Category: Commentary

By Harold Rodenberger

 

This month the days are short and the nights are long here in Seattle. It’s time to figurately gather around the fire and stay warm while telling stories, developing plans and sharpening tools for springtime hunting and fishing expeditions.

 

This month also marks the halfway point of our VFW year. Time to assess our progress, adjust goals and hone our tools for the remainder of the year.

 

We’ve had some firsts so far this year:

–  We held two flag retirement ceremonies and a community document shredding day.

–  Our Honor Guard attended two military funerals and posted colors at our post and at the WWII Allen Library WWI Centennial grand opening.

–  Our service officer, Gail Engler, initiated office hours once per month at the Ballard Senior Center for veterans who might need help.

–  Thanks to Chair Bill Griffith and his crew we held a nice WWII remembrance ceremony last month complete with Certificates of Appreciation and longevity pins for our WWII veterans.

–  Our editor, Alyson Teeter, earned a promotion in one of her other jobs. In November, her daughter pinned her with a silver Lt Col leaf. Congratulations, Aly!

–  Teams from our post visited patients at the VA Hospital on Fourth of July, Labor Day and both Veterans Day and Thanksgiving last month, bringing cheer and goodies to those veterans. We also made many visits to other retirement and nursing homes in the area to visit veterans and other community members. First time for so many visits.

–  Jessica Chacko won our Post 3063 Voice of Democracy contest.  We wish her well as she now competes at higher levels. Jessica and her father, Sanu, have been regular participants when we visit the VA Hospital.

–  We have our annual Christmas party scheduled Dec. 15. There will be a prime rib dinner, a visit from Santa with gifts for the children and seasonal music so be sure to mark your calendar. Not a first but worth attending.

Looking forward to the second half of our year:

–  We have signed up seven new members but have lost some of our older members so we need your help to reach 100% membership as soon as possible.

–  Our Color Guard is sharpening skills under the direction of Chair Bill Hoeller and will be participating in more events.

–  Our military-themed post library is growing quickly. If you’re interested in reading the old-fashioned way, from actual paper books, drop by and check it out. You might find something you can’t resist.

–  Early in the summer we will have another flag retirement ceremony so bring your old flags to the post for proper retirement.

–  Our post will hold a “Grand Reopening” ceremony this spring to celebrate the centennial of America’s entry into WWI.

–  We are planning another St Patty’s Day corned beef dinner/fundraiser for our relief fund. Save the date for a good dinner and a chance to contribute to a good cause.

–  If you have an idea for something our post could do in the community or to help veterans, please let us know. Good ideas are always welcome.

 

Finally, from me and my family to you and yours, we wish you the best of the Holidays and a prosperous, peaceful and productive New Year.

 

By Harold Rodenberger

 

November marks the beginning of an important holiday period in our American culture. This month brings Veterans Day and Thanksgiving.

 

On Veterans Day we will be visiting the VA Hospital, distributing poppies, and attending cemetery ceremonies and other Veterans Day activities. If you are interested in participating in any of these events, please drop our commander or me an email so we can fill you in on the details.

 

An anonymous donor contacted me and made a National Home challenge for the December meeting. He will match all December National Home donations in excess of $100 so save up and let’s make a record contribution to our VFW National Home during the December meeting.

 

Our own Chuck Murrell will be inducted into the VA Hospital Wall of Heroes on November 9, 2016. Congratulations, Chuck! If you’d like to attend, the ceremony will be at 11:00 a.m. in the Healing Garden. Ask at the Information Desk if you need directions.

 

Don’t forget the special program honoring our World War II veteran members during the social meeting on Nov. 17.

 

Finally, November is a good time to remember to be thankful for the many good things in our lives. Even though we all have our troubles and rough spots in life, compared to people in most parts of the world we are living lives blessed with many freedoms and protections. As for me, I’m thankful for the many good and helpful members of our post and the officers who do so much to keep this post moving forward. Thank You!

 

By Harold Rodenberger

 

For the past nine months we have had regular office hours three days per week. We have had some walk-in business but in our modern digital society most people do things online via our wonderful website, by email, or sometimes by using that old fashioned device, the telephone.

 

Based on this experience, starting in the middle of October we will reduce our schedule to Thursdays and Saturdays, one weekday and one weekend day per week, same times. I will be in the office most days and am available most anytime (unless traveling) so if you need to meet at the office just let me know and we can arrange it.

 

Don’t forget our document shredder day is this Sunday, Oct. 2, in our parking lot. Bring your old personal papers and watch them turned to confetti in the shredder truck.

