Category: Commentary

From the Commander (August 2017)

By Pete Krawitz

 

As I write this month’s column, I’ve had the live video stream of the VFW national convention in New Orleans on in the background via the VFW’s Facebook page. Even though I wasn’t able to join our Seattle delegates this year, I can still listen in and see some of the same speakers. It’s encouraging to see the VFW leveraging technology to make these conventions more accessible to folks that are unable to attend.

 

Hopefully, our post will be able to leverage the same technology in the future, making some of our meetings more accessible to those who have difficulties making it in each month. With that being said, I did recently attend (physically not virtually) my first department (Washington State) VFW convention down in Olympia. It was a very positive experience. We were able to meet with some of our comrades from all over Washington state. While technology is great, nothing beats the face-to-face experience of a convention. If you haven’t had a chance to attend one of the state conventions or mid-winter conferences, I highly recommend it.

 

For those of you who were able to attend the business meeting in July, I hope you liked the new format we are experimenting with. For those of you that weren’t able to make it; we are now meeting in the main hall and will be kicking off the first 10 minutes of each meeting with the auxiliary to give us an opportunity to announce and discuss items that impact both groups. We also started using a projector to display the meeting agenda, enabling everyone to follow along with what is going on and to make the most of the hour we get to discuss business together each month. We will still stay true to the VFW rituals and ceremonies, just with a few slight modifications. I truly value your opinions and feedback, so please feel free to reach out to me if you have any ideas or comments on how we might be able to get the most value out of our monthly meetings.

 

One last thing I’d like to touch on is communication. I’ve been working with Adjutant Alyson Teeter to come up with a plan on how we communicate with the post on a regular basis. The post officers are often bombarded via email with offers, solicitations for volunteers, advertisements for local veteran events, etc. While we would love to pass these items along to everyone via e-mail, we don’t want to spam our entire membership base. At this point, we will only be sending you one communication a month (the newsletter), however, we would like to allow individuals to “opt-in” to other communications if they are interested. We often put these “extra” communications out on our Facebook page, but acknowledge that not everyone is on that platform. Hopefully, we will have more information in the next month or two on how you can opt-in for these additional communications.

 

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

 

Commander Krawitz’s First Column

By Pete Krawitz

Comrades, as I take the helm for the next 12 months, I want to thank you once again for entrusting me with this tremendous responsibility. I also want to especially thank Nestor, Aaron, and Harold for their leadership and guidance over the last few years as I moved up the seats. As you probably saw in the last newsletter, Nestor and Harold, like Aaron, led the post in earning a white cap at the department convention. This enormous achievement now marks two years in a row that our post has earned this honor. I have some big shoes to fill!

With that, I’m very excited to work with you and the post leadership team to continue to build upon some of the great successes that we’ve had over the last few years. The leadership team has already been discussing many great ideas, but we do realize that we only have a short amount of time to analyze, discuss, plan and implement some of them. I will be relying heavily on your feedback and the guidance of the current and past leadership team members as we move forward. I have four main areas that I’d like for us to focus on during this 2017/2018 term. These priorities are membership, community, accessibility/continuity, and the auxiliary.

What does all of this mean? Come to the post business meeting next week (July 6) to find out! We will be kicking this first meeting off with a joint session with the auxiliary to discuss all of these priorities and some specific goals before we break into our normal business meetings.

The one priority I’d like to briefly discuss is the topic of membership. Getting younger veterans signed up and involved in the VFW is a priority that we hear echoed at the district, state and national level time and time again. A few of us recently attended the department convention in Olympia this weekend, and this message was no different.

While I do agree that we need to attract younger veterans, I also believe we need to try and achieve this without alienating our older members in the process. One of the main reasons I joined this organization was to learn from the post-military experiences of our older service members. For some, reintegration back into civilian society (specifically in Seattle) can be challenging. However, it can be a heck of a lot easier when you surround yourself with sisters and brothers who speak your language and have been living in this community for many years.

It’s incredible to think that the VFW has been in Ballard for nearly 100 years. Let’s work together to ensure we are here in the community for another 100+ years.

Quartermaster’s Update (July 2017)

By Harold Rodenberger

 

Happy New Year! VFW new year, that is.

 

Yes, the VFW transitions from the old year at the beginning of July. Outgoing officers have fulfilled their duties and now step down to let our new officers lead the way for the next year. Our June newsletter listed new elected officers and appointed officers are listed elsewhere in this issue.

 

At this new beginning, I’d like to share a look back over our post activities during the past twelve months.

 

To me, number one on the list of accomplishments during the past year has been the continuing excellent attendance at business meetings. In the late ‘90’s our meeting attendance fluctuated from the high teens down to lower numbers, with occasional meeting times when there were not enough members present for a quorum. For the past 12-15 years attendance has been better, with the past eight or nine years seeing numbers regularly in the high teens to high twenties. It’s a healthy sign to have 20 or 25 members in attendance at our business meetings. Way to go team!!!

 

Members of our post were active in many other ways also. We made six visits to the VA Hospital, passing out snacks, drinks and good wishes to the patients and thanks to the staff members. We logged more than twenty-five visits to local retirement and nursing homes. Last fall and again last month we retired unserviceable US flags with the proper ceremonies. Our Honor Guard has participated in memorial services and posted the colors several times. Our volunteer chef for third Thursday socials has prepared some wonderful meals and attendance is increasing as a result. Our library has grown in both number of books and number of users. We adopted a new National Guard unit, doubling support for our brothers and sisters bearing arms.

 

We have donated substantial help to residents of the homeless camp next door to our post. Our service officer has expanded the number of appointments for counseling and assistance for deserving veterans. Our Relief Fund and National Home Fund both have reached new funding levels enabling expanded support for veterans and families both in the Seattle area and in Eaton Rapids, Michigan.  Our Yoga class is helping our members and families relieve mental and physical stress. Our hall has served as a meeting place, supporting other veterans’ groups, other non-profit community organizations and local government entities, including the City of Seattle.

