OPENING PLENARY SCRIPT - American Fraternal Alliance

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Now by your affirmative answers and by the authority vested in me as the installing officer, I declare you to be duly installed in the office to which you have been elected. I ask the new officers and directors of the NFCA to turn and face the audience. Ladies and gentlemen, these are your new officers and directors for the 2010-2011 term. Welcome them and support them in their work on your behalf. (Applause). Mark, if you and Terry would come to the stage, please. Thank you. IMMEDIATE PAST CHAIR TERRY RASMUSSEN: Thank you, Mark, and thanks to you all – membersociety representatives, state fraternal congress officers, NFCA Headquarters Staff, everyone from Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, and my husband, Jon. Thanks, Jon. You’ll get me back. I don’t know if that’s a good thing or not. We’re actually empty nesters this year so it will be an interesting ride. It has been my great pleasure and privilege to serve you and the entire fraternal benefit system. I can’t tell you how proud I am to be a part of this system. It’s a wonderful system. Mark, I now have something very special for you: an official NFCA gavel, engraved with your name and term of office. Actually, when I was getting my hair done today, I was thinking that I should hide it in my hair. My hair’s tall enough for it, I gotta tell you. As you preside over your NFCA Board Meetings and you star tomorrow! This mighty gavel, may it serve you well. I have served on the NFCA Board for a number of years and I have to say that this is a great board. We have a tremendous amount of respect for one another. It’s not that we always agree in the board room but we align like you would not believe. And I could not be prouder of this board. And I know when Barbara gave me the gavel last year she said this is for when you have to keep the peace. I am very proud to say that I have never actually had to take it out and bang anybody over the head. (Laughter) But I give this to Mark with the same message—to keep the peace-- and may I hope that you never have to use it – for that purpose. Because we are a great board. We have so much respect for one another. Mark, I know how much you deserve this great honor. It’s been such a privilege to serve with Mark on the Board and I am so pleased that he is ascending to this title and I know with full confidence that he will serve this organization very well. You are in very good hands under his leadership. And so with that I say “congratulations” and God speed and give you a hug. CHAIR MARK. THEISEN: Thank you very much. Now, don’t go yet. Terry has been a true leader and has led us through some very difficult challenges on behalf of all fraternals over the last year, during her term. To honor and thank Terry for her leadership, we are honored to present her with a gift, that expresses our gratitude for her work and accomplishment as our chair of the board this past year. Terry, the gift is actually on that table, if you would like to go and unveil it. We know, Terry, that you are an avid reader and have plenty of law books in your office. We hope that these book ends will help organize your favorite books, as well as serve as a reminder of the year that you served as chair of the board, for all your hard work and your many contributions this year. Terry, for all your hard work this year, we are pleased to present you with this gift. 60
T. RASMUSSEN: Thank you so much, Mark. And now, I’m going to have to say something. I love reading. What you don’t know is that my husband collect bookends So we have two sets of Abraham Lincoln bookends in our house because he forgot that he bought one set in a flea market someplace. And I am so very honored because I do love reading and this will fit in our house like you would not believe. So thank you. CHAIR MARK. THEISEN: I just want to thank you, Terry, and I certainly feel the same way about her and the many contributions she has made.to the NFCA during her time serving both as Vice Chair and as Chair of the Board. And thank you very much for the gavel, Terry. I will try to use it in the way you intend and not bang anyone over the head with it. I want to thank all of you delegates for supporting the slate of nominees that were presented this morning. And I thank you for your faith and confidence in me. I want you to know how I am honored to serve as chair of the board of American Fraternal Alliance. And thanks to all of you who voted in favor of the name change. The fact that the vote was unanimous added a fitting punctuation mark, an exclamation point, to the work of the Branding Task Force, of many of our board members, and also certainly the