MOAA Clearwater Chapter Volume XV, Issue 1 Mi l i tary Off icers Associat ion of Amer ica , Inc.

January 2017

• January Speaker Bio 1

• President’s Message 2

• Jan Luncheon Menu 3

• Event Advertisement 4

• Pearl Harbor Pictures 5

• Chapter Activities 6

• Legislative Update 7

DRUMBEAT

Board Meeting Jan 11

Lunch Meeting Jan 25

Board Meeting Feb 8

Lunch Meeting Feb 22

Board Meeting Mar 8

Luncheon Meeting Jun 13

Lunch Meeting Mar 22

Board Meeting Apr 12

Lunch Meeting Apr 26

Clearwater Chapter

MOAA Membership

Total Members 123

Regular 76

Auxiliary 47

Honorary 12

.

Shawn Rasmussen is a Senior Di-

rector in the Wealth Management

Group of USAA. Shawn is a CFP®

professional and holds his Series 7, 9/10, 66, 24, Life,

Health and Variable Annuity licenses and is licensed in all

50 states. He earned his BS degree from the United

States Military Academy at West Point and MBA from

Troy State. Shawn served 10 years on active duty and 10

years in the Army Reserves as a helicopter pilot. During

his time on active duty, Shawn served in the 5th Infantry

Division in Fort Polk, LA, 2nd

Infantry Division in Korea,

and 18th Airborne Corps when stationed at Hunter Army

Airfield. Shawn is active in the local community as the

Planned Giving Advocate for the local chapter of Juvenile

Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) and on the board

of the Tampa West Point Society. Shawn enjoys spend-

ing time with his wife of 20+ years Renee, and their two

teenage children, Jackson and Zoe who attend Newsome

High School.

Shawn Rasmussen

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The German Bistro2 Restaurant,

located at 1300 East Bay Drive,

Largo is a great place to eat. Reser-

vation are highly recommended &

absolutely worth it!!. Mention you

saw their ad in the MOAA DEC. is-

sue of the Drumbeat.

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE for January 2017 Drumbeat

We hope ALL our members had a Happy and Safe Holiday Season with family and friends! Your

leadership team has been extremely busy over the Holiday period. First, we would like to personally

thank ALL our members who attended the Pearl Harbor Remembrance luncheon on December 7th at

the Bayou Country Club in Largo, FL. Over 90 members from the MOAA St. Petersburg Chapter,

MOAA Clearwater Chapter, and MOWW Clearwater Chapter attended this memorable event (please

see the pictures of the event in this issue of the Drumbeat). The St. Petersburg Chapter hosted the

event and did a tremendous job. The Clearwater Chapter will host the 2017 Pearl Harbor Remem-

brance event.

We are excited to have Shawn Rasmussen, USAA Director of Wealth Management in Tampa, as

our first 2017 luncheon guest speaker. No better time than the beginning of the year to ensure your

financial state is in order.

Our annual dues drive continues to go well and we encourage any chapter member who is not a

MOAA National member to join. Again, one of the key metrics that impacts 5 Star Chapter recogni-

tion is the percentage of chapter members who are MOAA National members. If you have any ques-

tions in regards to the benefits of being a MOAA National Premiere or Life Member, please contact

Rob Risberg, our Chapter Membership Chair.

Jim Patrick. Chapter Programs Chair, has locked down East Lake Woodlands Country Club for this

year’s Charity Golf Tournament on May 19th. East Lake Woodlands is a tremendous venue and en-

courage you to both participate with friends and family, and volunteer to assist Jim in ensuring a

world class event.

Thanks to ALL of you who continue to SERVE our VETERANS and the COMMUNITIES where we live

and in MAKING A DIFFERENCE!

Dave

Please renew your local MOAA Clearwater Chapter membership

and give some thought about becoming a “MOAA Life Member”,

the benefits are many and we appreciate your continued support

of our Clearwater Chapter with your membership renewal.

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For Reservations call Jane Belson (home) (727-535-9151) by Fri. NOON, Jan 20th with your

meal selection and reservations. If you need to cancel, please do so by Mon NOON, Jan 23rd or

you will be expected to pay for your missed meal. It’s critical that we start our luncheons on

time.

When calling in reservations, please let JANE know if you have special dietary needs, so the kitchen staff may be notified

in advance. We will not be able to accommodate any dietary needs the day of the our luncheons.

Hot: Caesar Salad, Chicken Marsala, Angel Hair Pasta w/butter sauce, Green Bean Almandine

and Chef's Choice of Dessert.

Cold: Soup du Jour, Fresh Spinach Salad (baby spinach leaves topped w/crumbled bacon, hard

boiled eggs, mushrooms, red onions, bleu cheese, and croutons served w/raspberry vinaigrette)

Chef's Choice of Dessert.

