FRA SOUTHEAST REGION NEWSLETTER
ISSUE 1
OCT. – DEC. 2015
PRESIDENT:
Dave W. Davis – Br. 290
322 Tidewater Circle East
Jacksonville, FL 32211
(904) 534-3446 (cell)
Davediver1@att.net
VICE-PRESIDENT:
Charles “Chuck” Hines – Br. 269
137 Thousand Oaks Circle
Goose Creek, SC 29445
(843) 813-1615 (cell)
Chuck.hines@comcast.net
JR. PAST PRESIDENT:
Larry Cox (Br. 269)
108 Main Ridge Blvd.
Goose Creek, SC 29445-4895
(843) 553-9025 (home)
(843) 408-8392 (cell)
Lcox486@comcast.net
SECRETARY-TREASURER:
Robert W. Huscher (Br. 186)
310 Vassar Street
Inverness, FL 34452
(352) 344-0727
serfra@tampabay.rr.com
CHAPLAIN:
John Davis (Br. 44)
116 Richland Drive
Pulaski, TN 38478
(931) 363-0852
Jwdavis@usit.net
PARLIAMENTARIAN:
John Handzuk (Br. 147)
217 Weikva Pointe
Apopka, FL 32712
(407) 814-9950
MASTER-AT-ARMS:
Alan L. Tank – Br. 290
From the desk of the Regional President-Elect:
Shipmates, I want to thank all of you for
electing me as your 2015/2016 S.E. Regional
President. I will do my utmost to fulfill all of my
duties.
I attended the S.E. Reg Convention in N.
Charleston, SC last month. It was a great
convention, although I was disappointed with
the turnout. I hope twice as many Shipmates
will attend next year’s Convention.
My future travels will be attending:
FRA National Convention in Spokane, WA
National Veterans/Memorial Day Parade in
Birmingham, AL in November.
Pearl Harbor Ceremonies on Dec. 7th in
Mayport, FL.
I will start visiting Branches in November
starting with those Branches I haven’t visited
before. I will e-mail those Branches prior to my
visits. I plan to visit every caucus and council.
I need a Branch to host the Mid-Year Meeting
on the second or third weekend in February
2016. Two or three Branches close to each
other could get together to host this event. We
will need a decent hotel rate with free
breakfast, refrigerators, microwaves and coffee
in each room. Also, two conference rooms that
will accommodate 50 people. Please contact
me as soon as you know that you can host it.
If the three Alabama Branches want to join
the GA/SC Council, please contact PRPSE Larry
Cox at Br. 269 or Shipmate Richardson at Br.
339.
In Loyalty, Protection & Service,
Dave W. Davis
RPSE-Elect
FROM THE VICE-PRESIDENT:
From the Secretary-Treasurer:
During the 2015 SER Convention, PRPEC Bob
Washington provided the Shipmates a briefing
of the FRA’s Membership & Retention (M&R)
strategy moving forward. One point of interest
raised by Shipmate Bob elicited much interest
and discussion among the Shipmates present.
That point of interest was relationships
between the Services (Navy, Marine Corps,
Coast Guard) and the FRA. For Branches, how
do they develop relationships with local Navy,
Marine Corps and Coast Guard bases?
NVP Virgil Courneya shared his experience
reaching out to Navy and Marine Corps bases to
establish relationships with the CMC’s,
Sargeants Major and other members of
leadership aboard the base. Development of
relationships with current military leadership
can be pivotal in recruiting FRA members from
those military facilities. Our national leadership
has reached out to the active duty leadership
and have paved the way for local branches to
reach out to their local military bases.
All branches are encouraged to ask their
regional and national officers, as well as their
regional and national M&R Committee
Chairmen, for assistance in identifying and
contacting bases in their areas. Whether it is a
big, active duty base or a small Reserve Force
facility, both are potential recruiting
opportunities.
We need to aggressively seek out these active
duty military leaders, make them aware of what
the FRA does to protect their benefits, and
educate them about the importance of them
(the current active/active reserve) joining the
FRA. Our diminishing membership numbers is a
loss to them, as well as our retiree
communities. Reach-out and establish those
relationships!
First, I would like to congratulate the new
officers and committeemen of the Southeast
Region. Secondly, I would want to give a “Bravo
Zulu” to Branch and Unit 269 for the job they
did on the recent Regional Convention. I always
find our Regional Convention to be a friendly
and informative meeting.
My right hand “man” and I wish to thank the
Shipmates for approving a motion to purchase a
new computer. It will be well appreciated by
Joan who does all my typing (she’s so much
faster on the keyboard).
The minutes of the SER Convention are
completed and will be on the website shortly.
Any questions you may have, call me. I suggest
the Presidents/Secretaries make copies off the
website – with attachments it runs over 48
pages. It would be very costly to “snail mail”
them, so copying from the website is easier.
Branches that don’t have a computer can let me
know if they want a physical copy.
As brought up at the meeting, if you follow the
trend of the FRA Organization, it’s not too good
at the moment as far as membership is
concerned. We need to do something to help
retain our Shipmates from going out the back
door and no new ones coming in the front.
We have a great organization but it takes work
to keep it afloat. Let’s get out there and
challenge those losses.
On a personal note, Branch 186 is proud to have
one of its own in the current issue of FRA Today
– Shipmate Florence McCoy.
If your Branch is having an event and you would
like it published, keep in mind the newsletter
comes out every three months – next issue will
be Jan-Feb-Mar.
In Loyalty, Protection & Service,
Bob Huscher, Sec/Treas.
In Loyalty, Protection & Service
UPCOMING EVENTS:
Florida Council – date to be announced
Chuck Hines, RVPSE
38th Annual Tennessee Caucus
Hosted By Tennessee Valley Branch and Unit 44
March 17, 18 & 19, 2016