Category: Post Business

Our Post Assembles Buddy Poppies Part 2

By Harold Rodenberger

During pre-pandemic times, veterans in soldiers’ homes and VA hospitals would assemble the Buddy Poppies© that we distribute on Memorial Day, Veterans Day and throughout the year.  Donations from recipients of these poppies go to our Relief Fund, where the money is used to support our mission of caring for comrades in distress and other charitable works.


Because of the virus, this year the normal Old Soldiers’ assembly lines became impossible, so our VFW National Commander in Chief asked local post members to assemble poppies.  Our post was one of many who stepped up. We requested 100,000 sets of poppy parts and our volunteers got busy assembling those beautiful poppies.


We’ve worked hard for a little over a month on those poppies and finished about 86,000 of them. Completed poppies will be boxed up and shipped back to our National HQ ready to be shipped out to even more volunteers who will distribute them nationwide when it is safe to do so. 


Many thanks to our members and friends who spent many hours diligently assembling poppies. A special shout out goes to Sue and Jack Westman who assembled over 22,000 sets. It was a tedious, time-consuming job, and we are so grateful for all you hard working volunteers who did your part. 


As for me, I know I’ll never look at a Buddy Poppy© in the same way again.

Our Post Assembles Buddy Poppies

By Harold Rodenberger

During pre-pandemic times, veterans in soldiers’ homes and VA hospitals would assemble the Buddy Poppies© that we distribute on Memorial Day, Veterans Day and throughout the year.  Donations from recipients of these poppies go to our Relief Fund, where the money is used to support our mission of caring for comrades in distress and other charitable works.


Because of the virus, this year the normal veteran assembly lines became impossible so our VFW National Commander in Chief asked local post members to assemble poppies.  Our post was one of many who stepped up. We requested 100,000 sets of poppies parts and our volunteers have been busy for the past two weeks, assembling those beautiful poppies.


As of this writing, about half of the sets have been assembled with the remainder on track to be finished in the next two weeks. Completed poppies will be boxed up and shipped back to our National HQ ready to be shipped out to even more volunteers who will distribute them nationwide when it is safe to do so. 


In next month’s newsletter, I’ll publish a full accounting of the results of this project. Meanwhile, many thanks to our members and friends who have been diligently assembling poppies.  


Volunteer Jack helping assemble poppies.

Small poppy assembly line.

Commander’s Corner (November 2020)

COMRADES! DON’T WAIT FOR THE STORM TO PASS!


I hope as we pass through the turbulent times of the election process and into the Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons, that you have managed to find or create ways to keep yourselves safe and mentally fresh amid the COVID pandemic.


(It really is the virus from hell that just seems to hang around like every other NFL team’s offense when pitted against the Seahawk’s defense.)


In spite of that, I do believe there is light at the end of the tunnel. Social distancing and masks certainly seem to be beneficial and positive controls. But hopefully we will soon have a vaccine in place as well, and several promising remedies for coping with the virus should any of us become infected. They are coming for sure.


But in the meantime, It can be very easy to become lethargic and get caught up with just waiting for the storm to pass. Most of us have never had to deal with anything like this before and it has been a bit of a learning process for sure. So I do hope you all are continuing to remain positive and moving forward with your lives. Embracing the spirit of the Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons certainly provides us with many positive feelings that can help us immensely to do this. Also, just finding different ways to help others can actually help us!. Dusting off the old project that “I never have time to do!” and so on. These are just a few of many ways to avoid lethargy from settling in.


Remember….”The sun never quits shinning, it’s just that sometimes clouds get in the way”.


As any true Seattleite knows, “Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass…. It’s about learning to dance in the rain!”


Continue to stay safe. 


Our country and the world will survive this pandemic.


Commander Joe Fitzgerald

Quartermaster’s Update (October 2020)

By Harold Rodenberger


What a summer it’s been! Pestilence, fire, smoke, it seems almost Biblical. No swarms of locusts or floods yet, but the year’s not over. The fires and smoke have gone, but the pestilence remains, and will for who knows how long. Mask up, wash up and space out. Best practices for you and your fellow humans.


The highlight of the summer quarter was our fundraiser. As of this writing, the net gain to our Relief Fund is approximately $4,350. We are still receiving donations so I don’t know what the final figure will be. Whatever it is, it will be much appreciated by the needy recipients of our Relief Fund donations. Many thanks to all of you who contributed items for the auction; those who purchased items from the auction; Chef Kay and helpers; all those who helped put on and serve the spaghetti dinner; and the drivers who delivered to our members who were unable to attend.

This year, in nursing homes and hospitals across the country, the disabled veterans who normally assemble our VFW Buddy Poppies have been unable to do so. As a result, VFW Posts throughout America have been asked to help out by assembling Buddy Poppies. To encourage participation, we will earn $0.02 for our Relief Fund for each poppy assembled. If you would like to help out, please email me at [email protected] or call or text 206-972-2135 and I’ll get you started.


Our Post has mementos of past events that need to be preserved for future generations of members, ergo we need a person (Post Historian) who is interested in organizing, documenting and posting photographs and documents to the online History Room on our website. If you would like to help out in this way, please contact me, and let’s get important post history preserved.


This year disabled veterans, Purple Heart recipients, former prisoners of war, and primary caregivers for qualified veterans were added to the list of patrons at the military exchanges and commissaries. If you have a Veteran Health identification Card (VHIC), you can shop there. If you qualify but have no ID card, you can apply for one at https://www.va.gov/healthbenefits/vhic.


At some time, we all did our patriotic duty by serving in a war zone, defending our country and its allies. Soon it will be time to do our patriotic duty again. In this year’s general election, we will be choosing our leaders from local city, county and state officials all the way up to members of congress and the president. The right to vote is embedded in our constitution and is a patriotic duty of all Americans. Exercise your rights and vote! You can check your voter registration info at voter.votewa.gov.

Officer Spotlight: Sr. Vice Commander Bryce White

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 second most senior official in the post, I will assist the Commander in his duties and in preserving order.  I will preside over meetings in the absence of the Commander.  I hope to work with our post members and identify and or initiate programs needed in our community.  Reaching out into our communities is crucial to our organization.  This will help in developing relationships with community leaders and local civic groups.  We must find the ways and means to be more active and visible within our local community.  Finally, I would like to recruit new members to our post.


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

I joined Post 3063 a few years ago.  At first, I would just come every once and a while to connect with other veterans, but lately I have been trying to get more involved and helping in any way possible.  I just recently served as the Junior Vice Commander last year.  I also joined the post’s Honor Guard last year.


What do you enjoy most about belonging to the VFW?

I like belonging to the VFW because the VFW advocates for veterans. If someone needs assistance or wants the camaraderie, the VFW is a great place. If a veteran is having issues with mental health, there is always a helping hand.  I have a purpose to serve, and most Marines have a place in their heart to serve as well.  It’s a better way to serve and better the community by doing things such as helping veterans and your community.  We volunteer to make a difference in our community, and we get to meet new people.