Guten Tag!
Wow, what year so far. To think we are in April already. 2023 is starting to fly by but we are trying to stay ahead of things: your officers and board members are all working hard to plan upcoming events. The first item that GAPA will be participating in is the 2nd Annual Ethnic Event, on Wednesday, May 17, at noon, hosted by FOP Lodge #7, 1412 W. Washington Blvd., Chicago. We had a great time last year and I’m glad to see the lodge host it again. It is a great opportunity to show members of the Chicago Police Department that GAPA is there for them and hopefully get a few new members, too.
Moving on, our annual Golf outing will be held on Monday June 12, 2023.. This will be our 26th year of this event. Shotgun start time will be 8:30 a.m. Please see the forms in this newsletter for further information. I hope to see a lot of members, not only golf but maybe get a hole sponsor of two?
A new segment to write about is “You’ve Got No GAPA Mail.” Are some you of missing the GAPA all call and other group emails we send out? I get numerous returned/ rejected as being undeliverable, so if you’re not getting them, let Membership Chair Jeff Schuck know: gapamembership@ gmail.com. And please use your personal email — the most common rejects come from @chicagopolice.org.
GAPA on Facebook? That’s right, GAPA is on Facebook. We actually have two Facebook pages. The first is unsecured and still active; the second is secure and administered by Board Member Clint Wagner. If you’re interested in joining, send Clint Wagner an email at [email protected] or use Facebook messenger to reach him at Clint Wagner.
And speaking of computers, make sure to check out our new website: gapachicago.org. The site is maintained by Digi Search, a small company that’s doing an excellent job for our organization: It is up and running and up to date. We’re tying to add a calendar of events but it’s a bit more time consuming than I thought. I hope to have it done in the not too distant future.
Like I said, your Board has been working diligently for this organization. During the February and March board meetings, the cost of meeting night expenses have come up because they’ve gone up considerably. To help defer the costs we tried a food donation jug, hoping those who choose to take food home would help offset the rise in our catering costs. And it’s helped, but not enough, so with much reluctance, starting in September our door cost will go from $15 to $20. It’s unfortunate, but GAPA can’t keep absorbing the rising cost of food, refreshments and minor expenses for each meeting; this is supposed to be a break-even affair. But where else can you go and get a very good catered meal and excellent German Beer for $20.00?
I hope to see you all at an upcoming meeting or one of our upcoming events.