ateeter – Page 67 – Ballard Eagleson Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 3063

Commander’s Corner (September 2020)

ONWARD AND UPWARD!

Comrades.

I hope this finds all of you in good health and continuing to stay safe as we perhaps can start the cautious and careful process of an eventual return to some degree of “Normal”. Just IF, what, and when that normal will be remains to be seen but the signs are growing more positive by the day. There is Hope.

In the meantime all of VFW is moving onward and upward with zoom meetings. We are successfully replacing the in-person meetings at the post with our own Zoom video meetings. That success is a bit muted however, as the only people who have qued into the Zoom meetings and actually attend are mainly the Post officers, – or sometimes special guests! The bulk of our membership has been largely absent. We do understand that there are reasons why some cannot attend.

However, I do want to insure that each of you is aware that you can and should join us if you able to at all. Our Post business Zoom meetings are held at the same time as our in-post meetings were – on the first Thursday of each month at 7pm sharp and are easy to access. Some of you just won’t be able to – I get it. But there has to be more than just the board who can attend these Zoom meeting. I encourage each of you to at least try to join us. I would especially like to see the the newest and younger members at these meetings. It actually is very easy and can done on your computer, or your Pad, or your phone. If you can’t join us via video on your phone, you can still join us via voice on the phone. The Zoom meeting connection process has been widely disseminated by Comrades Rodenberger and Teeter -Baker in previous newsletters and mail. If you do have any trouble you can contact Quartermaster Rodenberger or myself to to help you with connecting.

When you bring up Zoom you will be asked for the ID Number.This is 505 701 2075. You will also be asked for the Password or Passcode. This is Ballard306. Note that this password is case sensitive as the B is capitalized, while the other letters in Ballard are lower case. Once connected you will be in a wait mode and then Harold will admit you to the meeting. It is that simple.

Thank you and see you in Thursday’s Meeting.

Yours in Comradeship,
Commander Joe Fitzgerald

Service Flashback (September 2020)

Comrade Russ Seelig, then a U.S. Army Specialist 5, is pictured here in Vietnam sometime between January 1967 and August 1968. He served as a Chinook Helicopter crewman and flight engineer.

*We’d love to see your photos too! Submit them to [email protected].*

Considerations for Wearing Masks

Hi everyone.

I’m Bob “Maddog” Lehman, your post surgeon; which is also literally true in my case as I am a physician and surgeon.

I want to offer my congratulations on a wonderful “social” takeout dinner on Thursday night. However, I also need to express my concerns as a physician and public health officer.

I observed one person with their mask below their nose. This is wrong on so many levels.

1. The Governor’s decree (and CDC, and everyone else) is that “facial covering” means NOSE and mouth. Violating this is violating the State rule, which puts the Post at risk to be fined by Public Health as well as being shut down for doing take out while “staff” are not following the rules.

2. But more seriously, Covid-19 is a respiratory virus. If you have had a Covid test or know someone who has, you realize the sample is taken from inside the nose. Not covering the nose with a mask means that person is potentially contaminating everyone around that person with every breath they exhale.

3. REMEMBER, we are not wearing masks to protect ourselves, but to protect others. It is like driving a car and depending on the other cars to stay on their side of the yellow line. We wear our masks to protect others in case we are infectious and are not aware of it. And in so doing, we trust that everyone else is wearing their masks appropriately as well. There might be a slight protective filtering advantage to wearing a mask; no one knows this for sure or not. But obviously this advantage is gone if the nose is not covered.

4. The reality is that a huge percentage of the Post members are in the high-risk category for serious illness should we get infected due to being in the more mature age group. We have to protect each other.

We have a saying in the military, which fits here as well. “If you see something, say something”. Unfortunately, in this case I was social distancing off in a far corner awaiting my order while the person wearing the mask below their nose left before I could say something. There were other people present. I’m surprised that no one noticed. But perhaps people did notice; it is human nature to be afraid to say something. But a person not covering their nose is a potential danger to you. You would honk your horn if you saw someone driving on your side of the road. We all need to say something if someone is not wearing their mask or wearing it incorrectly.

I was in QFC the other day and the overhead announcement stated that the nose and mouth must be covered to be in the store. If the shopper is unwilling to keep the nose and mouth covered, QFC recommended that they leave the store and take advantage of shopping online instead.

We all need to say something when someone is not wearing their mask or wearing it incorrectly. My standard line is “excuse me, but your mask has slipped below your nose.” Do people get angry? Yes. Do I care? NO!

And while I am on this subject, let me remind everyone that a face SHIELD is not an approved face covering. When you watch the news, you will see those wearing a face shield are also wearing a mask. There obviously is no filtering with a face shield.

Stay safe. If you have any questions, feel free to ping me.

Bob Lehman
Post 3063 Surgeon

Commander’s Corner (August 2020): WE NEED YOUR HELP WITH THE FUNDRAISER!

By Joe Fitzgerald

In past years this has been a spaghetti dinner coupled with a raffle. COVID has changed things a bit. This year we are still having the spaghetti dinner via curbside pick-up! (with limited home delivery for those in the vicinity of our post). The dinner will be available on Sept 12th from 4:30-6:00pm, and the usual $20.00 ticket price remains the same. The number of dinners is limited to 150 so be sure and get yours early! Tickets are available from post officers, online at EventBrite (details TBA), or at the office during business hours 1:00-5:00 pm, Thursdays and Saturdays in August and early September.

To replace the raffle, the Committee has developed a fantastic Virtual Auction!

The auction items will range from books to boats to baked goods, and also will include some very special items. All bidding will be handled via BIDDING OWL! Go to vfwseattle.org and click on the virtual auction scrolling across the page to see how it works. It will be simple and easy to do, and a lot more fun than you can imagine! Quartermaster Harold Rodenberger (206-972-2135), Jr Vice Aly Teeter-Baker, and Committee Chair Russ Seelig will all be available to answer any questions.

***Here is the rub though, and where we need all your help to make this fundraiser as successful as possible!

Several of our benefactors who supplied many raffle items in the past, just are not able to financially support us this year or have even gone out of business!

WE ARE IN NEED OF ADDITIONAL AUCTION ITEMS! and – we need all your help on this. Like:

1) Reaching out to persons or entities that would be willing to donate an item to the Auction. (I recently contacted a butcher I know, and they agreed to donate a meat gift certificate!). This sort of thing is easier than you think! Tell yourself: JUST DO IT! The worst they can do is say NO!!!

2) Also, handcrafted items, artwork, or homemade baked goods, can all make nice auction items.

3) Tap into your creative inner self and come up with things like Comrade Stokke who dusted off his fishing boat and is providing a fishing expedition as an auction item! Maybe you welders out there could offer up some type of welding as an item to be auctioned off, and so on. You get the picture.

IF WE ALL PULL TOGETHER ON THIS, OUR SPAGHETTI FEED AND AUCTION WILL BE THE BIG SUCCESS THAT IT’S ALWAYS BEEN IN THE PAST.

COMMANDER JOE