Once again we held our first luncheon of the year and the Granite State Warriors Awards (GSWA) at the Common Man Inn & Spa in Plymouth, NH.  Unfortunately the weather was not as nice as it was last year.  This year it rained bunches.  People commented that the drive up was quite a challenge.  Notwithstanding the bad weather, of the 59 members and guests who signed up, only one couple did not make it.  We were honored to have three of our four Congressional members present - Senator Maggie Hassan, Representative Chris Pappas, and Representative Maggie Goodlander.  Each of them made "brief" remarks detailing how MOAA assists them with their legislative functions.  Representative Goodlander joined the Chapter on the spot! (She had been in the Naval Reserves for eleven years.)  The Chapter had received a 5-Star rating (top of the heap) for Level of Excellence (LOE) in MOAA's LOE competition and a 5-Star rating for our web site in MOAA's Communication competition, although the Chapter President Lt Col Larry Miller, USAFR (Ret.), neglected to mention them.  He did recognize the First Time attendees - John and Linda Fischer of Hebron,  Jeffrey and Lori King of Meredith, Kevin and Robin Galeaz of Hooksett and Andrew Rankin of Manchester.
    The reason for the luncheon was to honor the recipients of the thirteenth annual Granite State Warriors Award (GSWA).  These awards are given to the New Hampshire resident or NH-based organization making the most significant contribution to the Armed Forces of the United States that year.  The 2024 recipients are the Service Credit Union (SCU) and two engineering individuals from the VA Medical Center (VAMC) Manchester.  SCU received the award for their nearly half a million dollars supporting military and veteran nonprofit, and helping military members and their families overseas.  Accepting the award on behalf of SCU was Jaime Yates and Jason DiVirgilo. Two individuals from the VA Medical Center, Manchester, Kent Eberhardt, Chief Engineer, and Keith Lacasse, Health Engineer and Contracting Officer, received the award for their efforts for the design and construction of renovations and new buildings.  For their acceptance remarks, they presented a Power Point presentation on the various engineering projects planned and ongoing at the seventy-five year old Medical Center building.
    This year the award was designed by our Chapter President, Lt Col Larry Miller, USAFR (Ret.), and was based on the legendary Spartan King, Leonidas. (See the pictures below.)

GSWA #1	VAMC Table	GSWA #2
Sen Hassan	Rep Pappas	Rep Goodlander
SCU's Jaime Yates	VAMC's Kent Eberhardt	VAMC's Keith Lacasse
Pappas, Yates, Goodlander	Pappas, Eberhardt, Goodlander	Pappas, Lacasse, Mrs. Lacasse, Goodlander

    It was a beautiful summer day with a gentle sea breeze that made it very enjoyable.  In fact some people put on wind breakers against the breeze. August 2, 2025 marked the forty-first Clambake.  Again this year, the event was jointly hosted by the New Hampshire Chapter and the Maine Chapter of MOAA.  This year we made an attempt to include some of the enlisted personnel who were stationed at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard.  We invited personnel who were stationed at the Regional Health Clinic, the shipyard security detachment, and personnel form the submarines that were undergoing overhaul.  We also extended invitations to the local Sea Cadet units.  In all, 290 meals were prepared consisting of our traditional feast of clam chowder, lobster or steak, mussels, corn-on-the-cob, potatoes, onions, rolls and watermelon.

     We were joined by a number of distinguished guests including Governor Kelly Ayotte, wife of chapter member Lt Col Joe Daley, USAF (Ret.), who attends every year; Congressman Chris Pappas; staff members from Congressman Golden’s (ME) offices;and other staff members;  CAPT Frank Michael, USN (Ret.), Program Director, Affiliated Councils and Chapters MOAA; Karen Ruedisueli, Director Health Affairs; and members of various Chapters of MOAA stretching from Maine to Florida!  New Hampshire Chapter President Lt Col Larry Miller, USAFR (Ret.) and his wife Pat, the Chapter Surviving Spouse Liaison, welcomed everyone to the event.   We were honored to have a US Navy color guard, from the Shipyard Clinic, post the colors.   Governor Ayotte, Congressman Pappas, CAPT Michael and LTC Brenda Pennels, President of the Maine Chapter of MOAA, all spoke.  CAPT Michael and Congressman Pappas presented Pat Miller with Certificates acknowledging her work as Surviving Spouse Liaison.

    This year the duties of Bakemaster were excellently carried out jointly by CW4 Bob Jaffin, USN (Ret.) and MAJ Jason Moody, USA, and once again the job of Drinksmaster was ably performed by CW5 Bernie Satterfield, USA (Ret.).  During the “Bake” a Silent Raffle was held to support the Scholarship Program.  The quilt (shown below) was sold for $200.00 for Scholarship.  Five recipients of Scholarship loans volunteered to help out wherever they were needed.

     The main benefit of the Clambake, other than to enjoy a great home cooked bake, is to support the Chapter's Scholarship Fund.  This locally run program helps children and grandchildren of the New Hampshire Chapter members with college expenses by awarding grants of $2000.00 and $4000.00 per academic year.  This year FIVE students will receive grants.  This year the Clambake raised $2,660.00.  Thank you to all who contributed!!

     Finally, a special Bravo Zulu to all those who made this event as successful as it was.  It could not have been done without all the hard work of the chapter volunteers!!

CAPT Michael Checking In	Posting Colors	Happy Volunteers	Governor Ayotte Speaking
Congressman Pappas Speaking	CAPT Michael Presenting Pat Miller	The Silent Auction Quilt	The Drinks Table
Preparing the Meal	The "Chow Line"	Gov. Ayotte Serving Chowder	A Man and his dog

     It was a chilly autumn day on November 8, 2025 when the Chapter held its Annual Meeting and Luncheon at the Nashua Country Club.  Surprisingly golfers were still out and about on the golf course!  The business meeting was attended by 20 Chapter members.  82 members and guests enjoyed an excellents meal expertly prepared by the staff of the club.  As always, the staff of the country club was extremely helpful in accommodating our every request.

    Before and during lunch, Lt Col Wayne Balcom, USAFR (Ret.) collected $120.00 to support veterans’ organizations in NH.  Before the meal, those present participated in the traditional playing of all the service marches.  Unfortunately, again this year no one was present from the Coast Guard, NOAA or USPHS to stand up for their marches.  We were pleased to hear Representative Chris Pappas talk about how much MOAA and MOAA-NH have contributed to legislative successes. Our Guest Speaker, Col John Galgus, USAF (Ret.), a Chapter Member, honored us by presididng over the installation of this year's Officers and Board of Directors for the chapter.  The results of the annual elections can be found on the "Chapter News" page. Once again we acknowledged the passing of chapter members who had died since the last annual meeting.  TAPS was played for them.

    We were pleased to have Col Gargus provide us with a slide show detailing the little know events by the US Navy that contributed to the attempted raid on the Son Tay prisoner of war camp during Vietnam.  We were joined by four first time chapter members:  Herman Altamar of Portsmouth, Alfred Cruz of Nashua, Holly Noveletsky and Dennis Dowling of Newfields.

Business Meeting

November Luncheon

Rep Chris Pappas

Swearing In

Guest Speaker

Photos courtesy of and with permission of LTC Annette Buford-Frost, USA (Ret.)

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