ESGR

April 12, 2006

*OFFICE OF THE ADJUTANT GENERAL*
*1300 MILITARY ROAD**, ROOM 20 *
*LINCOLN, NE. 68508-1090*
*Office 402-309-7309
Web Site - neguard.org
**April 12, 2006***
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The Retiree Council met on this date at 1300 hours. The following Board of Directors were present: Vice President Fred Gustin, Treasurer Ron Kroon, and Secretary Jerry Chenoweth. Members at Large: Al Peate, Ollie Sapp, Bill Nelson, Dave Petersen, and John Bailey.

Fred called the meeting to order. The minutes of the previous meeting were read. There were no additions or corrections. The minutes stand as read.

*OLD BUSINESS:*
*Again we remind the few members who have not paid their 2006 dues; your dues are over due pleasE send them to the Council office as soon as possible.*

Fred reported on his trip to the Western part of the State with the Adjutant Generals staff. They conducted briefings in Scottsbluff on March 31, North Platte on April 1 and Kearney on April 2. Fred represented the Retirees Council and gave a short talk about the Council and it benefits. He said the question and answers lasted much longer than his talk. Retirees were unaware of some of the benefits due them; so the talk was very beneficial. Also present was Tri Care representative Jennifer Fotinos who answered questions on prescriptions and medical benefits. Fred also signed up some new members who attended the meetings.

The request for funding for a Family Program sponsored family day has been canceled as there was a conflict due to deployments on the same day. The Council tabled the request last month; if the event is rescheduled we will look at this again. * *

A member of the Retiree Council wrote to ask about the possibility of paying to have prescriptions sent to individuals. Mailing prescriptions is cost prohibitive for the Family Program Office and it takes up more of their time which they need to devote to their main jobs such as deployments, returns and also a shortage of manpower. Those retirees 60 and over can get prescriptions from most pharmacies or from the mail order Express-Scripts Pharmacy. Mail order will come directly to your home for the cost of most prescriptions of $9.00 for a 90 day supply. Enclosed with these minutes is an article from Stars and Stripes, please read this because it will affect everyone on Tricare.

Ron asked about when to send out reminder cards to people who have not paid their dues for 2006. In the past this was done in June but he would like to do it earlier. This was discussed during the April meeting to determine how many have not paid by this time. He will send the reminders in May.
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Act on the rehabilitation hospital for veterans in San Antonio, TX. We tabled this discussion at the March meeting and it was tabled again in the April meeting.
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*NEW BUSINESS:*
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Members: check out the new look of the National Guard Association and the Nebraska Military Retiree Council web site. It has been updated by Susan Ranta our web master and SGT Carlos Van Nurden. It looks great. Go to neguard.org and click on RETIREE COUNCIL.
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Those of you that have paid their dues since late January, you will receive your membership card with these minutes. To save postage we send them out in the quarterly minutes.

John presented the fact we need more help on Wednesday mornings to man the office. We will put out the call to see if some of our Council members can help with this task.

The Family Program Office has asked for help on Wednesdays to help pick up prescriptions at Offutt. The person that volunteers would be able to ride to and from Offutt and would have to buy their own lunch. This help would consist of checking out the prescriptions. If anyone could help with this; contact SPC Michelle DeGarmo at 402-309-7332 or 800-432-6778.

The Family Program Office has now moved across the street to the 1776 building. The entrance is on the South side and there are no steps to reach their office. So far there has been no progress in creating a web site for their office. They are planning to have a link to the Council web site.

Please note the new phone number for the Council office; this should be a permanent number for us. At the present it is connected to a mail box, we hope to have a telephone set connected to this line soon.

The annual Midwest Chapter picnic is planned for June 3; it will be at the Cosmos cabin, Johnson Lake. Starts at 2:00 pm eat at 4:00 pm. Bring your chairs, drinks and chips, the rest will be furnished. Contact Bill Smets at 308-324-4333 for the details.

Jerry suggested that the Treasurer E-mail on a monthly basis the current membership list to all the Board members and Coordinators Ron said this would be no problem.

Bill made the motion to provide free member ship for one year to non members, especially those just retiring and those close to their 60^th birthday. They would receive minutes for one year to get them acquainted with our organization. Ron seconded the motion and it was approved. We have to work out the time frames as yet.

As there was no more business to come before the Council, the meeting was adjourned.

*/Jerry Chenoweth/*
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*/Secretary/*
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