President's Message
Honoring Our Veterans/Adopt a Platoon
In honor of our members who served in the armed forces or have family members who served, we will be packing goodie boxes this Thursday for sailors deployed on supercarriers in the Persian Gulf, Red Sea and South China Sea. We need magazines, wipes, men & women's socks, beef jerky, dried fruit snacks & face masks.
Our guest speaker, retired Colonel Maureen Clay, USAF will share her story as an Air Weapons Controller in Germany concluding with her retirement from the Pentagon in 2004.
“Honoring the sacrifices many have made for our country in the name of freedom and democracy is the very foundation of Veterans Day.” — Charles B. Rangel
This Week's Speaker
Veteran's Day
Colonel Maureen M. Clay, USAF (Retired), was born in Seattle, WA. She graduated from Central Washington University with a degree in Secondary Education and moved to Southern California after graduation. She was commissioned a second lieutenant through Officer Training School in Lackland Air Force Base, San Antonio, Texas in August 1977. Her first assignment was to Germany as an Air Weapons Controller in a mobile tactical control squadron. Clay returned to Officer Training School as an Instructor and was selected as Non-Rated Air Training Command Instructor of the Year. She met her husband, John Kermeen and married in 1983. She was then selected for Education With Industry with reassignment to a Contracting career field. Colonel Clay then had multiple contracting assignments nation-wide, including two assignments at the Pentagon. She retired out of the Pentagon in 2004 and returned to West Cobb County, GA until moving to Big Canoe, GA in 2015. She is active in the Big Canoe Chapel, travels extensively, and plays golf (poorly according to her!). Colonel Clay also has a Masters Degree in Counseling from St Mary’s University in San Antonio, Texas. Her military education includes: Squadron Officers School, Air Command and Staff College, and Air War College.
Adopt A Platoon
Defending Our Freedom
Thanks to Alicia, we have identified 14 local sailors who are deployed on the USS Nimitz in the Persian Gulf. the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower in the Red Sea and USS Ronald Regan in the South China Sea. The Nimitz operates and trains alongside regional and coalition partners, and provides naval aviation support to Operation Inherent Resolve. The Ronald Regan conducts maritime air defense operations in support of a free and open Indo-Pacific. The Dwight D. Eisenhower provides a wide range of flexible mission capabilities, including maritime security operations, expeditionary power projection, crisis response, counter-terrorism, and security cooperation.
From October 1st through Nov. 5th, we will collect supplies to ship 150 goodie boxes to each ship. Boxes will be packed as part of our Veterans Day program AT OUR NOVEMBER 5TH MEETING.
Click here for the list of needed supplies. Reach out to Ralph Rowland @ rfrrowland@yahoo.com or 404-641-5671 with questions. Share the list with family and friends. This is YOUR chance to support those who are providing regional stability and freedom of the seas.
Charity Spotlight
Friends of the Roswell Library
Mission:
To provide financial assistance to the library, to promote the library as a learning center for all citizens in the community, and to act as an advocate for improved library services.
Fast Facts:
• Friends of the Roswell Library was founded in 1985.
• The Friends provide volunteer and financial support through periodic book sales of donated materials (books, magazines, CDs, DVDs, educational games, etc.), membership dues, and monetary donations.
• The Friends purchase books for children's and adult book discussion groups.
• Every summer, the Friends support the Summer Reading Program by buying books and prizes for children, young adults, and adult participants.
• The Friends also provide funding for several supplemental programs for the library including:
o Roswell Reads – a program designed to promote the value of reading, literacy, and lifelong learning through the shared community-wide experience of reading and discussing a common book or collection.
o Atlanta Author's Series – local authors meet at the library in a small group setting to talk about their writing, answer audience questions, and autograph books on sale at the event.
o Mystery Book Club - a book review group that meets on the 4th Tuesday of the month.
o Noonday Nosh - a book review group that meets on the 3rd Tuesday of the month.
Find out more:
www.forl.net
