Ballard Eagleson Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 3063
"No One Does More for Veterans"
Ballard Eagleson VFW Post 3063 members gather after their regular holiday trip to the Seattle VA Medical Center Nov. 10, 2017 to visit their brothers and sisters in the hospital. This Veterans Day, we were joined by The Boy Scouts, Troop 80 out of Magnolia/Ballard, who helped us hand out snacks and provided handwritten Veterans Day cards to all of the patients.
By Pete Krawitz
November, without a doubt, is one of the busiest times of the year for our organization. Our voicemail, e-mail, and snail mail boxes start to fill up with all sorts of Veterans Day event advertisements and requests. Many of these communications are from groups throughout the local region seeking veterans to participate in everything from speaking events to parades.
While I wish our post could send official representation and assist with all of the events and activities, it’s just not logistically feasible at this time. However, I genuinely believe that we’ll be able to significantly expand our reach and capabilities as our member count continues to grow. As we continue to gain new members, we need to think about re-activating many of the post’s programs and committees. We’ve already seen how successful our color guard has been. I hope that we can continue to find members who’d like to lead or be a part of similar programs. I plan to talk about this some more during our November business meeting.
The one Veteran Day event that I am proud we regularly repeat during the holidays is visiting our brothers and sisters in the VA Hospital. I’d like to thank Comrade Jon Guncay, who has volunteered to be the coordinator for this year’s Veterans day visit. I look forward to seeing some of you on the 10th of November at the Seattle VA hospital.
Switching gears, I’d like to talk about an exciting new opportunity that will allow some of our comrades who can’t always make it into the post to still attend meetings from the comfort of their home, ship, yurt, etc… (assuming they have internet connectivity). During our October business meeting, the post agreed to a limited 3-month trial of the Zoom Web Conferencing service. Zoom will give some of our members the ability to log into a private, password protected website which will be broadcasting our live business meeting’s slideshow and audio content. In the early stages of this test, we are only going to allow 1-way communication. For example, remote participants will be able to hear and see the content, but they won’t be able to communicate back to the meeting (so no ability to vote, etc…).
The first Zoom test (November 2nd) will be limited to 5 individuals. If successful, Zoom should allow some of our members, who have difficulties getting down to the post on business meeting days, to still feel involved and keep up-to-date on the latest post events.
I look forward to seeing many of you at the November business meeting and social. For those that won’t be able to make it, have a Happy Veterans Day and Thanksgiving.
Post 3063 members are encouraged to participate in a visit to the Seattle VA Medical Center on Veterans Day (Observed), which is Friday, Nov. 10. The visit will include passing out snacks to veteran patients and partaking in good conversation.
The meeting time is TBD. Volunteers will meet at the hospital’s emergency room entrance. The Seattle VAMC is located at 1660 South Columbian Way, Seattle 98108.
People who want to participate should contact Comrade Jon Guncay at [email protected].
By Harold Rodenberger
A few weeks ago, Julie Small called our office wondering if we could help celebrate her father’s 105th birthday. Since her father had served in the Army in World War II she thought it would be appropriate if some VFW members could attend the birthday celebration and render honors to her father.
On Sept. 16, Color Guard Captain Joe Fitzgerald, and I arrived at the birthday celebration for Joseph Alex Small. Family and friends gathered around as we congratulated him on his birthday, presented two small American Flags, and his new VFW cap. Near the end of our visit, he whispered in my ear, “I feel overwhelmed.”
As Joe and I left the party and returned to our homes, I reflected on the feelings of love, friendship, and community I had felt there. In addition to Julie and Alex’s son Tom, who had flown up from his home in Texas, there were other family members, neighbors and friends from various backgrounds and circumstances, united in celebrating this momentous occasion.
Sometimes I feel near overwhelmed by all the news of rancor, hate, and divisiveness that bombards us daily. Then I see and feel the powerful feelings of good will at an occasion such as this and am reassured that there are millions of good people in every corner of our country. They gather at homes, schools, churches and other places simply to be together and celebrate some special event.
Good will and friendship usually don’t make the news but it’s good to remember that such feelings are alive and well despite news to the contrary.
