon to vote. In order to keep all members informed, we will send out a brief announcement reporting the results of the vote. Keep your eye on your mailbox!

Paul L. Bernard

Reminder Mount Washington Resort Weekend, September 12-14, 2003. Get your reservations in now for the social weekend at the Mount Washington Resort. We have booked the entire Brenton Arms Inn for Friday night and the majority of rooms for Saturday night. The rooms are going quickly, so send in the reservation form that came with your April Luncheon flyer. You don’t want to miss out. Do it today!