MOAA BOARD MEETING MINUTES - 12/14/16

The meeting was called to order at 1000 HRS. at the Clearwater Country Club by the President,

Dave Apt. Those present stood, faced the flag and recited the Pledge of Allegiance. In attend-

ance: Dave Apt, Norm & Jane Belson, Pat Hughes, Bob Behm, Steve Hodges, Rob Risberg, & Vio-

let Smith.

The November Secretary Minutes: Were reviewed and approved by those present.

Treasurer’s Report: Was reviewed and accepted by those present.

The Operating Account Balance is presently, $14,707.79, The Charitable Account Balance is presently

TOTAL BALANCE IN BOTH ACCOUNTS $22,335.68

Scholarship: Steve reported no JROTC activity until near the end of the school year. Rob Risberg is continuing to

work chapter support of local USF and UT ROTC programs.

Drumbeat: Input for the January Drumbeat is requested by the 22th of December. It was noted that Steve &

Noreen are continuing to do an exemplary job.

Auxiliary Report: Violet is hoping that the surviving spouses will come through with volunteers in support of our

Charity Golf Tournament.

Future Speakers: Shawn Rasmussen, USAA – Jan 2017, Scott Macksam, Veterans Art Center Tampa Bay Cen-

ter – Feb 2017

Membership: The Chapter currently stands at 123 voting members. We have until December 26 to add new

members at National for them to establish their official roster.

Old Business: Jim Patrick has selected East Lake Woodlands for this year’s Golf Tournament. It will be held on

May 19th with a 0900 HRS Shotgun Start. He is also working with some of the Sponsors who helped out last

year. Anyone who wishes to either help Jim organize or solicit sponsors for this fund raising event please get

with Jim at any of our Luncheons or feel to give him a call. The funds raised go to our scholarships and commu-

nity outreach so let’s make this year’s Golf Tournament a huge success.

New Business: There is a Massing of the Colors at the Pasadena Community Church on March 5, 2017 hosted

by Clearwater MOWW. All Chapters are invited to attend.

A motion was made and seconded that the Chapter provide Christmas gifts to our wait staff and the ladies in the

front office at the Country Club who make our Luncheons the success we experience each month. Norm and

Jane will take care of this on behalf of the Chapter. Rob Risberg will provide each Board Member with a copy of

a MOAA Chapter Checklist that National put together, which he found online for our review. With all business

being concluded a motion was made and seconded that the meeting be adjourned at 1120 HRS. jeb

Wednesday January 25, 2017 MOAA Monthly Luncheon

Join us for Lunch at the Clearwater Country Club; 525 N Betty Lane, Clearwater. Directions: going north from

Drew Street it’ll be the last right turn before the railroad tracks, from Palmetto Street heading south it’ll be the

first left after the tracks. CCC phone: (727) 446-9501. Luncheon check-in starts at 11:15, program at noon.

Please have check ready before arrival! $18.00 per person payable to the Clearwater Chapter MOAA.

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SAVE THE DATE Saturday 25 March

“FLORIDA’S FIRST ARTS CENTER

FOR MILITARY AND VETERANS”

Sponsorship Opportunities

vactb@outlook.com813.504.3092

6798 CROSSWINDS Dr NSt Petersburg Florida 33710

“Gaslight Square”

FRANKIE’S PATRIOT BBQ In Honor of CPL Frank R. Gross

Ad sponsored by Toni and Craig

Gross in memory of their son,

CPL Frank R. “Frankie” Gross,

who lost his life in Afghanistan,

7/16/2011.

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“Dragonfly, written by one of our own MOAA members, intrigued me from the start. The setting is the Presidential Elec-tion and the characters are all believa-ble. This very well researched book is diffi-cult to put down.” ~ Norm Belson

PEARL HARBOR COMMEMORATION DECEMBER 7, 2016

Thanks Charlann & Dave

Mason for taking our

event photos.

The Hodges Raffle Ticket Selling Team hard at

work. Proceeds went to Heaven on Earth for

Veterans Inc.

SFC David Mallory playing Taps to end

an excellent commemoration.

Roger Popham, MOAA St Petersburg President & Host, Dave Apt

MOAA Clearwater President and Steve Hodges Commander of

MOWW Clearwater

Dave & Shirley with Dave’s Mom Norma, what

an awesome family picture.

D-Day Veteran Bud Berry and wife Peggy enjoying the

luncheon, with high hopes of winning a raffle prize.

Boca Ciega High School JROTC Honor

Guard Performing, what a great job they

did. So proud of our “Pirates”.

