Category: Post Business

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

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.