Category: News

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.