Category: Commentary

Commander’s Corner (July 2023)

By Alyson Teeter

Happy New Year! ICYMI, July is the start of the VFW year. We have a new leadership team and goals for the next year. There isn’t enough space to properly recap last year’s highlights but we accomplished so much, inside and outside the post, with our membership and the community. Let’s use this momentum to keep making positive change! I’m focused on balancing our budget, increasing our membership (from 92 to 110%), event participation, and community outreach. Read more about our 2023-2024 goals at tinyurl.com/yfh8tk3n.

We can’t meet our basic requirements without volunteer power so that means we need a solid team to pitch in. The bulk of the volunteer work shouldn’t fall on a couple shoulders. Thank you to those who stepped up to volunteer in the past year, continuing your service.

I need your ideas and feedback! Contact me at [email protected].

Commander’s Corner (June 2023)

Greetings, comrades! We continue to have an active spring at the post and will keep the momentum going as we roll into summer. We enjoyed hosting service members at our Armed Forces Day-themed social and thank you especially to our adopted unit, the Washington National Guard’s 181 BSB A Co, for bringing out their equipment and personnel. We look forward to more collaboration with them, including a tour of the armory in Interbay.

Also thank you to everyone who came out for our Memorial Day weekend events, which included an Auxiliary Pancake Feed, Day of Service at Golden Gardens and various Buddy Poppy tables in the area. We all have our own way of doing this, but we remember and honor those who have fallen in service to our country.

The new VFW year starts after the Department Convention later this month so we’ll soon see big changes around the post. Harold Rodenberger (aka H1) will literally relinquish the post keys to Harold Hamilton (aka H2). I’ve said it here and in meetings but Comrade Rodenberger has been a critical node in the operation of our post for the last decade. H1 will continue to serve as a trustee and I’m sure he’ll help us when we have questions, but it’s important we give him space and allow him to “retire.” Please continue to send quartermaster-related questions to [email protected]. H2 is eager to learn and create efficiencies; many thanks to him for stepping up to this challenge!

In late May the Fall Fundraiser Committee met and came up with a plan for the Oct. 21 Spaghetti Feed Fundraiser, which will be Halloween themed. We really need help with procuring donations! Our procurement sub-committee chair is Comrade Mark English so please let him know if you have leads or donations in hand. We’ll need volunteers for the event so in the meantime mark your calendars.

Looking ahead to June, the post has exciting plans in store. A special service event in collaboration with the Seattle Seahawks is scheduled at the post June 9, 1000 – 1300. You can sign up at the June business meeting or contact Mark English. Additionally, the post will participate in the Fremont Solstice June 17-18 by staffing a booth. I’m TDY overseas June 1-17 so I really need help from a couple folks to set up the booth. If interested, contact me at [email protected].
 
Stay safe and enjoy the beginning of summer!

In comradeship,

Aly Teeter, Commander

Commander’s Corner (May 2023)

Greetings, comrades! This Thursday, May 4, we will hold our 2023-2024 officer installation ceremony. The event marks the beginning of a new leadership team, poised to guide the post towards a successful future. The team will officially begin performing their duties after the Department of Washington convention in June.

Comrade Joe Fitzgerald is eagerly preparing for the highly anticipated Syttende Mai (17th of May) parade in Ballard. Post members, family and friends are welcome to proudly ride or march. The parade is a powerful display of unity and support for the community and it’s quite a treat to see how the crowd appreciates our post members.

Continuing our efforts to engage the community, we are organizing an Armed Forces Day-themed social on May 18. The event will feature a special performance by the esteemed I Corps Brass Quintet. Additionally, the Washington National Guard’s 181st BSB A co static display will allow attendees to get an up-close look at military equipment and vehicles.

