Happy New Year!  I hope that you are all doing well after the holiday season.

I come to you as our Acting President, as no one stepped up to fill the position at the election in December.  So, the Executive Board appointed me as Acting President for a term not to exceed one year.  I am looking forward to finishing some open projects this year and hand the reins over to another chapter member in December.

To maximize participation by all of our members, we have decided to switch between Saturday lunches and Wednesday dinners for our chapter meetings.  This will allow several of our members, who no longer drive at night, to come to our meetings on Saturday.  The full list of dates and times are published in this newsletter.  So, please mark your calendars accordingly.

We have an exciting year ahead of us.  First, several of our chapter members will be heading to Austin in March to lobby the Texas legislature on several veteran related issues.  See the article by Ginger, our State Legislative Liaison, for more details on this and how you contact your representative and senator.

In April, I and a few other MOAA members from Texas will be heading to Washington, D.C, to meet the Texas Senators and Representatives and lobby for several veteran related legislative issues.  To assist in this effort, please continue to send in the MOAA postcard that come in the magazine, or send in the MOAA generated emails, regarding the issues that MOAA is promoting.  This helps in our efforts to ensure that our military, veterans, and family members maintain the benefits that they have earned.

Finally, I encourage you to pay your annual dues. Your dues help us pay for speakers at the dinners, give a donation to the Color Guards we have at dinners, and to pay our overhead costs, such as insurance, website, postage, and other costs.  It only costs $25.00, but if you pay by the end of December for the following year, you get a discount and only have to pay $20.  So, it is beneficial to pay your annual dues early.

I look forward to seeing you at our lunch meeting on Saturday, February 11.