The 2nd Annual Christmas Social was held at the San
Juan Country Club on December 14th. The festivities were kicked off by
President Al Garcia with some appropriate holiday remarks.
The Sweet Adeline's of Farmington, a popular lady’s
singing group, entertained us with Christmas carols. They encourage us to
join in which helped set the joyous mood for the rest of the evening.
Master
of Ceremonies, Ed Marquez, masterfully controlled the selection and
distribution of the door prizes and the gift exchange. The door prizes
consisted of the center pieces from each of the participants tables. The
poinsettias and the fence post snowmen for each service were a big hit.
The bartering in the background as winners of the snowmen maneuvered to
trade or otherwise obtain a snowman of the “appropriate” service
reached a comical fervor on several occasions.
The annual gift exchange was hilarious as members
received, unwrapped, and then frequently swapped their gag gifts. Some of
the gag gifts looked remarkably similar to those of past Christmas gift
exchanges. Others were new and in high demand. The commode bank, Swinging
Hips Santa, several Teddy Bears and other strange gifts changed hand the
maximum allowable number of times.
The evening was well enjoyed by those members who
attended. The meal was delicious and well catered. All in all it was a
great time of sharing and fellowship. We can hardly wait until next year
to do it all over again.
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Once
again the generous members of our Chapter have contributed to the
happiness of children by donating 36 toys to the Tots for Tots program of
the United States Marine Corps. President Al Garcia presented to the toys
to Christina Zeims of Zeims Ford. Zeims Ford was the local collection
point for the toys this year. Also pictured is the Zeims Ford receptionist
Carla.
Thanks again to the members for the support of our
annual tradition of support to the children of families less fortunate
than us.
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Key Bills Reintroduced in House: The following is a
short list of bills of interest to the uniformed services community that
were introduced during the House's first two days in session. More to come
on these and others.
H.R. 65 (Rep. Bilirakis, R-FL): Authorize reduced
offset of retired pay for veterans disability compensation, with an offset
percentage inversely proportional to the retiree's VA disability
percentage.
H.R. 179 (Rep. Shows, D-MS): Authorize retired
uniformed service beneficiaries the option of coverage under the Federal
Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP), with no premium for members who
entered service before June 7, 1956.
H.R. 303 (Rep. Bilirakis, R-FL): Authorize concurrent
receipt of military retired pay and veterans disability compensation.
House Committees Get New Leadership: With most
House committee chairmen having completed their 6-year term limits, House
leaders selected a new slate of chairmen Thursday evening. Some key new
faces from the standpoint of military and veterans groups:
Armed Services Committee: Rep. Bob Stump (R-AZ)
Veterans Affairs Committee: Rep. Christopher Smith (R-NJ)
Budget Committee: Rep. Jim Nussle (R-IA)
TROA and The Military Coalition have had excellent
relations with Chairman Stump and his staff during his tenure on the
Veterans Affairs Committee and look forward to working with him in this
new capacity. Chairman Smith also has had a long history of support for
military and veterans programs, and we're pleased to note that Chairman
Nussle cosponsored H.R. 303 (concurrent receipt of retired pay and VA
compensation) in the 106th Congress.
TFL Steering Panel Update: Lots of issues remain to
be worked out to ensure TRICARE For Life is implemented as intended by
Congress. But military and veterans association CEOs (including TROA
President Lt Gen Mike Nelson, USAF (Ret)) attending Wednesday's inaugural
TFL Steering Group meeting heard positive feedback from Acting Assistant
Secretary of Defense (Health Affairs) Dr. J. Jarrett Clinton on several
topics.
DoD expects to meet the April 1 implementation date for
the TRICARE Senior Prescription (TSRx) program and the October 1
implementation date for TRICARE as second-payer to Medicare.
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Here we are into the 21st Century. We have been granted
the opportunity to bridge two centuries and be around to welcome the 3rd
Millennium. I hope that you had the opportunity to celebrate the new year
in style. May you and yours continue to enjoy life to the fullest during
the coming year.
As a Chapter of TROA, we have increased in membership.
During the past year we organized our chapter in accordance to our
by-laws. We have a Board of Directors and several committees. Our
Newsletter was awarded TROAs award for excellence. We had representation
at the New Mexico Council of Chapters meetings and I attended the
Presidents Symposium held in Las Vegas, NE. in June. Jack Lee attended the
National TROA Conference held in San Diego, CA in October. We had a
successful summer picnic, participated in the November 11, Veterans Day
parade in Aztec, and celebrated our annual Christmas Social in style.
Thanks to the organizing committee, the decorations and door prizes
producers, and to Ed & Trish Marquez, masters-of-ceremonies. I hope
most of you have heard the "recruitment" AD on most of the local
radio stations, that is Jack Lee's doing, great job. We were able to meet
our JROTC sponsorship and still remain solvent at the end of the year.
I'd say we are doing fine. This would not be possible
if it were not for each of you, members and spouses. Your support is
appreciated and needed. I know we can continue to count on you to help the
Chapter grow. Please be mindful of our members that will be undergoing
surgery this month, Mary Mikitka and Peggy Johnson.
"May you get a clean bill of health from your
dentist, your cardiologist, your gastro-enterologist, your neurologist,
your urologist, your proctologist, your podiatrist, your psychiatrist,
your plumber and the IRS. May what you see in the mirror delight you, and
what others see in you delight them. May your check book and your budget
balance--and include generous amounts for charity. And may we live in a
world at peace, and with the awareness of God's love in every sunset,
every flower's unfolding petals, and every wonderful, astonishing,
miraculous beat of our heart." Author Unknown.
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