houston areai know i ts ho , but tha s i l does not mean the heat should dr ive one f ur ma n obj...
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HOUSTON AREA PO BOX 1082 HOUSTON TX 77251-1082 www.moaahoustonarea.com
Newsletter to MembersVol. LI No. 8 August 2014
NEXT MEETING SATURDAY, August 30, 2014 BRAEBURN COUNTRY CLUB
President’s Message
WELCOME ABOARD!
It is my distinct pleasure to welcome Aboardour FIRST two NEW members for 2014: LTC Don Couch, USA CPT Matt Mancuso, USAFBoth New members, including Don's wifeBruna, attended our July Luncheon and seemed to enjoy ourfellowship (and excellent food!). I pray their attendance showscommitment to our Chapter! In fact, when I announced theposition of Chaplain was re-opened, CPT Mancuso offered hisservices!
I would like to Challenge all new members in 2014, and ourmany renewing members (of whom we are deeply appreciative),to become engaged and involved in our Chapter. We still haveBoard positions unfilled, and several chairmanships need to befilled. The opportunity is great, and the services are needed tomove forward our beloved Chapter to insure its legacy. Pleasegive my challenge some serious consideration.
Finally, I wish to express my thanks and deep appreciation toCOL John W. Price for serving as our Chaplain for the lastseveral months. He graciously agreed to serve , but due topressing personal commitments felt obligated to resign. We willmiss him. COL John, “May you have Fair Winds and SmoothSeas!”
Hope to see many of you at Aug. 30 Luncheon or our August 26Board Meeting. Come on out and join our Fellowship!
Remember: Valet parking is included at BraeBurn Country Club.
ACTA NON VERBA “DEEDS NOT WORDS”
Very Respectfully,CAPT Kerry B. Magee, USNR-RET, President
OfficersPresident Kerry Magee CAPT USN Ret979.964.3236 h or 979.236.2415 [email protected]
1st Vice President ProgramEugene A. Vecera, LTC USA713.516.3459 [email protected]
2nd Vice President ArrangementsJeannette Evans, Aux 281.495.2202
3rd Vice President MembershipVacant
SecretaryEugene A. Vecera, LTC USA713.516.3459 [email protected]
Treasurer Martin J. Harris Maj USMC Ret.713.436.0429 [email protected]
Legislative RepresentativeROTC Scholarship William Taylor Cpt. USA Ret.281.482.7315 [email protected]
Assistant Legislative Representative George McDowell Col USAF Ret.713.723.5166
LiaisonEugene Tulich CDR USCG281.376.0061 [email protected]
ROTCWilbur E. “Mac” McConico LTC USA Ret [email protected]
ChaplainVacant
Editor Carol Ann Wilson 8902 Sunnywood DriveHouston TX77088-3729281. 847.9754; 281.642.4050 [email protected]
Newsletter of MOAA Houston Area, August 2014, p. 1
MOAA Houston AreaBoard Meeting
Tuesday before Monthly Luncheon Meeting
Tues. Aug. 26, 11:30Rudi Lechner’s 2503 S. Gessner
Future Meetings 09/23 10/21 11.18 All members are welcome.
MOAA
Houston AreaMonthly Meeting
and Luncheon
Saturday Aug. 3011:30 fellowship
12 Noon LuncheonBraeBurn Country Club
8101 Bissonnet St (near S. Gessner)
Houston TX 77074 (713) 774-2586
MENU
House Salad
Trout AlmondineOR
Steak Diane withMushroom Dijon
Herbed PotatoesSeasonal Vegetables
Rolls and ButterCoffee and Iced Tea
Carrot Cake
$30
RSVP: Jeannette Evans,281.495.2202, by Wed.8/27
2014 MOAA-HA Meetings 9/27 10/25 11/20(MOWA) 12/6 Christmas Party
Military Officers Wives Association
MOWA
NOMEETING
INAUGUST
SEEYOUIN
SEPTEMBER!
MOAA-HA
Z Treasurer’s ReportAugust 1, 2014
Receipts $2,760. Expenses $1,451. Balance $8,488.
Help Wanted. A position on theMOAA-HA Board of Directors willbe available as Treasurer on 1January 2015. Instructions provided.Call (713) 436-0429.
Martin J. Harris, Treas. Maj USMC Ret.
New Members
Welcome to the following newchapter and auxiliary members:
LTC DON L COUCH,USA (ret.)Spouse: Bruna8018 Meadowbriar LaneHouston TX [email protected]
CAPT MATT MANCUSO USAF10019 Cantertrot DriveHumble TX 79338703.200.3030 Consultant, Wells [email protected]
Chaplain’sMessage
As your InterimChaplain, mymessage israther brief thismonth. Most of us are of theJudeo--Christian culture goingback more than 3000 years.Even though there is still asmall remnant of antisemitismin the USA, most Jews andChristians, I believe, do getalong together rather well inthis country.
