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MAJ Lorraine Holland, US Army (ret)

Free Virtual Veterans Earned Benefits

Benefits, Special Events / By

Law Offices of Hoyt & Bryan Free Virtual Veterans Earned Benefits May 14th 9:30am

For those of you who attend our monthly luncheons, you may have passed on congratulations to CAPT (ret) Randy Bryan, who recently retired from the Navy Reserves last year in the JAG Corps with 31 years of dedicated service. I’ve known Randy since 2004, when I met his Grandma in my Grandma’s nursing home at Lutheran Haven. Randy holds monthly free virtual informative sessions on various topics. When he has a virtual session geared toward our veterans, I recommend that any veteran or family member attend to get the latest information about our veterans’ benefits. Randy does not handle service-connected disability claims. An invitation from Randy:  Are you a military veteran—or do you know someone who is? Many veterans aren’t fully aware of the extensive benefits they’ve earned. Join us on May 14th at 9:30 am for an informative session covering veteran medical benefits, service-connected disability compensation, non-service-connected pension program, and more. Don’t miss this opportunity to learn how to access the support and resources available to those who’ve served. Randy C. Bryan, J.D., B.C.S.  Board Certified by the Florida Bar in Elder Law and Wills, Trusts and Estates Hoyt & Bryan, LLC  254 Plaza Drive, Oviedo, FL 32765 

 (407) 977-8080 Push on the link below or register on   https://hoytbryan.com

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Lorraine Holland

President’s Message – May 2025

Presidents Message / By

President’s Message

It is with great pride I announce that our 2025 JROTC Scholarship Selection Board chose 8 of the finest cadets in Central Florida! We are now up to 37 JROTC High Schools in our catchment area. Without the generosity of our chapter members to contribute to our scholarship fund, our ability to issue a check for $1,000 to each cadet would not be possible. I thank you for seeing the goodness of our program and supporting the future leaders of our military! I would be remiss if I didn’t thank members of our chapter for making our scholarship program a reality on April 12th: LTC Dean Ptaszynski, COL Kin La Fate, LTC Mike and Vicki Gillett, CDR Randy Fiebrandt and our photographer Nita Seng. I hope you take the time to read the attached bios of each of the 8 cadets. We honored the cadets, their family and cadre on April 12th with a luncheon, and each year I remind myself that this is the most celebrated luncheon of the year with our members. I want to also thank COL Bob Brogan for overseeing and keeping track of the MOAA JROTC Leadership Medal program with our 37 JROTC High Schools (no easy task to keep up with). Several of our chapter members continue to present the MOAA medal to the Junior Cadets, and it’s always exciting to see the delight on the cadets faces as they cheer on their fellow cadets!

This Memorial Day on the 26th day of May, it’s up to all of us to honor the legacy and memory of our fallen noble heroes who we memorialize on what makes our nation exceptionally extraordinary, For some of us, every day is Memorial Day as we accept the deaths of those we know who gave their lives for love of country and democracy we so cherish. We look upon them as our own beloved sons and daughters knowing their patriotic sacrifices live on through safeguarding their memories by future generations to come. President Reagan reminded us that “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction.”

I want to welcome CPT’s Ashley and Stephen Orf who joined our MOAA family (both West Point graduates). Ashley is active in the veteran community as the VFW Auxiliary Senior Vice President of Winter Springs Post 5405. We all send her and Stephen our best wishes to welcome their first bundle of joy this September (their baby will be our newest Honorary MOAA family member).

I encourage you to attend our May 13th Chapter Luncheon to help celebrate LT Ted Goodwin and COL Carol Reagles 95th May birthdays and hear informative information from our Central Florida Quilts of Valor representative Valerie Philon, who will honor Ted and Carol with a Quilt of Valor to thank them and honor them for their years of service. For those of you that will be taking vacations during the upcoming months, please make memorable memories, and safe travels on your journeys!
Cheers, Lorraine

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MOAA CFC Board President

President’s Message – March 2025

Presidents Message / By

President’s Message
With all the delightful warm weather we are having, the new green buds on our trees lets us know that Spring has Sprung! Luckily, we are turning our clocks forward on March 9th to give us an extra hour of sunshine for all the new growth that is occurring. I’m wishing you all the luck of the Irish on St. Patricks’ Day on March 17th, and don’t forget to “Welcome Home” our Vietnam Veterans on their special day on March 29th. Mark your calendar for March 11th as we are having our monthly luncheon with special guest speaker Brittany Parks, the Strategic Director for Concerned Veterans for America (CVA). CVA has been a supporter of our MOAA Florida Council of Chapter (FCoC) and our organizations have much to learn from each other. I went into their website www.cv4a.org and discovered both MOAA and CVA are supporting the ACCESS Act (Assuring Critical Care Expansions to Support Servicemembers) to expand veterans’ community care options. Like MOAA, the CVA website makes it very easy for anyone to sign a prepared letter that is sent to our federal legislators in support of veteran legislation. If it’s been a while since you’ve attended one of our Chapter luncheons, please reserve April 12nd (our only Saturday luncheon) to come out and celebrate our JROTC Scholarship recipients, their family and cadre. This is my favorite luncheon event as it’s an opportunity to showcase our future military leaders and recognize them with the generous financial donations from our chapter members for their achievements. Lastly, I know there are chapter members who don’t always come to our luncheons and thus may not get a reminder that the $20 dues we each pay to support our chapter are now overdue. We rely on the dues to help pay for items such as meals for our guest speakers, and medals for our JROTC/ROTC cadets. Please note that we have changed our mailing address for our Chapter: MOAA CFC, 10151 University Blvd, PMB 145, Orlando, Fl. 32817-1904. You will see the form at the end of Our Newsletter or go to this website to pay your dues online using the donation button at the top of every page and put dues in the description. We need your support, and while you are at it, please update your information (especially your spouse) so we can keep in touch! For those celebrating Easter, I wish each of you a joyous Easter celebration in April!
Cheers, Lorraine