hard work of Joe and our great staff. So thank you very much. (Applause) Serving as chair would not be possible without the support of Woodmen of the World’s President and CEO Danny Cummins, my Board of Directors and my colleagues at Woodmen. I would like all of them please stand as I thank them for their support. (Applause) Just as I acknowledged and recognized all that has been achieved this past year under Terry’s leadership—I thank you again, Terry—we all owe a a big thank you to Joe Annotti and our great Fraternal Alliance staff for a successful year as well. Thank you. (Applause) And what a year it was. 2010 has been challenging for fraternals. We have been challenged by unsteady financial markets, increased regulatory scrutiny, and states seeking additional sources of revenue. Under Terry and Joe’s leadership, the fraternal system did not fall victim to these challenges; we anticipated them, addressed them proactively, and accomplished significant public policy victories. We faced serious threats to our tax exemption this past year—not at the federal level, but from the states. The Speaker of the Hawaii House of Representatives introduced legislation for the second year in a row to repeal the fraternal tax exemption. In the State of Washington, legislation to repeal the fraternal tax exemption was introduced after a committee questioned whether our fraternal exemption continued to fulfill public policy objectives. Our fraternal members reacted swiftly to these threats and after successful campaigns coordinated by Joe and Elizabeth Snyder, both pieces of legislation were defeated. But that does not mean the threats are over. Our experience tells us that we must be vigilant and always prepared for future challenges, especially given the tight budgets legislators face and will face for the foreseeable future. In fact, we are tracking developments in 18 states – including several, like Texas, Georgia, South Carolina and Virginia, that have created special committees to determine whether exempt organizations still fulfill the original public policy objectives that justified their exemption in the first place. This “early warning system” that monitors legislative developments is one of the most valuable services our Fraternal Alliance provides. But it will take more than monitoring and reacting to be successful. We must be prepared to go on the offense. And, realize that with these challenges comes opportunity—an opportunity to educate 61
Page 1 and 2:
2010 NFCA Annual Meeting September
Page 3 and 4:
Fraternal Congress actively sponsor
Page 5 and 6:
NFCA Headquarters Office The headqu
Page 7 and 8:
TABLE OF CONTENTS Opening Session O
Page 9 and 10: We have a new text messaging servic
Page 11 and 12: As you may recall, in 2009, the NFC
Page 13 and 14: us easy to plug in anywhere you mig
Page 15 and 16: Chicago. When people work together,
Page 17 and 18: GENERAL SESSION 9 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
Page 19 and 20: The Governance Committee submits fo
Page 21 and 22: like to thank each member of the co
Page 23 and 24: The overall costs relating to staff
Page 25 and 26: As you know, delegates to this 124
Page 27 and 28: Third, that the geographic scope of
Page 29 and 30: fraternals. Thank you for your time
Page 31 and 32: Along with that, we’ve also made
Page 33 and 34: There was a clear-cut winner but th
Page 35 and 36: As a teacher, she contributes selfl
Page 37 and 38: program for our members to attend.
Page 39 and 40: 9/11 MEMORIAL SERVICE Saturday, Sep
Page 41 and 42: to the Coast Guard Station. At the
Page 43 and 44: MR. TIM SCHWAN, THRIVENT FINANCIAL
Page 45 and 46: Montgomery (MS). Mike worked for fo
Page 47 and 48: Hearing no further nominations, is
Page 49 and 50: MS. GOULART: Madam Chair, officers,
Page 51 and 52: “I’m talking about your fratern
Page 53 and 54: either the association staff or me.
Page 55 and 56: members’ solvency. That’s not w
Page 57 and 58: CLOSING DINNER 7 p.m. Saturday, Sep
Page 59: For terms of three years each, the
Page 63 and 64: 2009-2010 National Fraternal Congre
Page 65 and 66: Constitution Committee JoAnn Abt, C
Page 67 and 68: CONSTITUTION of The NATIONAL FRATER
Page 69 and 70: Section 2. Upon request of delegate
Page 71 and 72: The officers of the NFCA shall be a
Page 73 and 74: ARTICLE XIV Sections The Board of D
Page 75 and 76: Chicago Illinois Auditorium Hotel A
Page 77 and 78: Toronto Ontario Royal York Hotel Se
Page 79 and 80: Past Presidents of the National Fra
Page 81 and 82: 1971-1972 Nick T. Newberry 1972-197
Page 83 and 84: Polish Roman Catholic Union of Amer
Page 85: STATE FRATENRAL CONGRESSES Arizona
show all

OPENING PLENARY SCRIPT - American Fraternal Alliance

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?