Our January meeting allows members of our Board to provide an annual “state of the Chapter” report on the activities and initiatives in which we invested both time and funds during the 2024 calendar year.
This meeting is significant in that it allows our members an opportunity to hear about our involvement in the community, from our outreach enabled by MOAA Community Grants to our scholarship initiatives. It also provides our members an opportunity to provide input on 2024 speakers and provide input on speakers for the upcoming year.
At the meeting, we will fortunately be able to announce that our current President has agreed to lead us for one more year, and we will be able to introduce several new Board members who will provide future leadership for our Chapter. Positive steps for sure, but we still need other members to step forward to commit to becoming future leaders of the Chapter.
Our request for input from the members is not limited to our speakers/programs. We also need to hear your thoughts on how we can expand the reach of the chapter, from suggestions to support for organizations that we are not currently touching, to new ideas for reaching the current generation of officers that we hope to have join our ranks.
So please mark your calendars for 28 January and join us for this meeting! (The RSVP link will be provided with our monthly newsletter.)
MTC Board of Directors
(Also, please note the complete report will be posted on our website following the January meeting. Members who do not have access to the internet can procure a copy by contacting any of your Board members.)
MTC President's Letter
1/9/2025
Well, 2025 is starting out with a Bang!
January usually sees new beginnings for organizations and families, but this year, January includes a Presidential Inaugural, a new Congress, and natural disasters. Stay safe and warm—and keep your eyes on the local news and weather.
Legislatively on the national and state fronts, there has been lots of activity. The NDAA was finally passed and signed. The Dole Act expanding and simplifying the disability claims process, reforming services for aging veterans and opening more doors for mental health support was also passed and signed. The continuing resolution providing appropriations funding until March 14, 2025, was passed and signed. MOAA’s legislative advocacy program remains the easiest way to make your support known through participation in MOAA’s Legislative Action Center (LAC) at https://moaa.quorum.us. If you need any assistance, just ask any member of the MTC Board of Directors!! We plan to demonstrate how easy it is at our next meeting!
In Tennessee, the Tennessee Veterans (TNVET) organization is hosting its annual “Veterans Day on the Hill” on Wednesday January 29th and our chapter will be well represented. The intent is to brief state legislators on veteran’s issues and proposed legislation to address them. Unfortunately, our proposals last year did not get approved and funded, so TNVET is taking another tack on some issues.
Our 2024 Scholarship Campaign was very successful and raised $7,849.20! We were able to increase our annual scholarships at Belmont, Lipscomb, and Tennessee State as well as the MOAA Family Scholarship Fund. Mike Patenaude will provide more detail at the January meeting, but I wanted to thank you for your generosity now!
Finally, please make plans to attend the January 28th meeting at Old Natchez Country Club where the Board of Directors will present its Annual Report for 2024 activities. It’s also an important meeting, because we will install the President and 1st Vice President for 2025 upon your approval. See you at our next meeting!
Larry Cotton
CAPT, US Navy (ret.)
President
MTC Scholarship Program Update
We recently received thank you letters from the scholarship awardees of the four endowed MOAA Military Family Scholarships that the Chapter has funded. Each of these students expressed heartfelt gratitude in their letters to our chapter. We want to share with you that this year's awardees are enrolled at the University of Tennessee, the University of Arkansas, the University of Colorado, and in one of the Seven Sisters Colleges. Their majors are Forensic Anthropology, Business Administration, Business Information Systems, and Psychology. One of them is a member of the Arkansas National Guard, one is in Army ROTC and one is in Air Force ROTC (and hoping to work in Cyber Security). They remarked, on being from military families, that these scholarships are life-changing for them, and all considered them as having a positive impact on their futures. Thank you for your very important contributions that are directly helping to shape our country's future leaders.
We have not yet been notified on the recipient for the Lipscomb University endowed scholarship.
We have also funded $1500 one time veterans scholarships at Belmont, Lipscomb, and Tennessee State Universities, and are awaiting notification from the schools that these have been awarded.
A message from LtCol Karon Uzzell-Baggett on her election to the National MOAA Board
I would like to sincerely thank all the chapter members who voted during this summer’s 2024 MOAA National Board and Bylaws Election. Your support is deeply appreciated, and I am delighted to join the 2024 – 2030 MOAA National Board. I have the honor of following in the footsteps of Mrs. Patricia Bergquist, who served on the MOAA Surviving Spouse Advisory Committee and provided critical insights on Surviving Spouse issues several years ago.
Lt Gen Brian T. Kelly, USAF, Retired, MOAA President and CEO, recognizes the importance of MOAA chapters and councils referring to them as the “heartbeat of the association.” I hope to work diligently to advance the concerns of our area chapters and our council during my term.
Sincerely,
Karon Uzzell-Baggett,
Lt Col, USAF, Retired.
In Process: MOAA Online Account Changes
1/11/2025
The modifications to the MOAA Website are closing in on completion!. Please remember that your email address will be your new username and when you first login to the new application you may be asked to create a new password. If your first attempt at this update does not take, please try again.
A new, secure online dues payment portal will be forthcoming shortly. Beta testing is almost complete, and the app should be available for our 2025 dues collection in January/February.
The Legislative Action Center can be accessed by opening the website, clicking on “Advocacy” and then choosing the “Legislative Action Center” from the list on the left side of the page. Please visit the MOAA Legislative Action Center soon!
We Need Your Contact Assistance!
We use a combination of methods to reach out to our members for dissemination of information, and for our annual membership dues and scholarship solicitations. Each method relies on one important factor, we have to use current email or postal addresses. And when mail is returned or emails are undeliverable we need valid phone numbers so that we can reach out to rectify the situation.
Each member provided current information when they joined; however, we know that as circumstances change , in many instances there are changes to email addresses, postal addresses and phone numbers.
This affects the Chapter, as well as the MOAA National database; so we need your assistance in keeping our records up to date for yourself as well as for your fellow Chapter members.