As a born-again conservativeChristian , it really pains myheart to see God's ChosenPeople, the Hebrews, in theState of Israel, currentlyfighting a battle of survivalfor their existence against asect of Islam that wants toexterminate them! I believewe Christians should not onlypray for their survival, butalso pray for the Peace ofJerusalem and the entireMiddle East!
SHALOM! PEACE BE WITHYOU!
Kerry B. MageeCAPT USNR-RETInterim Chaplain
Endowment Fund and
Houston Corps ofCadets
I know it is hot, but that stilldoes not mean the heat shoulddrive one of our mainobjectives away from ourminds. And you know what itis: the Houston Corps ofCadets Endowment Fund atthe University of Houston.
Please raise your airconditioner one notch and
Newsletter of MOAA Houston Area, August 2014, p. 2
Our belovedFounder, COLGeorge McDowell,who will be 101August 27!
LTC Vecera (whose birthday is8/26) presenting certificate toDick Sanger, our speaker
Neyda Sanger, wifeof Dick Sanger
Maj. Harris with WINNERCAPT Eggleston, looking good!
send your savings to theUniversity of Houston withthe attached form in thisNewsletter. Just kidding; dowhat you can, as it doesbenefit a good cause.
William Taylor Cpt. USA Ret.
TAPS
As a result of our latestmembership drive anddatabase work, we havelearned that these formermembers of MOAA-HAhave passed on:
LtCol C. J. "Neil" McBride,USAF
MAJ William J. Nunnery Sr.,USA
LTC Robert A. Smith, USA
RADM James H. Steele,DVM, USPHS
AUX Member PansyWooldridge
LTC Neill A. Yarborough,USA
We are sorry that we did notknow it at the time of theirpassing, but our thoughts andprayers are with their lovedones.
Military Order ofWorld Wars
Meets the 4th Thursdayfor Luncheons atRudi Lechner’s Restaurant,2503 S. Gessner.Our members are invited toattend.
Report on OurJuly Speaker
Our July speaker was Dick Sanger,who talked about a mostinteresting–and necessary tous–topic: How can we better connectwith the younger officers cominghome?
He and his lovely wife Neyda droveover from Austin for our meeting!We are grateful for their effort anddedication. He got us to think aboutwhat returning officers today needand want. They come from differentperspectives from most of ourmembers when they returned fromservice. Upon their return, they arelikely not understood as people, asmany think of them as either heroesor victims.
We’ve gone from Baby Boomers toGeneration X to Generation Y (themillennials), and we must buildbridges of understanding across thegroup. What is MOAA-HA’s CaseStatement? Why join? What domembers receive? And “so what?” isoften the reply.
How do returning veterans get goodjobs? We need to engage everyone insomething they can do. Sangerreminded us that Apollo 11 wasalmost aborted, but was saved by a24-year-old computer expert namedJack Garman, who suggestedsimulators to test how officers wouldreact to error codes and he learnedthe meaning of all error codes. Hisknowledge let Gene Kranz know howto handle a potential abortive errorcode the astronauts encounteredduring Apollo 11 and how to handleit so that it would not be aborted.
Sanger suggested we focus on who’scoming back to Houston, listen tothem, and invite them to serve on anadvisory committee.
We really enjoyed this veryinteresting speaker and will lookforward to seeing him again one day.
Photos From Our July Meeting
Thanks to the ever-faithfulAndy Parsons for more greatphotos !
Newsletter of MOAA Houston Area, August 2014, p. 3
New member CaptMatt Mancuso, whois willing to serve!
New member LTC Don Couch andwife Bruna, and he is also willingto serve!
REVIRESCO
West Point Run fromDelaware to Houston! TeamRWB is on a 1576 mile runfrom Newark Delaware, toHouston, Texas, with a goalof raising $50,000. The runbegan on July 26.
This Reviresco group ofrunners is composed of agroup from the Class of 2017at the US Military Academyat West Point. Their goal isto help bridge the wideninggap in civil-militaryrelations. In Latin,“Reviresco” means tobecome renewed, and theyhope to help renew andstrengthen the relationshipbetween civilians and thesoldiers who protect them.
They came across an articlein Forbes magazine thatmentioned Houston as thenumber one place for
veterans to retire. So with Delawareas the “first” official state, they sawand instant connection. “Delawarerepresents the first official entity ourmilitary protected, and Houstonrepresents where we stand now,”says Micah Petersen, one of therunners on the team. Other runnersare Todd Thorp, Jesse Robbins, JoeErony, Nolan Baker, Matt Rojas,Kyle Sullivan, Jacob Pompey, andDavid Dinerman.
