 Volume 18, Number 3 Summer 2004 Page 1 of 3 |
FALL NEWSLETTER DEADLINE |
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Volume 18, Number 3 Summer 2004 Page 1 of 3 |
FALL NEWSLETTER DEADLINE |
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MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT Mark Webb • FWOA Magazine Update The FWOA Board has continued to work on creating a magazine for FWOA. We currently have four individuals that have notified the Board that they are interested in working for us as editors. We have reviewed their credentials and VP Goessman has made some follow-up telephone calls. We are hoping to work out the editor position(s) in the near future. We may go with a main editor and two assistant editors. These are ideas that we are just kicking around at this time. If you have any thoughts on this issue, please contact a Board member and pass them along. If you, or someone you know, has the ability and interest to do this very important job, please have them contact me. These will be a paid positions!
We are also working with Matt Tully, an attorney from Albany, NY, who has agreed to provide legal service to our Association at no charge. We have entered into an agreement with Mr. Tully and are looking forward to working with him.
Mr. Tully is reviewing the legal status of FWOA publishing a magazine, so that we do not inadvertently violate any federal laws, regulations, or ethics. He will also be reviewing our proposed contract with Paul Dinerman of Brent-Wyatt West publishing who is being retained to publish and solicit sponsorships for the magazine. The easy part is now done and the work is just beginning! I am again encouraging each one of you to take time to put your thoughts to paper for a future article in YOUR magazine. You have heard the Board members and Regional Reps state many times over and again, that the success of this project lies with the members and their willingness to provide articles for the magazine. Don't wait until the last minute and try to write something prior to a deadline. Get started now! Let's all provide a quality product so our readers will look forward to receiving and reading each issue! This project can easily be the avenue to many
successful projects for FWOA. If you are not a
writer, put your thoughts down and pass them along to
someone who is, and work with them to make your
ideas into a great story.
By each of us working together, I'm sure we can produce a quality product that we'll all be proud to be associated with. •Commemorative Handgun I am still working on creating a commemorative handgun to be issued by FWOA. The possible options are a Sig Sauer Model P-226 or P-229 in either .40, .357 Sig, or 9MM caliber for $592.54; or a Model P-220 in .45 caliber for $597.71. The gun will be laser engraved with our badge on the top of the slide. The pistol will come with night sights and three law enforcement high capacity magazines. All necessary taxes and shipping will have to be added to the above prices. A minimum of 25 pistols of each model must be ordered. Sig is currently making a prototype slide for my review. Once I have had an opportunity to examine it for quality, I will be providing an order form for all members and nonmembers to place an order. It has been a number of years since an opportunity such as this has been made available by FWOA, so I am expecting a large number of orders. If any member is interested in assisting with this program, I could sure use the help!!! • Retiree Badges/Credentials I want to remind all retired Special Agents that the Service is now issuing "RETIRED" Special Agent credentials. The cost of the credentials is being picked up by FWOA for members. If you have not gotten yours yet, contact the Washington, D.C. office, so that you can complete the necessary paperwork, supply a photograph, and get the ball rolling! If you are not a member of FWOA and would like for the Association to pay for your credentials, it is not too late to sign up or rejoin. • FLETC Special Agent Training Our newest class of Special Agents are in training at FLETC. I believe they graduate in October. I know many of you will be involved in their training. I've heard many good reports about the quality of the members of this new class and we look forward to welcoming them all as members of FWOA. • North American Wildlife Enforcement Officers Association Conference I have been very busy preparing for the upcoming North American Wildlife Enforcement Officers Association Conference to be held in Winnipeg, Manitoba. FWOA will again be sponsoring the Fallen Officer Memorial Torch Run/Walk, to be held at the Peace Gardens on July 21, 2004. In addition to organizing the run/walk, FWOA will also be operating a booth at the conference. We have had a very positive response from the NAWEOA the past few years and we are hoping to build on it again this year. If any members are planning to attend, please let me know as we sure could use some assistance. A special note for this year's conference, SA Tim Santel will be recognized as the Officer of the Year by NAWEOA. Congratulations to a very deserving officer!!!
• Name the Magazine FWOA will be sponsoring a contest to name our new magazine. A one year free membership to FWOA, a hat, and a coffee mug will be available to the SA, family member, or friend who submits the winning entry. I encourage all of you to give it some thought and send in your entries. Please submit names to Bill Anderson, Treasurer. We are starting to receive some entries. The magazine is going to become a reality so we will need a good name. Give it your best shot! We want to hear from you! • Teleconference Meeting A special teleconference meeting was held by the Board
and Regional Reps on Saturday, June 19, 2004, regarding a
change to the FWOA by-laws. A vote was held and a new
by-law created for a separate Secretary position in anticipation of
the increased work load presented by start-up of the new
magazine. SA Ellen Kiley volunteered to accept the new
position until a vote of the members at next year's In-Service
meeting. SA Bill Anderson will retain the position as Treasurer. I
would like to thank Ellen for accepting this new and
challenging position. She will also retain her position as Regional
Rep for Region 5. Please provide her with as much assistance
as you can.
