Happy New Year! With this issue of the newsletter, we begin both a new year and a new decade together.
2019 was a year of great challenges and great accomplishments for us. I recounted much of the year in last month’s column, but as surely as I thought 2019’s crises were behind us, we were greeted with another tragedy – a Huntsville police officer was shot and killed in the line of duty. Once again, we rose to the challenge of feeding and supporting the local police in the wake of a tragedy. This time, special recognition goes to Board member Joe DiNoto and Treasurer Chris Karlson for handling local efforts in such an exemplary manner. Many thanks to Joe and Chris for their superior service. And we were assisted by Sandy Mangold, Executive Director of our national organization, who was able to marshal national companies’ support to augment the local help.
As proud as I am – as we are – of our chapter, and as much as we sincerely believe that we have the best FBI Citizens Academy Alumni Chapter in the nation, we have room for improvement. We could do more and better outreach into the community, there are initiatives that we could undertake, we have committees that could function more effectively; but above and beyond those items, the most pressing issue for us is that we could and should have more opportunities for members to get together.
That last item is the one we will focus on with laser-like intensity this year. We WILL have multiple opportunities for our membership to come together, socialize, network, and learn from one another, as well as to enjoy programs and presentations from FBI personnel.
The first general membership event is on the horizon – we will hold our Annual Meeting at 2:00 on Sunday, January 12th, in the Community Room of the Vestavia Hills Library in the Forest. We hope you’ll make plans to attend. You will receive more information about the event under separate cover, but please join us.
--- Paul H. Franklin, President
FBI Birmingham CAAA