The $50,000 they raise will go “tobridge the civilian-military divide bycreating a new conversation inAmerica, so that veterans andmilitary families are perceived asleaders and civic assets.”
How can you help? Go towww.crowdrise.com/reviresco/fundraiser/micahpetersen and towww.facebook.com/ourreviresco todonate and follow their journey.
New USO Opening
A fourth USO is opening in Houston.It will be in an old federal buildingon San Jacinto and will join the threeothers in the area (Intercontinental, Hobby, and Ellington [in theWelcome Building]). The USO is aplace where you and your family cango and have a good time as you meetothers with similar interests. All youneed to enter is to show your ID card.
Did you know that USO volunteerssign a year-long contract???!!!Check out the USO and have somefun.
Web Site You Must Visit
This is short, but soooo powerful!
http://moments.org/thank-you-for-your-service/
WLGOWorld’s Largest
Golf Outing
A Billy CasperGolf Event
New member Don Couch, agolfer, brings us informationabout a fantastic event thatwill be supported locally onAugust 11 at the VillagesCountry Club in Conroe.
Golf Tournament open to allthat benefits WoundedWarriors, and Don’s teamwill be playing in it. Golfcourses all across the countrywill be supporting this worthyproject.
More than 5,200 players areregistered, and nearly 1,500team sponsorshipcontributions have been madeso far! Great prizes have beendonated, and there’s still timeto donate and even enter. Con’s cell phone is 832-205-2009, and you can text himfor more info, or email him [email protected].
Learn more at this Web site:http://www.worldslargestgolfouting.com.
And there will be ANOTHERgolf tournament to benefit theTexas Wounded Warriors,Septbmer 26-27 in Tyler,Texas, at the Quail Bluff onLake Palestine. Don will alsohave more information on thatone.
Newsletter of MOAA Houston Area, August 2014, p. 4
The Wright List
If you're not familiar with thework of Steven Wright, he'sthe famous Erudite (comic)scientist who once said:
“I woke up one morning, andall of my stuff had beenstolen and replaced by exactduplicates.”
His mind sees thingsdifferently than most of usdo. Here are some of hisgems.
1 - I'd kill for a Nobel PeacePrize.
2 - Borrow money frompessimists--they don't expectit back.
3 - Half the people you knoware below average.
4 - 99% of lawyers give therest a bad name.
5 - 82.7% of all statistics aremade up on the spot.
6 - A conscience is whathurts when all your otherparts feel so good.
7 - A clear conscience isusually the sign of a badmemory.
8 - If you want the rainbow,you have got to put up withthe rain.
9 - All those who believe inpsycho kinesis, raise myhand.
10 - The early bird may getthe worm, but the secondmouse gets the cheese.
11 - I almost had a psychicgirlfriend... But she left mebefore we met.
12 - OK, so what's the speed of dark?
13 - How do you tell when you're outof invisible ink?
14 - If everything seems to be goingwell, you have obviously overlookedsomething.
15 - Depression is merely angerwithout enthusiasm.
16 - When everything is coming yourway, you're in the wrong lane.
17 - Ambition is a poor excuse fornot having enough sense to be lazy.
18 - Hard work pays off in the future;laziness pays off now.
19 - I intend to live forever... So far,so good.
20 - If Barbie is so popular, why doyou have to buy her friends?
21 - Eagles may soar, but weaselsdon't get sucked into jet engines.
22 - What happens if you get scaredhalf to death twice?
23 - My mechanic told me, "Icouldn't repair your brakes, so I madeyour horn louder."
24 - Why do psychics have to askyou for your name.
25 - If at first you don't succeed,destroy all evidence that you tried.
26 - A conclusion is the place whereyou got tired of thinking.
27 - Experience is something youdon't get until just after you need it.
28 - The hardness of the butter isproportional to the softness of thebread.
29 - To steal ideas from one person isplagiarism; to steal from many isresearch.
30 - The problem with thegene pool is that there is nolifeguard.
31 - The sooner you fallbehind, the more time you'llhave to catch up.
32 - The colder the x-raytable, the more of your bodyis required to be on it.
33 - Everyone has aphotographic memory; somejust don't have film.
34 - If at first you don'tsucceed, skydiving is not foryou.
35 - If your car could travel atthe speed of light, would yourheadlights work?
A student never forgets anencouraging private word,when it is given with sincererespect and admiration.
--William Lyon Phelps
Newsletter of MOAA Houston Area, August 2014, p. 5
Newsletter of MOAA Houston Area, August 2014, p. 6
SPEAKER FOR AUGUST 30 MEETING
Nick Roccaforte BA, MHCA, LNFA
Mr. Roccaforte is a native Houstonian with 44 years of experience in the health carefield. He worked his way up, starting as a respiratory therapist in the Texas MedicalCenter. He received his master’s degree from Trinity University in San Antonio andbecame a senior health care consultant, working throughout the country onprogramming, designing, and developing university medicals centers, hospitals andclinics. He was recruited to be an assistant administrator at Swedish Medical Centerin Denver and before he left achieved the level of VP of Operations. Moving on hebecame the Administrator (CEO) of St Francis Hospital in Colorado Springs as well asa VP in their three-hospital system.
