News – Page 108 – Ballard Eagleson Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 3063

Post Members Participate in Area Memorial Day Events

Harold Rodenberger, Joe Fitzgerald, and Bill Griffith participate in a color guard during the Ballard Elks’ Memorial Day Ceremony.

Harold Rodenberger and Joe Fitzgerald pass out Buddy Poppy pins and seeds at the QFC on Holman Road. — Harold Rodenberger and Joe Fitzgerald pass out Buddy Poppies and seeds at the QFC on Holman Road.

Gail Engler and Joe Fitzgerald pass out Buddy Poppy pins and seeds at the QFC on Holman Road. — Gail Engler and Joe Fitzgerald pass out Buddy Poppies and seeds at the QFC on Holman Road.

The post color guard participates in Evergreen Washelli Cemetery’s Memorial Day event.

Post Hosts Shredding Event

Bring out your shred! Bring out your shred! But it’s not time to shred yet. It soon will be… on July 8th!

We will have a ProShred shredding truck in our parking lot from noon to 3 p.m. on July 8th. You are encouraged to bring sensitive papers that you want to shred. Watch the operation from the time you deposit the papers into the bins until they are turned to confetti before your eyes.

Post members, members of other veterans organizations and members of our community may shred documents in return for a donation to help defray the cost of the operation.

Please remember that the charge for shredding is at least $1.00 per pound at companies that accept papers for shredding and that you surrender control of your documents in those cases.

If you plan to attend the event, please RSVP on our Facebook event page.

Commander Tamayao’s Farewell Note

As the old adage says: “All good things must come to an end.” There is an end to everything, to good things as well. That sums up how I feel about my period in office as Post 3063 Commander.

During my tenure, I have experienced many “good things.” It was rewarding to see participation and involvement of comrades in various activities, events, meetings and socials throughout my time of command. The House Committee met and worked hard to make sure the post operated with fiscal responsibility. Quartermaster Harold Rodenberger worked tirelessly to ensure many requirements were met and ensured that the post was sufficient with day-to-day tasks. The Color Guard participated in events that not only fulfilled requests, but also brought favorable publicity of our post. Editor Alyson Teeter-Baker continues to put together a high caliber newsletter which enhances communication to the membership. There is increased member participation in District 2 meetings, Department VFW workshops and training and attendance at state and national conventions. All of this shows how involved and active our post is.

There were others who forwarded reports to Department Headquarters and made sure certain requirements were met. We achieved over 100 percent membership. These contributed to the post receiving White Hat status for the post commander and quartermaster, the second consecutive time this has happened since last year. My thanks to those involved.

While the “fun” of being your commander comes to an end, it is not the end of things facing the post. Membership continues to be paramount. We need to continually achieve 100 percent membership to mitigate losses due to normal attrition. We should ensure help for veterans, be it through visits at area facilities, at our post, or through services such as with comrade Gail Engler, post service officer. We need to continue efforts to attract younger eligible veterans to join. In addition to becoming active members, they can be leaders for the future. Our post’s infrastructure needs addressing and it is essential that our financial resources remain strong. The membership will eventually have to determine the best courses to take regarding these matters.

As I leave, incoming Commander Pete Krawitz will be faced with various issues that were not resolved or completed within my 12-month tenure as commander. However, I am confident of his capabilities and his military and civilian backgrounds will help the post continue as a vibrant and active post. I wish him well with his new position.

Yes, all good things do come to an end; but that does not mean the end of my involvement with our post or the VFW. There are many things yet to accomplish and I intend to continue to be involved. It has been an honor to serve as Ballard Eagleson Post 3063 Commander. Thank you for this wonderful and fulfilling opportunity.

Yours in Comradeship,

Nestor Tamayao

Quartermaster’s Update (June 2017)

By Harold Rodenberger

I’m writing this update from the east coast of our amazing country, where my wife, Ikuko, and I are visiting our younger son and his wife in North Carolina.

For those of you who travel, it’s no secret, but it always reassures me to travel to widely separated parts of our country and our world and observe yet again that people are pretty much the same wherever they live.

Here in Durham, there are friendly faces, distracted faces and faces racked by some private pain. There are young people, and those not so young, walking along oblivious to their surroundings while absorbed in private communication on their handheld device. As we approached a store yesterday, a gentleman smiled and held the door for my wife and me. He didn’t ask our political party, religion or economic status, he was simply one human being courteous to others.

Sometimes in our world of instant news, alarmist headlines and finger pointing journalism where people are put into buckets labeled “Democrat, Republican; Jew, Gentile; rich, poor; Northerner, Southerner; good, bad,” I need to be reminded that people are people no matter external conditions.

All of this reminds me that the people in our own post and auxiliary are great people. We come from different walks of life, have different occupations, ages and beliefs and we have fought in or supported loved ones who have fought in different wars, yet we all have joined in the goals of the VFW to support our troops, help those who have served and to further patriotism and community service.

Just as when I travel, I’m reassured by people right here in our post who, despite surface differences, are uniformly friendly and willing to help. This month I’d like to choose two out of the many and thank Kay and Russ Seelig for all they do to help our post.

Five or six years ago we were introduced to Kay’s famous spaghetti at a fund raiser put on for service dogs. Russ beat the bushes for supporters and Kay cooked. It was very successful and with the help of other post members, raised over five thousand dollars for a worthy cause. Since then they have been instrumental in putting on more fund raisers and for the past few months have been putting on the dinners at our post socials.

For those of you who are not regular attendees at our socials, the menus are enticing and the camaraderie embracing so plan to attend and enjoy a night out with friends right here at our post social. Speaking of socials and spaghetti, again this month, by popular request, we’ll have Kay’s spaghetti.

Flag Day is June 14. Remember to fly your flag. We’ll have a flag retirement ceremony in the post parking lot at noon.

We’ll be leaving NC soon to head back home. I will remember the storefront gentleman for his courtesy and thank the rest of the NC people we’ve met for their reminder that down deep we are all the same.

Thanks to each one of you for being in our post. With your help our post is making good headway in our mission to help members, veterans, their families and our community.