 

As I said, the outgoing officers fulfilled their obligations. By fulfilling their duties, they also gained the personal fulfillment that comes of helping other veterans and their families and members of the community in ways that only fellow veterans can.

 

No matter your position as an officer, regular member or even family member, your participation in the activities of our post will bring lasting benefits to those helped but also will satisfy our shared human need to gain personal fulfillment and rise above self by serving others and helping our fellow man.

 

As members of the VFW, we have the common distinction of having served in war zones, placing ourselves in harm’s way to protect our homeland, its citizens and our way of life. Now, as members of our post we are motivated to serve our fellow veterans and community here in Seattle. We don’t labor for money or glory but for the personal fulfillment that comes from helping others.

 

My hat is off to our members and other volunteers who give so freely of their time and energy to help others in our community.

Commander Tamayao’s Farewell Note

As the old adage says: “All good things must come to an end.”  There is an end to everything, to good things as well.  That sums up how I feel about my period in office as Post 3063 Commander.

 

During my tenure, I have experienced many “good things.”  It was rewarding to see participation and involvement of comrades in various activities, events, meetings and socials throughout my time of command.  The House Committee met and worked hard to make sure the post operated with fiscal responsibility.  Quartermaster Harold Rodenberger worked tirelessly to ensure many requirements were met and ensured that the post was sufficient with day-to-day tasks.  The Color Guard participated in events that not only fulfilled requests, but also brought favorable publicity of our post.  Editor Alyson Teeter-Baker continues to put together a high caliber newsletter which enhances communication to the membership.  There is increased member participation in District 2 meetings, Department VFW workshops and training and attendance at state and national conventions.  All of this shows how involved and active our post is.

 

There were others who forwarded reports to Department Headquarters and made sure certain requirements were met.  We achieved over 100 percent membership. These contributed to the post receiving White Hat status for the post commander and quartermaster, the second consecutive time this has happened since last year.  My thanks to those involved.

 

While the “fun” of being your commander comes to an end, it is not the end of things facing the post.  Membership continues to be paramount.  We need to continually achieve 100 percent membership to mitigate losses due to normal attrition.  We should ensure help for veterans, be it through visits at area facilities, at our post, or through services such as with comrade Gail Engler, post service officer.  We need to continue efforts to attract younger eligible veterans to join.  In addition to becoming active members, they can be leaders for the future.  Our post’s infrastructure needs addressing and it is essential that our financial resources remain strong.  The membership will eventually have to determine the best courses to take regarding these matters.

 

As I leave, incoming Commander Pete Krawitz will be faced with various issues that were not resolved or completed within my 12-month tenure as commander.  However, I am confident of his capabilities and his military and civilian backgrounds will help the post continue as a vibrant and active post.  I wish him well with his new position.

 

Yes, all good things do come to an end; but that does not mean the end of my involvement with our post or the VFW.  There are many things yet to accomplish and I intend to continue to be involved.  It has been an honor to serve as Ballard Eagleson Post 3063 Commander.  Thank you for this wonderful and fulfilling opportunity.

 

Yours in Comradeship,

Nestor Tamayao

 

Quartermaster’s Update (June 2017)

By Harold Rodenberger

 

I’m writing this update from the east coast of our amazing country, where my wife, Ikuko, and I are visiting our younger son and his wife in North Carolina.

 

For those of you who travel, it’s no secret, but it always reassures me to travel to widely separated parts of our country and our world and observe yet again that people are pretty much the same wherever they live.

 

Here in Durham, there are friendly faces, distracted faces and faces racked by some private pain. There are young people, and those not so young, walking along oblivious to their surroundings while absorbed in private communication on their handheld device. As we approached a store yesterday, a gentleman smiled and held the door for my wife and me. He didn’t ask our political party, religion or economic status, he was simply one human being courteous to others.

 

Sometimes in our world of instant news, alarmist headlines and finger pointing journalism where people are put into buckets labeled “Democrat, Republican; Jew, Gentile; rich, poor; Northerner, Southerner; good, bad,” I need to be reminded that people are people no matter external conditions.

 

All of this reminds me that the people in our own post and auxiliary are great people. We come from different walks of life, have different occupations, ages and beliefs and we have fought in or supported loved ones who have fought in different wars, yet we all have joined in the goals of the VFW to support our troops, help those who have served and to further patriotism and community service.

 

Just as when I travel, I’m reassured by people right here in our post who, despite surface differences, are uniformly friendly and willing to help. This month I’d like to choose two out of the many and thank Kay and Russ Seelig for all they do to help our post.

 

Five or six years ago we were introduced to Kay’s famous spaghetti at a fund raiser put on for service dogs. Russ beat the bushes for supporters and Kay cooked. It was very successful and with the help of other post members, raised over five thousand dollars for a worthy cause. Since then they have been instrumental in putting on more fund raisers and for the past few months have been putting on the dinners at our post socials.

 

For those of you who are not regular attendees at our socials, the menus are enticing and the camaraderie embracing so plan to attend and enjoy a night out with friends right here at our post social. Speaking of socials and spaghetti, again this month, by popular request, we’ll have Kay’s spaghetti.

 

Flag Day is June 14. Remember to fly your flag. We’ll have a flag retirement ceremony in the post parking lot at noon.

 

We’ll be leaving NC soon to head back home. I will remember the storefront gentleman for his courtesy and thank the rest of the NC people we’ve met for their reminder that down deep we are all the same.

 

Thanks to each one of you for being in our post. With your help our post is making good headway in our mission to help members, veterans, their families and our community.