By Harold Rodenberger
September was a good month for our VFW Post.
We’re off to a good start in the membership department with six new members on board. This puts us in the lead for our district but the year is still young. Our commander has set a goal of fifty percent above our 100% goal so it will take steady growth to achieve that lofty goal. Every one of us needs to keep an eye out for potential new members. Remember, very few new members ask you if they can join, almost all need to be invited before they will join our ranks.
We held a great fundraiser on Sept. 9. About 130 lively participants had a tasty spaghetti dinner and did their best to take home some of the many attractive raffle prizes available. Special thanks to Chairman Russ Seelig who organized the event, solicited many of the prizes and did yeoman duty as sous chef. Hats off to Kay Seelig for cooking her famous sauce and the rest of the dinner. My favorite part of the dinner was that complex salad which was dressed just right, tossed just prior to serving and served as a perfect foil to the rich spaghetti. Thank you to the Seelig family and the other volunteers in and out of the kitchen for their work. Kudos to all our other volunteers who gathered raffle prizes from local businesses and individuals, sold dinner tickets to friends and neighbors and, most importantly, attended the event. As I write this, the numbers aren’t final yet but it’s safe to say we made a lot of money for our relief fund and had a good time doing it.
Speaking of food, Chef Kay was out of town for the social so Russ and helpers stepped up and served a Vietnamese meal. If you were there you know it was good, but if you were absent, you missed Banh Mi, spring rolls, salad etc., that brought a refreshing taste of Vietnam to our Ballard VFW Hall.
Our two September flag retirement ceremonies had to be cancelled. One because of the smoky air and one because of unpredictable winds. We will be having at least one replacement ceremony this month, depending on weather, so please keep an eye on the website if you want to join in this special ceremony.
Commander Krawitz has refined the new meeting format in a more inclusive and stimulating way. If you haven’t been to a meeting in the past three months, please plan to attend one of our meetings and join in the new approach.