September 2026 newsletter

President's Report

New Officers 

All board members were sworn into their new offices, and Steve Cox was affirmed in his continuing role as Secretary/Treasurer by NA Coordinator SA Laura Ferguson. 

Past Presidents Scott Munsterman and Buck Buchanan received their Past President plaques in recognition of their leadership of the chapter.  

Bylaws Update

As part of our business meeting, the bylaws were updated for the first time in two years.  Here are the most significant changes:  

The Sponsorship Coordinator role has changed in both substance and name.  The title is now Conference/Sponsorship Coordinator, and that member serves a four-year term.  The holder is also now a voting member of the board. 

The President is now the tiebreaker in a board vote. 

Chapter Committees such as Youth Leadership Prorgram coordinator, Membership coordinator, Historian, and others are appointed by the President.  No member may hold two or more of these roles at the same time. 

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Welcome New Members

Please welcome back the members of Session 299. We look forward to seeing you at future chapter events:

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Calendar of Events

The annual holiday lunch hosted by Al King and Jack Foley will be held on December 4^th at 11:00 a.m. at Granfalloon on the Plaza in Kansas City.  Please join us for end-of-year fellowship!  Lunch is on your own, as always. 

The spring retrainer is set for April 20-23, 2027.  We return to Manhattan, but the location will be a new Hampton Inn hotel in the Aggieville area.  

The winter relaxers will be held again in Newton and the Kansas City metro, but dates are not yet confirmed. 

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General Newsletter

Important Chapter Communication Issues

We hear from members on a regular basis who are not receiving chapter communications and announcements.  Here are some important things to know. 

Chapter emails are sent through the same website that hosts the chapter registration portal and other features.  When they arrive in your inbox, they will appear as sent by postmaster.  Your email program may consider that suspicious and block it, so please check your spam folder periodically. 

Both the national organization and the chapter prefer that you use a personal email address for communication rather than a professional email.  The primary reasons for that preference are important in at least two ways.  First, many members get lost when they retire or change jobs and fail to update their national member records.  Second, many law enforcement and government email systems have very strict controls to block real and perceived cyber threats.  We have encountered organizations that will not ‘white list’ NAA email communications.  

There are other reasons for this interruption.  Our web provider has encountered problems with Yahoo emails.  

If you believe you are being blocked by Star Chapter, there are some steps you can take to address the issue.  A copy of that document is attached to this newsletter.

If you have a friend or co-worker who is not getting our emails, they will not see this either. Please help them get re-established or refer them to a member of the board for assistance.

Fall Retrainer

If you weren’t there, you missed a good one!  It was almost too hot to golf, and a few players did drop out a little early. 

123 people registered and were treated to the usual good food and better training.  Two FBI case studies were complemented by a presentation on leadership and organizational culture.  Our chapter numbers include one student who is leaving now for Quantico, two who will go in January, and three who are selected but don’t yet have a session number.  

The most moving presentation by far was Terri Tobin’s presentation on 9/11 when she was an NYPD lieutenant at the Twin Towers as they fell.  Now Retired Chief Tobin had everyone in tears as she described the experience. 

Photos from the fall conference 

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News of the Membership

Retirees Recognized

Recent retirees Bruce Jolliff, 192^nd, and Rob Hays, 265^th, were honored with the chapter coin and mug.  Rob says this is only an interlude until his next foray into employment, but he’s taking at least one trip a month for several more months.  That sounds like retirement to us! 

Tim Lowry, 270^th, retired from public law enforcement a while back, but because he moved into a related occupation soon after, he had not been so honored.   We fixed that! 

News of the Membership 

Kirt Yoder, 286^th, just retired last week from Leawood PD.  It’s not really a retirement; he has been named the new Chief of Police in Gladstone, Missouri.  Congratulations, Kirt! 

Clarence M. Kelley Award

Kevin Freeman, 253^rd, was named the 2026 Missouri Clarence Kelley Award honoree. Kevin was cited for his hard work and success as co-chair of the 2024 national conference, as well as his professional excellence in dealing with the killing of a North Kansas City police officer in the line of duty. 

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