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Lorraine Holland

Veterans Day Matters

Presidents Message / By

Veterans Day Matters to Central Florida, and you will find plenty of dates below to attend an event to honor our Veterans. It’s a busy time of year as we gear up for the November month of activities surrounding this annual day of honoring our Nation’s Veterans. I will be proudly representing our MOAA Chapter at several functions, and I encourage you to participate in Veterans Day activities in your respective areas to honor those who have honorably and selflessly served. I know many of our members are very active in their veteran community and we would like to hear your stories at our November 12th luncheon!
This Focus newsletter covers both November and December, and I would be remiss if I didn’t wish all of you a wonderful day with family and friends on Thanksgiving, and a Merry Christmas full of magical festivities with your loved ones! Let’s not forget that as our world is swirling in unrest overseas, we have deployed military personnel stationed in harm’s way. Please keep our brave men and women in your thoughts and prayers, as they are the reason we have a peaceful and safe home in America. For our November 12th Luncheon, we are very fortunate to have our own CDR (ret) US Coast Guard Randy Fiebrandt as our guest speaker. After retirement, he worked in the cruise industry for 13 years. Randy will briefly discuss the cruise industry, note how cruise ships operate and many of the environmental issues they face, and for all you cruisers out there, he can answer all your “behind the scenes” questions.
It’s that time of year again when we need to review our Board of Directors and Chapter Leadership. Like any successful organization, we need new eyes and ears to help steer us into the future to keep our Chapter alive and vibrant. Please make yourself known at the November and December Chapter events so we can put your name forward to fill Chapter positions of leadership. I’m looking forward to seeing you at our luncheon on November 12th!

Cheers …. Lorraine

Next MOAA CFC Event November 12th @ 11:30 am $24 per person Our next Chapter meeting is a luncheon on November 14 at 11:30 am and will be held at the DoubleTree Orlando East – UCF Area. The DoubleTree is located at 12125 High Tech Ave, Orlando. Please note the hotel sits back off the road and may not be immediately visible. The price is $24 per person, and we accept cash, checks, credit/debit cards. Are you curious about taking a cruise or wonder what goes on behind the scenes to keep the cruise lines running smoothly? We are very fortunate to have our own CDR (ret) USCG Randy Fiebrandt as our guest speaker. Randy’s topics include his unique experiences serving 22 years in the Coast Guard, and his 13+ years employment with 2 different Cruise Lines. Please see a short bio below. The DoubleTree is serving Chicken Franchise, Parmesan Orzo, and Flavorful Broccoli. Dessert will be the Chef’s Choice and a warm Doubletree Cookie. RSVP NLT November 8th to this email, or email lorraineholland@hotmail.com or call 407-221-1388. Please come out to enjoy a wonderful event with your fellow chapter members!
Save the Date – Next month’s luncheon will be held on December 10th at 11:30am. Our Christmas luncheon will include a special briefing by recently “retired retired” from both active duty and as the Senior Air Force JROTC Instructor at West Orange High School (Winter Garden) COL US Air Force Sandy Rhoades. Learn the ins & outs on what it takes to mold our high school students to prepare them for active service or become better citizens if they choose to go that route.

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Lorraine Holland 206x320 1

Presidents Remarks

Presidents Message / By

Living in the greater Orlando community we don’t often get the opportunity during a Category 4 hurricane to say, “what hurricane?’ This last week we were reminded that living inland provides a barrier from surging waters that many others in Florida do not share.  Along with our First Responders, I am especially proud of our FL National Guard who put themselves in harm’s way during storm surges on Florida’s West Coast and northern parts of our state. In addition, Gov DeSantis just authorized the FL National Guard to send air assets to North Carolina in support of Hurricane Helene response. Please keep in mind that we are still in hurricane season; keep your supplies topped-off!  

As a reminder, our Chapter members are asked to support MOAA’s key 2024-2025 federal legislative priorities.  You will find prepared messages waiting for you to email our Florida Congressmen and Senators at https://moaa.quorum.us

  1. Restoring BAH to 100% 
  2. Pay raise for junior enlisted personnel 
  3. Supporting combat injured veterans 

I’m looking forward to seeing many of you on October 8th at our next MOAA Central Florida Chapter luncheon.  We have a wonderful guest speaker on October 8th (see below). Sharing and exchanging ideas with each other on what we accomplish in our communities to help our military, veterans, and family members is what our MOAA Family is all about!

Cheers, Lorraine 

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Lorraine Holland

President’s Message

Presidents Message / By

’m happy to say it feels nice to get back into communicating with our Central Florida MOAA family!  I hope your travels bring you home in time to attend our August 13th luncheon at the DoubleTree.  We are very fortunate to welcome back CAPT Randy Bryan, JAGC, USN of the Law Offices of Hoyt & Bryan.  Randy will speak on Wills, Trusts, and Estates and Elder Law. In addition, his firm addresses Special Needs and Disability Planning, Guardian Advocacy and Guardianship, and Pet Trust. Please make time and take advantage of this unique opportunity to also hear updated information specific to veterans and their families.

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