Ballard Eagleson Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 3063
"No One Does More for Veterans"
Comrades Joe Fitzgerald, Jon Guncay, Harold Rodenberger, Anthony Rose and Dan Stokke participated in the Wreaths Across America Memorial Service at Lakeview Cemetery on Saturday, Dec. 15. WAA coordinates wreathlaying ceremonies at more than 1,400 locations across the United States, at sea and abroad.
For the past few years the post has received a stack of Veterans Day thank you notes from students at Hamilton International Middle School in Wallingford. It’s really heart warming to read them and realize how insightful these kids are at such young ages. Thank you to Teacher Daniel Waldschmidt for leading this effort.
Here are a couple that were pulled from the stack – enjoy!
We had big candy bars and magic tricks during Trick-Or-Treat Ballard, October 31, 2018. Thanks to everyone who volunteered or donated candy to the cause!
By Harold Rodenberger
Here in the Pacific Northwest, the annual migration of the sun is more noticeable than in other places farther south.
The autumnal equinox (September 23rd this year), when our southbound sun crosses the equator each year, reminds the natural kingdoms to prepare in earnest for the winter. It reminds me that kids are back in school, the weather is turning colder and it’s time to air out the woolens. Well, maybe people don’t do that last so much anymore, but you get my drift, winter’s coming.
For VFW members, it’s time to get back to attending meetings and socials. Chef Kay has been putting on gourmet dinners for our social nights and Commander Pete’s new meeting format has drawn more attendees and participation. Remember, you can tune in our meetings no matter where you are by hooking up to our Zoom Remote broadcast. Connection info will be sent to your email address of record earlier on the day of the meeting. Warm up that laptop or smartphone and join us.
Why not make a note to save the first Thursday each month for our business meeting and the third Thursday for the social?
It’s also the time to check around our neighborhoods for potential members. New members usually don’t join our post if they aren’t asked. Even if your neighbor isn’t qualified, she may know someone nearby who is. The only way to find out is to ask.
Autumn is a good time of year to distribute Buddy Poppies. Our Buddy Poppy chair is Comrade Tiffany Cavin. She has a supply of special 9/11 commemorative poppies. Please contact her at 253-327-8906 or [email protected] if you are interested in helping with this project.
November brings Veterans Day, another day to help our poppy-making veterans. Our Ballard teams will be distributing Buddy Poppies that weekend. Again, if you are interested in helping this vital effort, please contact Comrade Tiffany.
Finally, as the sun moves farther south, remember to be safe out there. Street crosswalks, sidewalks and even the steps to your back porch can be dangerous as daylight ends earlier. Keep an eye out for hazards and especially watch out for children.
By Christopher Dresnek
Post 3063 is lucky enough to have a Victory Garden this year thanks to the hard work of Comrades Tiffany Cavin and Anthony Rose.
A Victory Garden is a meant to enhance national food production during war, and their war is on food insecurity. The state of being without reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable, nutritious food is what defines food insecurity, and as Comrade Anthony mentioned, it is something his friends and family have dealt with for a long time.
In addition to learning about Victory Gardens and food insecurity, Anthony also learned how to finally grow something besides tomatoes.
Comrade Tiffany will harvest vegetables before meetings
and have them available for pick up. She has tomatoes, corn, various squash, greens and many other tasty veggies to try.
Feel free to talk with her about her passion project, it has been a labor of love and one with which she hopes to spread the message about food insecurity.
Basic Life Saver Course
When Comrade Rose was in the military he was one of his brigade’s BLS (Basic Life Saver) instructors and went on to the same role at Madigan Army Hospital. After he got out of the service it seemed a natural fit to be able to continue using those skills.
He came up with the idea of teaching BLS and making it a fund raiser as a way of giving back to the school who welcomed him so warmly upon his discharge, Seattle Central. The scholarship is named for Anthony Diaz, the school’s Veteran Certification Official, and has raised more than $2,000 so far.
Please contact comrade Comrade Rose at [email protected] to donate to the scholarship or take a future BLS course.