Growing up and aging in the health care field made him aware of the need to seek better facilities andcare for the elderly. This led him to transition to becoming the Executive Director of the Forum atMemorial Woods, a Marriot senior living facility back in Houston. Since then he has worked for anumber of other CCRC’s (continuing care retirement communities) in the Houston area. Thesecommunities included independent living and assisted living residents to those needing dementia care andfinally rehab and skilled nursing patients.
Striving to offer the best for all seniors he encountered numerous veterans. He then set out to make it hismission to do anything possible to recognize and honor those who served. Although most senior livingcommunities note the passing of time and recognize veterans on many occasions, Mr. Roccaforte has notonly recognized and honored our veterans but has structured events to include multiple organizations aswell as the residents, family, and friends. Another important aspect of the events was to help keep alivethe feelings and emotions of a bygone era, and educate today’s youth on what it meant to their parentsand grandparents–The Greatest Generation-when teamwork and unselfishness were expected as wellrespected, as they endured innumerable sacrifices to ensure our freedom and way of life.
His presentation will exemplify those efforts. He will have some great audio-visual materials for us, andyou just won’t believe the vehicle he will arrive in! You’ll just have to be there to find out. So come onout to our meeting and hear this excellent speaker and have a great BreaeBurn Country Club meal!
Maxine on Minorities
We need to show more sympathy for thesepeople.They travel miles in the heat.They risk their lives crossing a border.They don't get paid enough wages.They do jobs that others won't do or are afraid todo.They live in crowded conditions among a peoplewho speak a different language. They rarely see their families, and they faceadversity all day ~ every day.
I'm not talking about illegal Mexicans.~I'm talking about our troops!
Doesn't it seem strange that so many are willingto lavish all kinds of social benefits on illegals,but don't support our troops? Wouldn't it be great if we took the$360,000,000,000 (that's Billion) we spend on illegals every year, and spent it on our troops!!!
A veteran is someone who, at one point in his orher life, wrote a blank check made payable to The United States of America for any amount,up to and including his or her life. And gave me the right to say this to anyone thatI please!!!
Newsletter of MOAA Houston Area, August 2014, p. 7
MILITARY OFFICERS ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA, HOUSTON AREA Houston Corps of Cadets ROTC Endowment Fund–The University of Houston (Army, Navy,
Marine Corps, Air Force)Please Print Donor name:_______________________________________________________Mailing Address__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Phone: Day_______________Evening_____________e-mail__________________________My pledge of $_________should be designed to support MOAA,HA Houston Corps of CadetsMy gift will be made with installments of $______to be paid monthly___quarterly___annually___. Beginning date:_______The Office of Stewardship will send reminders.) __Enclosed is a check (made payable to University of Houston) for the first pledge payable.Please charge my credit card for the amount of my gift, as scheduled above:
___Visa ___Mastercard ___American Express ___DiscoverAccount Number_________________________________ Expiration date:_______________ Name as it appears on card:_________________________________________________Signature:_____________________________________________________________________I would like to be contacted about fulfilling my pledge with a gift of appreciated securities.My pledge payment will be matched by: __________________________________________ (Please specify company for our records)Donor signature:___________________________________date_______________________Donor Signature:___________________________________date_______________________Thank you for your support of the MILITARY OFFICERS ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA, HOUSTONAREA, HOUSTON CORPS OF CADETS ROTC ENDOWMENT FUND, THE UNIVERSITY OFHOUSTONUniversity of Houston; Advancement Services; P.O. Box 867; Houston TX 77001-0867 Attn: Nancy V. Clark E-mail: uh.edu/giving
MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION/RENEWAL FORM
NAME: ____________________________________________________________________________(Please print) Last First Initial Grade Service Branch_____________________________________________________________________________Spouse’s first name: ________________________Tel. For Directory___________________________Home address:________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Civilian Occupation:_________________________________________________________________Business Firm ____________________________________Business phone_____________________E-mail: ___________________________________________________________________________ Dues: Regular Membership $30 first year; annual renewal $30 ($20 for each addn’l year pd w/renewal) Auxiliary (spouse of deceased officer) $15 ($10 for each addn’l year pd w/renewal)WOULD YOU SERVE ON A COMMITTEE? ________________________Comments_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Make check payable to MOAA,HA and send to MOAA,HA PO Box 1082 Houston TX 77251-1082
For more information, call LTC Eugene Vecera 713.516.3459
Newsletter of MOAA Houston Area, August 2014, p. 8