 

The winter holidays are coming and with them the increased need for blood. As a service to our community we would like to schedule a blood drive at our post in December but we need at least 25 people to commit to giving blood before we can schedule a local drive. I promise to bake homemade cookies for the occasion so send me an email, call, or write to sign up and ask your neighbors to do the same.

 

Our Veterans Service Officer (VSO) Gail Engler is available to help veterans and family members with questions about veteran’s benefits. Gail is available at the Ballard Senior Center 1- 2 p.m. the third Thursday of each month or by appointment at the post. You can reach her at 206-706-2703 and [email protected]. If you have questions about VA benefits, please contact her.

 

Next month brings a most important day, Veterans Day. We will be honoring our veterans in many ways: visiting cemeteries, distributing Buddy Poppies, visiting patients at the Seattle VA Medical Center, and participating in special assemblies at our local schools. Please let me know if you would like to volunteer for any of these activities.

By Harold Rodenberger

 

School vacations are finishing up, Labor Day is just around the corner and the Harvest Moon will be sailing high on the sixteenth of this month. It’s time to get back to school, back to work, and back to enjoying some camaraderie and volunteer service at your local VFW Post.

 

School classes along with his young family and full-time work schedule leave Jon Guncay with very little additional time for VFW activities so he is postponing his progress through the chairs until later.  Our Junior Vice Commander, Pete Krawitz, moved up to Senior Vice and we elected Joe Tiffany as Junior Vice Commander to serve for the remainder of this year.

 

If the weather is favorable, we plan to have another US Flag retirement ceremony in our parking lot from 10:30 am to 12:30 pm on September 18. We will be retiring unserviceable flags with an appropriate ceremony. All who wish may attend and observe or participate.

 

Fall is cleanup time. As a community service we are offering to dispose of latex paint, so check your basement or garage for old or unwanted water-based paint. Bring it to the post during our regular office hours (1-5 pm) on September 1, 3, 6, 8 or 10 and we will dispose of it properly.

 

At 10 am on September 5, our surgeon, Justin Mamallo, will be leading members of our post to visit patients at the Seattle VA Hospital to pass out monetary chits and bring them some conversation on Labor Day. If you would like to join this visitation please meet at the Emergency Room entrance at 10 am. The new parking garage is convenient and it’s just a short walk to the ER entrance, so come out and celebrate Labor Day by bringing some cheer to the patients.

 

On September 24, District 2 post and auxiliary members will meet at our post for a joint meeting. In addition to the meeting there will be a school of instruction. All members, and especially post officers, are encouraged to attend. There will be lunch ($6.00) at 11:30 am and the meeting starts at 12:30 pm.

 

Our post has recently lost a couple of old time members. To make up that loss, and to build for the future, we need to recruit more new members. As you go about your daily activities keep an eye out for potential recruits.

By Harold Rodenberger

 

Last year was a good one for our post. We passed one hundred per cent membership in early January and ended the year at 107.81 per cent of our calculated membership for the previous year.

 

Our post shared in a special honor when our outgoing commander, Aaron Stoltz, was selected as an All State Commander. The white hat that goes with this honor is the first won by any commander or quartermaster of our post during the thirty-five years I have been a member. Congratulations Commander Stoltz!

 

In addition to those mentioned in last month’s column, other milestones marking the past year:

• We made some necessary repairs to our old building and it continues to serve us as a good post home which is the envy of many VFW Posts who don’t have a place of their own.
• We rebuilt the wooden stairs leading to the upstairs office and completed the remodel of that office space so it is now ready to be leased, preferably to a non-profit looking for some prime Ballard office space.
• Our newsletter, Ballard Eagleson Patriot, under the editorship of Charles Anderson, was awarded second place in the medium size post category. Quite an honor for the first year of publication.
• Our Post lending library is well organized and has grown under the watchful eye of Librarian Bill Hoeller.
• We hosted two very successful fund raising dinners, the St. Patrick’s Day dinner chaired by Georgia Warrix and the May 1st Spaghetti Dinner chaired by Russ Seelig.
• We have helped the residents of the homeless tent city next door with many gifts of food.

 

Not to rest on our laurels, we look forward to even more activity:

• Our Service Officer, Gail Engler, in addition to being available in our own office, will be staffing an office in the Ballard Senior Center once a month to help veterans in this community.
• Even more visits to local hospitals, nursing and retirement homes.
• More Flag retirement ceremonies.
• Occasional visitations to other posts to attend their meetings and share lessons learned.
• Some special events at our post to honor our local first responders.

 

In addition to these plans, we will see more fund raisers and other special dinners this year as we raise awareness among our members and in our neighborhood that we are a growing post involved in doing good for veterans and our community.