Category: Commentary

By Pete Krawitz

 

What a great way to end the summer. We pulled off a very successful spaghetti dinner and raffle event, raising over $4K for our various programs. A huge thank you to all who made this event a success. A special thank you to Comrade Russ Seelig, his wife, Kay, and their friends and family who volunteered a significant amount of time coordinating the event.

 

I’d also like to acknowledge the great work our color guard is doing. Many of you had a chance to witness the color guard in action during the Spaghetti Dinner. The team looked sharp! As of late, we’ve been receiving many requests for our color guard to conduct ceremonies at various events in the region. We are not only honoring our veterans, flag, and country during these events but are also increasing Post 3063’s visibility in the community. I’d like to thank all of the members of the color guard for their hard work and dedication. I’d also like to thank Comrades Bill Hoeller and Joe Fitzgerald for their hard work in planning, equipping, and leading the color guard. For those who might be interested in joining, please reach out to Comrade Joe Fitzgerald ([email protected]).

 

We’ve also been pretty fortunate to attract quite a few new members over the past few months. Many of these new members have dove right in and have been assisting with some of the activities around the post. To some of the newer members, we still have a few committees that I’d like to see brought online. The Community Activities and Scholarship committees in particular. If you are interested in leading either of these committees, please let me know.

 

Changing gears ever so slightly, I’d like to discuss one project that we will be working on over the next few months. As many of you know, we’ve been discussing the idea of refurbishing the post for a few years now. The purpose of a refurbishment would be to make the facility more attractive, comfortable, and accessible for our members and also increase the hall’s rental desirability and value. Before we can make any proposals on the refurbishment front, we’ve determined that we need a better understanding of our current situation. Over the next few months, I’ll be working hand-in-hand with the house committee and quartermaster to analyze our facility’s operation and maintenance situation. While the post’s finances are relatively stable, we want to ensure that we are planning accordingly and maintain this stability for many years to come. To keep our finances healthy, especially in this rapidly changing and expensive city, we need to make sure that we can adapt to the changing needs and preferences of our communities, both the veteran community and the Ballard / Seattle community. We will be sharing regular updates as we make progress with our analysis.

 

I look forward to seeing you at our next business meeting.

 

It’s been said that all things change. Geological change appears unchanging to us while Moore’s Law concerning computing seems to allow change so rapid we can hardly follow.

 

As we grow older we change physically and mentally. It seems just yesterday I was a young man with many goals, working hard and supporting a family. Suddenly I realize I’m an old man having achieved many of those goals, approaching the winter of my life and finding the changes in our world and country almost incomprehensible.

 

Change is happening in our post as well. Commander Krawitz has changed our meeting format with the post meeting together with our auxiliary in the large hall followed by separate business meetings, with the post remaining in the large hall and the auxiliary moving to the smaller room. Starting the monthly meeting together with our auxiliary promotes teamwork and encourages shared goals. It looks to me like a good change.

 

Yoga class resumes on 9/16 when our yoga teacher, Alicia, returns from vacation. If you want to change your body and mind, even temporarily, come on out for yoga, it stretches your body and mind while enriching your spirit.

 

Our spaghetti feed fund raiser on September 9th changed from years past when it was held in the spring. Buy your tickets early and take advantage of the advance raffle ticket sales. Hard to beat 30 tickets for twenty dollars and it’s a good way to increase your odds of winning your favorite prize.

 

Speaking of, there are many wonderful prizes for the fund-raising raffle. Local businesses have generously contributed some wonderful gifts just waiting for your lucky draw. Mark your calendar, buy your tickets and let’s have a great time while raising money for our post relief fund.

 

We have received many flags deserving of respectful retirement so we are changing our flag retirement ceremony from one to two this month. First one will start at 10:00 a.m. on the sixth and the second will start at 11:30, September 13th, after yoga.