On May 27, the post will host a pancake breakfast, sponsored by the Auxiliary. The aroma of freshly cooked pancakes will fill the air as community members gather to enjoy a delicious meal and engage in lively conversations. Later that day, VFW Post 3063 will demonstrate its commitment to community service by organizing a Day of Service volunteer event at Golden Gardens. We will pick up litter, give out Buddy Poppies to passers by and end the event with a cookout.

Looking ahead to June, the post has exciting plans in store. A special service event in collaboration with the Seattle Seahawks is scheduled to take place, where veterans and football enthusiasts will come together for a day of service at our post. Additionally, the post is gearing up to participate in the Fremont Solstice booth, allowing us to connect with a wider audience and share our mission with the community.

As we’re in the midst of planning all these activities, VFW Post 3063 leadership received significant news that could shape the post’s future. The mayor’s office proposed legislation that would change the post’s zoning designation from Industrial Buffer to Mixed Use. This potential reclassification would make it easier for the post to explore redevelopment options for its property. While the post deliberates the potential impacts and opportunities, it remains focused on its ongoing efforts to serve veterans and the community.

Thank you to everyone who is pitching in to help with all of these community efforts. Through our dedication, the post members exemplify the values of service, camaraderie, and remembrance. We also ensure the long-term viability of our post.

In comradeship,
Aly Teeter

Quartermaster Update (April 2023)

By Harold Rodenberger

The VFW was formed by volunteer veterans of earlier wars seeking to help and socialize with other veterans of those wars. As the organization grew, many local posts were chartered with the same goals.

Our post was chartered in 1926 by volunteers who felt strongly about helping and socializing with their fellow veterans. Those men (only men in those days) of the post, and ladies (only women in those days) of the soon to be founded auxiliary, worked long and hard to raise money to keep the post vibrant and eventually to build a building that became their home away from home. Those dedicated volunteers started the race and carried the first baton.

As the years passed, those members passed on and others stepped up to keep our post alive and well. In the forties and fifties we had baseball and bowling teams, a drill unit and an honor guard. There were weekly bingo games and other fundraisers. In the late sixties, we even had a bar and lounge for a few years. All of those activities required many volunteers to support the post.

In addition to those volunteers, there are many other members who are volunteers in spirit. They help by keeping their dues paid or moving up to life or Legacy Life memberships. As the old saying goes, “There is strength in numbers” and those members, local and remote, keep us strong through their memberships.

As the deadline neared for me to submit this final quartermaster’s update to our editor, I reflected on the more than forty years that I’ve been a member of the post. I have played only a small part in keeping the post going forward. It was the synergism of many people working together that kept us alive and well.

Now it is my time to pass the baton. I have been honored to serve as your quartermaster for the past ten years, and even though I’m stepping down as quartermaster, I will continue to help out in any way I can, for as long as I’m able.

I salute those who came before, all of you current members, and all of our new volunteers who will continue to run the race and carry the baton into the future for Ballard Eagleson VFW Post 3063.

Commander’s Corner (April 2023)

By Alyson Teeter

Spring is here and the long winter is ending, thank goodness. We had a wonderful kick off to the season by hosting the District 2 St. Patrick’s Day-themed fundraiser and a flag recycling event March 25. Looking at April, we have our second round of nominations and our officer elections at the April business meeting April 6, a blood drive April 13, and another fun-filled trivia social April 20. For May we’re planning to participate in the Syttende Mai parade May 17, an Armed Forces Day-themed social May 18, and a variety of activities for our Day of Service May 27. Stay tuned!

If you weren’t at our March meeting, I’ll recap startling news. Comrade Quartermaster Rodenberger showed a historical graph of our investment fund. We have withdrawn nearly $900K from it since 2009. If we operated with a balanced budget, it could have grown to $3 million but instead it’s ~$1 million.

Let’s balance our books so we don’t whittle away at our investment account. It should grow and ensure the fiscal longevity of the post. We will be sharing profit/loss statements at meetings going forward. We’ll also get creative with our fundraising. “Gentlemen, we have run out of money; now we have to think,” – Winston Churchill.