USF Retired Professor, Gary R. Mormino,

gave an informative and entertaining

presentation on the Pearl Harbor attack.

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Drumbeat Honorable Mention 2003

Drumbeat 2nd Runner Up 2007

Drumbeat 2nd Runner Up 2009

Drumbeat Best Legislative Coverage 2011

Outstanding Chapter 1992

Five Star Chapter 2005

Four Star Chapter 2006-08

Four Star Chapter 2010-16

Show your military

ID card and receive

a 20% discount on a

facial. Support our

advertisers.

The Clearwater Chapter is looking forward to our 2nd Annual Charity Golf

Tournament. Our Board is seeking volunteers to assist with planning and exe-

cution of this fundraiser. Program Chair, Jim Patrick will spearhead our tour-

nament again, so we need committee volunteers to secure donors, sponsors,

golfers, assistance with publicity, general planning and administrative support.

If interested, please contact any Chapter Board of Director. You don’t have to be a golfer to

volunteer or make a donation. Our 1st tournament was a huge success raising over $3,000 for

our Chapter’s Charitable initiatives. This year our goal is even higher to cover our increasing

Clearwater Chapter charitable efforts. We welcome your support!

On 6 Dec 2016, this mural was

unveiled at The University of

Tampa’s ROTC Dept. This was a

joint project developed and com-

pleted by ROTC Cadets and stu-

dents studying under Ms. Mer-

rilee Jorn, Art Therapy Instructor.

LTC Scott Greco, Professor of

Military Science, presided over

the ceremony. Dave Mason rep-

resented our Chapter.

MOAA CLEARWATER CHAPTER MEMBERS “OUT AND ABOUT IN THE COMMUNITY”

Page 7

Ed Lechner, MOAA Clearwater Chapter member and

Perkins Restaurant Owner welcomes you to come

and enjoy a meal, open 24-7 Perkins Restaurant is

located in Clearwater, 2626 Gulf-to–Bay Blvd. Clear-

water, FL.727-799-2019. Stop by for breakfast,

lunch/ dinner, serving wine & beer.

2017 PART B PREMIUMS ANNOUNCED

November 18, 2016

Medicare finally announced the 2017 Part B premiums.

70 percent of Medicare beneficiaries won't see much of a Medicare Part B premium increase next year. If you're pay-ing $104.90 a month in 2016, you'll likely pay around $109 monthly next year. If you're paying more than that now, you'll probably see about another 10-percent hike for 2017.

The majority of beneficiaries won't see a large fee hike because of a “hold-harmless” law that caps most people's Part B premium increase at the dollar amount of the Social Security check cost-of-living adjustment (COLA). But that pro-tection doesn't apply for the following groups:

new Medicare enrollees in 2017 (who aren't “held harmless” because they never paid the lower premium); Medicare enrollees with incomes above $85,000 a year ($170,000 for a married couple), who already pay premiums higher than the basic $104.90; and People who are paying Medicare premiums but don't receive a Social Security check.

Not only are these groups not “held harmless,” but the law actually requires their premiums to be raised an extra amount to cover whatever total premium amount the held-harmless groups would have been paying if they hadn't been protected.

In other words, when a small or zero COLA triggers the hold-harmless provision, the three groups listed above end up having to pay their own premium hikes…and part of their neighbors', too. Last year, the zero-COLA meant a 52-percent increase for beneficiaries not held harmless. MOAA members sent over 24,000 messages to the Hill, and Con-gress intervened to protect these groups from having to pay any share of other people's premiums.

This year, because there was at least a .3 percent COLA, the penalty for the non-held-harmless groups isn't quite as severe. Further, Medicare officials already announced they will use Medicare reserves to partially ease the extra pre-miums imposed on these groups.

The chart below shows the 2017 monthly premium rates just announced by Medicare. Premiums for individuals with incomes less than $85K/$170K (single/married) may vary a dollar or two, because your individual premium will be based on the size of the COLA in your personal Social Security check.

Because Medicare is using its reserves to ease increases on those not held-harmless, some think there won't be as much pressure on Congress to step in with more relief. As a matter of principle, MOAA thinks it's wrong to make the groups already being asked to pay a larger share of their own Part B premiums to shoulder a share of someone else's, too.

That's why MOAA will be supporting relief legislation again this year. If successful, we estimate that would save the affected groups $8 to $15 per month ($16 to $30 for a married couple).

Source: See more at: http://www.moaa.org/Content/Take-Action/Top-Issues/Retirees/2017-Part-B-Premiums-Announced

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www.clearwatermoaa.org

Military Officers of America (MOAA)

Clearwater Chapter

P. O. Box 15521

Clearwater, FL 33766-5521