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ROAL Mid-Winter Conference Report
Mrs. Anne Groskreutz, ROAL President
This Mid-winter conference began with some new opportunities to embrace the changes that are to come as ROAL turns 60 this summer. The conference was at a new location in Washington, DC the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel. This hotel is an exciting mix of old and new and shows us that both can exist and work well together. There may be transitions, such as steps and obstacles that will keep us wondering about what is coming next. However, by looking ahead, we can see that there will be smooth paths that we can follow to get to our goals. This is a time of transition and that was foremost on everyone’s mind as we met and discussed some of the opportunities and challenges as we move into the next 60 years of serving our military families and supporting ROA in their goal of adequate national security for all of us.
ROAL’s Strategic Planning Committee met before and during the conference. The members of the committee spent considerable time discussing what changes will need to be made in order for ROAL to move their convention timetable to coincide with ROA’s plan to move the Convention to the February timeframe. This will be when the election of officers, bylaws resolution and any other business of the organization will be voted on. ROAL’s bylaws state that our convention will be held at the same time as ROA’s. Therefore, the executive committee on the recommendation of the Strategic Planning Committee will following the lead of ROA to elect our new officers at the convention in Orlando in July 2009. In February 2010 when the National Convention is held in Washington, DC, the officers will be reaffirmed to serve for the year until the next National Convention in Washington, DC in February 2011. The ROAL National Executive Committee voted to have our election of officers with a reaffirmation of the election, so the Board that is elected in Orlando will serve for about 18 months.
The Mid-Winter Conference began with a gathering of the ROA and ROAL First Timers. ROA Past National President, Paul Groskreutz and ROAL Past National President, Rick Riccardi opened the meeting by telling the members present about what to expect at the conference and what some of the available opportunities are to meet and greet new friends and reacquaint with old friends, to network with some of the top ranking officers in each of the services and to find out what projects are going on at the local levels of ROAL that help our military families in their daily lives. There were many good questions and helpful answers given to help get everyone off to a good conference experience. The First Timers where then given and early entrance into the Exposition Hall to visit with the vendors who where showcasing their products. The ROAL booth was a great success with many fantastic items being given away in the drawings and monies earned for the projects of ROAL. Thanks to all who helped in the booth and for the generous donations that made the booth a grand success. With everyone pulling together, we are able to make a difference.
Monday’s activities opened with the General Assembly of all the ROA and ROAL members gathering together, after which, ROAL began it’s meeting for the day. One of the main focuses of the day was a continuation of the small group discussion format started at the Atlanta convention. Two groups of about 15 members each discussed the future roles of National meetings and the future roles of Departments and Clubs. There are many “ifs” in the future. If there is no summer meeting, do we consider having local or regional meetings? Is this where we are finding that we are more active? Would we benefit from having something more local or regional, possibly making it more affordable, and taking less time away from other obligations? What should be the focus of our National convention in Washington, DC? There will be a lot of business that will need to be conducted, including election of officers. Should we do more visiting with our legislators? Should we plan a fun activity or outing? What if there is an added cost for this? Is it worth it? Would people want to do that?
As you can see, there are a lot of questions that we need to be talking about. Improving our communications in the next months before the Convention in Orlando is a high priority for me. Beside the newsletter to all members and bulletins to Club and Department officers, there will be emails coming out. If you personally get these emails, please be sure to pass the information on to those who might not have this communication tool. It is critical at this time that all of the issues we need to deal with at the convention be brought to all the members of the clubs and departments. I thank you in advance for taking the time to make this happen.
Tuesday morning, Mr. Wayne Gracie, AFRC Director of Policy Integration, spoke to the meeting of ROAL members. He told us of some of the legislative issues and funding priorities facing the Congress and the military this coming year. Also, at the meeting a summary of the roundtable discussions was provided. We all realize there is more work to be done throughout the rest of the year and into the future.
Fran Gould had once again provided wonderful music and a very sharp looking color guard for our luncheon as well as picking a delicious menu of chicken, pasta, veggies and, of course, chocolate for dessert. If you were in Atlanta, you will remember that I asked for help in decorating the tables for the luncheon and you certainly came through and did a fantastic job. There were representative items for each table from different states and each one was more fantastic than the next. From Washington fishing, the California gold rush and Disney, Ohio buckeyes and official state items, to gingerbread houses, to Carolina Rice and Sweetness cookbooks, to Rhode Island lighthouse cookie jars, to Florida shell flowers, and Georgia peaches and peanuts. Everyone really enjoyed the various items and what they represented in their state.
Lt Gen John Bradley, USAF (Ret.) returned to speak again at our luncheon. During the past year he and Mrs. Jan Bradley have started a foundation called the Lamia Afghan Foundation, which helps the children of Afghanistan. They provide warm clothing, school supplies and blankets and other items for daily living. (More information can be found in the Afghanistan Humanitarian Project article.)
We need to be sure that we are talking about what the future holds for ROAL and how we want to grab on to the new opportunities that will be available and move out with confidence in this new venture. There will be lots of opportunities to combine the old traditions and to make new ones as we move forward. Your ideas and your continuing support of ROAL and our goals are what will make this all possible in the days ahead. We can struggle on or we can make the changes necessary to move ahead, keeping the goals of ROAL first and foremost. We all want to support our military family members and work with ROA to make sure that we have an adequate National defense. Come on, let’s go, we can do it! Here’s to 60 more years!
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