Category: Post Business

New Member Spotlight: Shennae Curtis

Comrade Shennae Curtis in her dress whites with friends shortly after she enlisted in the Navy.

This is a recurring column that highlights new VFW Post 3063 members. Comrade Shennae Curtis joined in October 2020 and volunteered to be the Post 3063 Historian.


What motivated you to join the VFW? After seeing so many of my compatriots struggle as they got out to find purpose and meaning in their lives I realized that what I really wanted was a community. One of the things that is hard to find in civilian life but was easy when I was in the military is finding a network of people all trying to achieve the same positive goal. While the time has passed for me to be on active duty, the VFW is a way to still support both my country and the people that protected it.


What is your military background? In the Navy I was a nuclear Electrician’s Mate. We worked long hours, in the depths of a ship, with little in the way of sunlight or communication to the outside. It was difficult, but by bonding together we managed to make the most of it. Some of the strongest bonds that I’ve made in my life were in the service, and I carry them to this day.


Civilian job, education, family, hobbies, or anything else you’d like to tell us about yourself? Now I’ve taken a much less stressful position as a Field Service Engineer for a lighting control company and spend my off hours pursuing my education or reading.


What do you hope to achieve being a member of the VFW? As Post historian I hope to catalog all the stories that Post 3063 holds. I would like to capture all the memories that we have and preserve them so that new members can see all that we’ve accomplished and all that we’ve experienced. If you would like your stories put to record, please reach out to me: [email protected].

Goodbye to Smoke Stained Ceilings

By Harold Rodenberger


Those of you who have been in our hall in the past few years may have noticed that the ceiling tiles are yellowish from the days of inside smoking and stained from water leaks. 


A few weeks ago, our contact at FRIHET 402, VASA (Swedish Freedom Assoc), called and wanted to know if we could use some almost new ceiling tiles. They were removing a dropped ceiling in their recreation center at Lake Sammamish and were willing to donate them to our post. During normal times they meet in our hall once a month and had noticed the stained ceiling.


On January 16th, we rented a truck and, with the help of several volunteers, loaded up about 600 ceiling tiles and brought them to our post. The following weekend we changed out the tiles in the small meeting room. Next we will replace the tiles in the main hall. It’s a big project so we’ll do it over upcoming weekends.


Here’s a big THANK YOU to the folks at Frihet and many thanks to volunteers Dan Stokke, Bryce White, Russ Seelig, Pat Ronan, Joe Tiffany, Campbell Krawitz and our Commander, Joe Fitzgerald. Their help made it work. 

You can really see the difference here between the new and old tiles.

Get Vaccinated at the VA

Quartermaster Harold Rodenberger receives his COVID-19 Vaccine at the VA Medical Center in Seattle.

Vaccines are now available for eligible veterans at the VA (for more info go here). Quartermaster Harold Rodenberger received his vaccine and here’s a write-up about his experience:

After we became eligible, I spent several days trying (and being disappointed) to get appointments for my wife and myself on the various sites handling vaccination appointments.  


Thursday afternoon I received an email from the VA saying that eligible veterans could call to schedule appointments. It also stated that the VA was proactively calling eligible veterans to schedule appointments. Knowing that at least two of our older members had received unsolicited VA calls and been scheduled for the vaccine, I thought about waiting, but decided to try calling. After spending 37 minutes on hold, I was connected to a helpful clerk who went through the COVID questions, then asked if I wanted to be vaccinated as soon as possible. I responded with a hearty “yes” and she scheduled me for noon yesterday (Friday).


Arriving about fifteen minutes early, I joined the socially distanced line, was tagged with a red ribbon indicating I had been screened, completed the paperwork, received shot number one, waited the required fifteen minutes, and was on my way. I felt relieved that I finally was on track to help defeat this virus by being immunized. Almost danced a jig as I followed the light at the end of the tunnel back to my car.


Now I’m back to trying to schedule a vaccination appointment for my wife. Still the same grind – check the sites to find all appointments taken, wait an hour, check again, ad nauseum.


For non-VA vaccine information, visit the Washington State Department of Health’s website.

Officer Spotlight: Jr. Vice Commander Alyson Teeter

This is a recurring column that highlights the 2020-2021 post officers.


Tell us about your new position and what you hope to accomplish during your term.

As the Jr. Vice, I’m essentially the back-up to the back-up commander (Sr. Vice). It’s been great working with Joe and Bryce while trying to keep the post moving along during Covid. I’m hoping to get our adopted unit program on the right track this year and we’ve started out great by assembling care packages together in December. I’m also the webmaster and newsletter editor so communication is a priority.


How long have you belonged to Post 3063 and did you previously serve in an officer position?

I joined in 2015 after I left my position as a VA and DoD caseworker for a politician. My youngest child was born that year and as a new stay-at-home parent, I felt the need to find my new tribe. I’ve loved connecting with fellow veterans here in the Ballard and Fremont area! After a few years of serving as Adjutant and on the House Committee, this is my first year on the command track as Jr. Vice.


What do you enjoy most about belonging to the VFW?

Making meaningful connections in this day and age of social media is really important to me and the VFW has provided an outlet for that. I’ve learned a lot from my friends at the VFW, especially Harold, who I consider a mentor. There’s a core group of folks who work tirelessly to keep the post going and I’d love to see that group expand. Just know that if you become more involved, you too can make meaningful connections and help veterans in the process!

Commander’s Corner (January 2021)

Comrades:


Success in spite of adversity.


As we come to the end of 2020 and hopefully what will become the beginning of the end to the pandemic, I want to wish all of you a Happy and wonderful New Year, surrounded by those who mean the most to you.


This has been a difficult year especially since March, for all of us, but I am most confident that with the ever increasing availability of the vaccinations, happy days will indeed be here again sooner than later! We will eventually be moving beyond the Covid restrictions, but for now there is still a need to stay the course with masking, social distancing, etc. for what will hopefully be just a bit longer. I never thought the comment, “I wouldn’t touch them with a six foot pole” would become a national policy – but here we are!


The pandemic, as difficult as it has been, has served to make us look at new or different ways for the Post to meet or exceed the goals that are set at the beginning of each VFW year.


Zoom has enabled us to continue with our business meetings, The Bidding Owl resulted in our fundraiser being far more successful than anyone thought, the Honor/Color guard has successfully pursued a grant that will allow it to “march” right along (sorry) better than ever, and Kay and the kitchen staff have developed a system that keeps the operation in compliance with the Governor’s requirements and still serve tremendous meals to 80-100 people each month. Through the efforts of many, the post successfully assembled in excess of 90,000 Buddy Poppies that will generate another $2,000 for the post. And these are just some of the main accomplishments!


Lastly, with regard New Year’s Day, Mark Twain once said, ”Now is the accepted time to make your annual good resolutions. Next week you can begin paving hell with them as usual.” For me, my New Year’s resolution list usually starts with the desire to lose between 10 and three thousand pounds! Hopefully you all can do better!


MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR TO EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU! Here’s a special message from our command team: https://tinyurl.com/y9wx92dn.


Joe Fitzgerald

Post 3063 Commander