On June 20, 2004, the drunk driver that caused
the injury to SA Bruce Toloski will be sentenced in
District Court in Norwalk, CA, by Superior Court
Judge Raul A. Sahagun. It has been over a year since
Bruce was injured on April 11, 2003. Fellow agents of
Bruce's and FWOA have written letters to the judge
requesting a maximum sentencing for the defendant. We
pray that justice will be served and that Bruce and Lisa
will be able to continue to piece their lives back
together. We are all looking forward to Bruce's full recovery. SA Lisa Nichols has advised me that she is back to work full time and putting in many more hours than she should trying to play catch up. As our work loads continue to increase, we need to remind her that it is a never ending battle. We wish Lisa congratulations on her recovery, and we are glad to have her back on the job! • Note of Thanks
I would like to express my sincere appreciation and thanks to the Association for presenting me with a plaque recognizing my service as a founding member and officer. The 12 years I spent as a Regional Rep, Secretary/Treasurer and President were fun, frustrating, tough, special, and rewarding. I am proud of the Association, what it stands for, and my membership in it. Thank you all for your kindness.
Sincerely, Kevin M. O'Brien In closing, I would like to remind all of you that
the man who really counts in the world is the doer,
not the mere critic__the man who actually does the
work, even if roughly and imperfectly, not the man who
only talks or writes about how it ought to be done.
Get those articles for the new magazine written.
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MESSAGE FROM THE VICE PRESIDENT Doug Goessman In the last three months, we have been moving forward with the FWOA magazine and have accomplished several things.
First, I just wanted to take a few minutes and remind the FWOA members, and anyone else who may read this newsletter on our website, the FWOA is still interested in hearing from anyone who would like to be an editor for the magazine. If anyone has an interest in becoming an editor, please email your one page résumé to President Mark Webb or Vice President Doug Goessman.
As it looks right now, the FWOA would like to have two or three editors. These would be paid positions with the salary scrutinized after the first year of the magazine publication. Two editors would be "in the field" writing articles for the magazine and a third editor (a managing editor) would gather, organize, proof, and format the articles for placement in the FWOA magazine. With this many editors we hope to have a number of quality articles for each magazine. We have already received inquires about becoming an editor from three good applicants.
We are still planning to run two editions of the magazine for our first year. The two editions would coincide with the one year contract the FWOA reaches with the publisher. At the end of the first year, the FWOA can examine the success of the magazine, and at that time, enter into another contract or not, depending on the success of the magazine. Right now the major question is whether or not there are any federal laws or regulations that would prevent the FWOA from publishing, distributing, and receiving money from an FWOA magazine. President Mark Webb has been in contact with an attorney and has forwarded a copy of the FWOA bylaws and incorporation documents to the attorney. We will keep you informed of what Mark finds out from the attorney.
Once we receive the go ahead from the attorney, the FWOA can then enter into a one year contract with the publisher, Brent-Wyatt West publishing in Phoenix, AZ. After the contract is signed we can select our editors; magazine sponsors can be contacted by the publisher and magazine advertisements sold; and articles will then be edited and submitted for publication. Finally, if anyone has any ideas for naming the magazine, please let Mark Webb, Bill Anderson, Ellen Kiley, or I know. We are totally open to suggestions, so please think it over and give us your thoughts.
Thanks and stay safe.
Doug Goessman UPDATES FROM THE TREASURER Bill Anderson
The results are in for the scholarship ballot and we all should be very disappointed with the number of votes cast. Motion #1: Table until next year the proposal to have a scholarship available for a child of a Charter Member to attend college until funds available for sustaining such a scholarship is determined; received 11 votes.
Motion #2: Proposal to have to have a scholarship in the amount of $500 available for a child of a Charter Member to attend college, applications to be received by March 1, 2005, with application criteria to be determined by the Scholarship Committee; received 7 votes.
18 total votes cast out of 165 Active Charter Members disappointing is an understatement. The results, however, are final and we will wait a year.
Latest amounts in the FWOA accounts as of May 13, 2004, are $12,554.70 (checking) and $24,238.54 (savings). While this may seem like an increase in funds we still have checks outstanding to Benchmade (knife order) for $8,000, and the checking account contains money we have collected for the Torch Run which amounts to several thousand dollars. So we are still hovering at about $25,000 in FWOA funds. Hopefully the FWOA magazine will take off and money concerns will shift from "how much do we have" to "what shall we use our money for". It all depends on active Charter Member participation.
Enjoy your Summer, and think about putting an article or two together for the new magazine.
Bill Anderson
Scattergunning the LE Get Together Wow! Every year I think it can't get any better than
this but somehow every year these Retired LE Get
Togethers just get better and better. The 2004 fling was no
different. It simply exceeded all expectations. Starting with
a Thursday evening BBQ which included a group of current Special Agents who were in attendance at
an In-Service training session, through a wonderful
banquet on Friday and superb social on
Saturday evening, everything was simply great. Wondering whatever happened to Bob Slattery, Bud Lowery and Larry Wills? Answers later on.
`Round and About So Many of you folks have written to me with
information worthy of inclusion in Scattergunning, however,
I am just not able to include all this great stuff in
this year's editions. Maybe next year. Last year we lost two more of our fellow wildlife officers. Don Krieble died in March 2003 at his long time home in Lubbock, TX. Charles "Van" Carlton of Louisiana passed way in May 2003 after a long illness. During his last day he left the hospital to go home because he wanted to GO while fishing, which he did. They were both great protectors of wildlife and will be missed.
Next LE Get Together The group of retirees voted to hold next year's LE Get Together in Reno, NV, so plan on joining us in early May 2005 for a wonderful time.
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