FRA Branch 159 met at Kelly's Country Cookin in Meadows Place at 1600 on March 10th.  Branch President Bruce Talbot, Branch Secretary Nicole Talbot, Michael Chance, Karl Gerhards, Terry Merten and Linda Merten were in attendance.  FRA National and Regional issues were discussed.  The Board of Directors met in the months of January and February and decided that, going forward, monthly meetings would be held on a rotating basis.  Geo-mapping indicates that the majority of local FRA members are located in Northwest, Southwest, and Southeast areas of Houston.  We will try and locate standard meeting places rotating through each every quarter.  Kelly's Country Cookin in Meadows Place was selected as a standard meeting place for the Southwest Houston area.  For the April meeting, a location near the Clear Lake / League City area will be explored.   We will look in the Northwest area near Spring / Tomball area for the May meeting.  Once we have decided upon standard locations, they will be posted on the Branch website.  Special occasions may be held in other locations.

Shipmate Michael Chance will update the FRABranch159.com website accordingly.  Notices will be sent out monthly through the Branch 159 Yahoo Gourp.  Shipmate Michael Chance will also draft and mail an informational letter to all Branch members informing them of the changes, inviting them to join the Branch Yahoo Group, and also visit the Branch website frequently.

Shipmates,

Through the final quarter of 2018 the Branch Board of Directors have been negotiating the sale of the Branch Home.  It was sold to Modern Plumbing, next door.  One of our founding members, who presented the building to the FRA was one of the founding partners of Modern Plumbing, so they were given the first opportunity to purchase the property.

Members of the Board of Directors have spent the last 3 months going through the items and memorabilia located at the Branch Home and trying to find the correct disposition for it.  Archives of Branch activities, minutes, and membership logs were properly destroyed by shredding.  The trailer and Destroyer were transferred to another FRA Branch.  Some items were donated to other local veterans related groups.  Some items such as the flags and other meeting related property will be placed in a storage locker for future use.  The ship and organization plaques will be offered through veteran's group pages on the internet for a donation plus shipping costs.

The Board of Directors will be meeting in January 2019 to determine the future location, dates, and times for meetings going forward.  We will send out notifications to all of our current members once decisions have been made.

​FRA Branch 159 met on Sunday July 8th with 5 members in attendance: Branch President, Branch Secretary, and Three Board Members
 
Responses regarding the future of FRA Branch 159 from branch members were discussed as well as discussions about any other alternatives.  Having no other viable solutions, a motion was made, seconded, and passed, to sell the FRA Branch 159 building as soon as possible.  One potential buyer already exists and Shipmate President will make contact to determine if there will be an acceptable offer.  Otherwise he will contact a local realtor for assistance with the sale.
 
Memorabilia located in the branch home will be returned to the owners if they can be found.  Meeting furniture, tables, chairs, etc will be offered to local veteran’s organizations, museums, etc.  All other movable property not transferred to another military related organization may be distributed for a donation to the branch treasury.  Other property within the building such as plumbing, electrical fixtures, appliances, etc will remain with the building to be turned over to the buyer.  Disposition of any items require the approval of the Branch President prior to removal from the building.
 
FRA Branch 159 will continue as an active organization in the Greater Houston/Galveston area.  Future meeting dates and locations will be determined later and communicated to members.  

Shipmates & Ladies,

Our September meeting was cancelled because of the Hurricane, but there was no damage to the Branch Home.  However, since we had already invited some potential new members, Shipmates Talbot, Vance, and Chance spent a couple of hours at the Branch Home to greet anyone that may come by.  There were no visitors at that time.  Shipmate Chance did make a big pot of homemade beef vegetable soup that was delicious.  

The October Branch meeting was held today with Shipmate President Bruce Talbot, Secretary/Treasurer Nicole Talbot, and Shipmates, Leo Vance, Mitch Landry, Don Gray, and Michael Chance in attendance.  Shipmate Leo Vance whipped up a dinner of spaghetti and meatballs, bread sticks, pasta salad, and lettuce salad. 

At the Branch Meeting, Shipmate President went over highlights of the National Convention that was recently held.  The 2018 FRA National Convention will be held in San Antonio, TX.  The 2017-2018 FRA Americanism/Patriotism Essay Contest theme "What Patriotism Means To Me" was announced.

Shipmates Michael Chance, Bruce Talbot, and Leo Vance attended that annual Military Appreciation Day event at Ellington Field on Saturday October 7th.  We had the pleasure of meeting many prospective members and their spouses.   

On Saturday, November 4th we will be having an open house at the Branch Home with Hot Dogs and all the fixins, and possibly ice cream.  Shipmates are asked to announce this to any sea service veterans who may want to see if they want to become members.

On Sunday, November 12th we will have our regular Branch meeting.  We have invited a representative from Dignity Memorial to come and talk about burial benefits for veterans.  Shipmate Leo Vance is also planning on making a turkey dinner for this meeting.

On Sunday, December 10th we will have a regular Branch meeting and Shipmate Leo will be cooking up a holiday theme dinner.

All current shipmates are cordially invited to our monthly meetings.  Please let any sea service enlisted members (Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard Enlisted, Active, Reserve, Retired, or Veteran) know that they are welcome to come by and meet us and see if they would be interested in becoming a member.

In Loyalty, Protection & Service
Michael D. Chance, FRA Branch 159

Shipmates,

Due to the effects on some of our members by Hurricane Harvey, the September Branch 159 meeting will be cancelled.  The Branch Home did not sustain any flooding or other damage and is in good shape.  Our next regular meeting will be on Sunday October 8th at the regular time.  Please see the previous post for the schedule for the remainder of the year.