 

Now for some personal change. After 42 years in Magnolia, my wife and I are selling our house and moving farther north, or east, or maybe south or west. We’ve gotten older, the place was convenient to downtown and our VFW post but change reigns eternal so we decided we couldn’t wait any longer to change home locations. If we find a place close enough to Ballard, I’ll stay active in the post and even if our new home is farther way, I’ll work with whoever you choose to take on the responsibility of quartermaster in the future.

 

As these changes happen, each of us must contribute what we can to further our VFW goals.
I wish everyone in our post more success during the months and years ahead.

By Pete Krawitz

 

Comrades,

 

On August 12th, Comrade Rodenberger and I attended the Department of Washington’s “School of Instruction” in Everett. This event gave us the opportunity to hear from our new State Commander (John Bradburn) and Auxiliary President (Laurie Lukas). They discussed their vision/theme for the 2017/2018 calendar year. Department’s theme this year is TEAM – Together Everyone Achieves More. The State Leadership team is particularly interested in the VFW and Auxiliary working together to achieve more.

 

Post 3063 is already making some changes to work more closely with our own Auxiliary. Earlier this month, I met with our Auxiliary president (Margaret Philips) to discuss some ideas and plan a few small changes that will hopefully increase the collaboration between our two groups. We will announce a few of these minor changes at our September business meeting.

 

While the summer is coming to a close, we do have a great event planned to see us into the fall. Our annual Spaghetti Dinner and Raffle Fundraiser will be held on September 9th. We hope to see you, your family, and your friends there! While we are on the topic of fundraisers, if you have any ideas or wish to lead a fundraiser down the road, please let me know. I’ve already had a few members approach me with some great ideas.

 

Lastly, have you ever wondered which pieces of legislation the VFW supports? You can find the list here at this website: http://capwiz.com/vfw/issues/bills/.

By Harold Rodenberger

 

July was a busy month around our post. The first day of the month saw your quartermaster setting off on a fishing trip. My name was drawn from those recruiting at least five new or reinstated members so I joined the other lucky winners fishing for salmon out of Westport. Kudos to the members of Westport VFW Post 3057 who played host. Afterward, State Commander Elmer Clark passed out prizes for largest fish, first fish, etc., and celebrated our state achieving 100% membership.

 

On the third of July, our yoga leader, Alicia Brill, led five people through the one-hour yoga class held every Wednesday morning from 0930-1030 in our post hall. It’s an exercise in rejuvenation for body and mind, no matter your skill or physical condition. Why not come to the post on Wednesday mornings and try something new and invigorating?

 

Commander Pete Krawitz conducted our July business meeting in a new format, highlighted by a joint session with our auxiliary in the main hall, where Pete reviewed the goals of the VFW and his goals for our post during the coming year. Pete has some refreshing ideas to breathe new life into our post and auxiliary. I encourage each of you to attend our meetings, learn about Pete’s plans and be inspired to help yourself and your post grow.

 

Our new librarian, Norm Limric, has worked with books for many years and is enthusiastic about maintaining and expanding our library. In today’s flood of rapid-fire social media and sound bites, why not visit our post library and renew your acquaintance with some comforting friends in the form of old fashioned books?

 

Chef Kay Seelig put together an amazing dinner for our third-Thursday Social. The meal of steam-baked Sockeye salmon, buttered boiled small potatoes, corn and shrimp salad and rhubarb-strawberry crisp was universally praised as being her best dinner yet. This month will bring a new adventure in fine dining at your social night dinner so mark the third Thursday (August 17th) and plan to attend.

 

Speaking of marking calendars, our annual charity fund raiser in September (Sept. 9) is rapidly approaching. You can buy tickets ($20 each) from post members. We are already receiving some valuable raffle prizes. This year, raffle tickets are available in advance for a discounted price so ask your ticket seller to let you in on that special deal and increase your odds of winning. For questions or tickets, contact Event Chair Russ Seelig at 206-423-1150.