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FROM OUR PRESIDENT

Welcome to the new Chicagoland/O’Hare Chapter website. We have achieved one of our chapter’s goals in bringing a website on line. The website is designed to keep the membership informed of our chapter’s recent events, upcoming events, the chapter’s newsletters and much more. I hope it will inspire more members to become active again. There will be more to come in the future. 

For any new members to our website, please be advised that the date of the most recent updates will be found at the bottom of our home page. I do my best to make sure the regular monthly updates are completed by the first of the new month.

Please remember to notify your chapter and AFA of any changes to your personal information regarding address, phone, e-mail, etc. We don't want to lose contact with you.

Let’s be sure to keep all the men and women who serve our country in our thoughts and pray for those in combat areas for a safe return home to their families.

Quarterly Newsletter

 1st Quarter, January 1st- March 31st, 2022

Hello Members,


Nationwide, well, maybe with the exception of California, we have arrived at the end of virus crud.  My community actually had less closures than in other towns in Illinois and I applaud these merchants and our mayor   Even with this new variant, everything remains open here in Kankakee County.


Hopefully, our leaders for our AFJROTC, ROTC, and Civil Air Patrol Squadrons will be able to have their usual awards programs this spring.  With my reminders to them concerning their annual awards programs, I know I will hear from them soon.  we


Things are picking up a bit for us, too, we hope .  Don, our V.P. of Aerospace Education, has contacted several organizations with our rocket building, and launching, program.   If anyone knows of an organization who would like to learn how to build rockets and launch them, please let us know.

Although I've expressed this idea, and have had no response, I still have the desire to split up our very large chapter into sections with a V.P. of each chapter section holding monthly meetings at a local restaurant; however, just finding members to fill our open slots in our board is like pulling teeth with tweezers. Wouldn't any of you like to spend one morning, or evening, a month conversing with members of the organization you support? If someone feels the way I do, please contact me. Or, please consider holding down one of the open positions. Believe me, help is needed.

 Membership is everyone's business; however, it would be nice to find a volunteer to officially assume a position. Or, if you would just like to pass out flyers to people you know or meet, without having a title, I will be glad to send you some flyers. Just let me know.  

One of the best things about our AFA is the fact that anyone who would like to support our Air Force may become a member. I have picked up a couple of civilians who had stated to me that, in retrospect, they wished they had joined one of our military branches years ago. After my explaining to them that our organization accepts anyone, they joined.

I know I keep asking all of you to try to recruit just one person to our organization, which would almost double the size of our chapter, but it's because this is so important. During the past five or six years we have lost many chapter members, whether this has been due to the deaths of our aging membership, or members having moved away to a warmer climate. We have gained a bit and now have 1,028 members, which includes the members who transferred in from the closed Galesburg/Peoria Chapter 172. Our chapter area has now grown to the northern half of Illinois.

Please keep recruiting in your minds. You may not be physically involved with our chapter, wanting to just be a member, read our magazine, and look at this website. However, you knew the importance of your becoming a member when you joined and nothing has changed in that respect. This is your chapter and we, as well as AFA on the whole, need your help.

Respectfully,

Jerry Ashley

Chapter President

Webmaster's reminder:

At the bottom of each page is the date of the latest update(s) for your convenience.

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