Bill Hoeller, Gail Engler, and Pete Krawitz help shred documents Oct. 2, 2016 during a community shredding event in the post parking lot. During the three hours the truck was there the post shredded about 600 pounds of sensitive documents brought in by post members. The post will plan another shredding event next summer, so save wear and tear on your home shredder and save those old documents, ledgers, and check books for a professional shredding operation. This shredder can handle staples, paper clips, smaller bull clamps, ledger books, and other bulky documents that won’t go through a home shredder.
News
Post catches up on flag retirements, more scheduled
Bill Hoeller (left) and Harold Rodenberger (right) conducted a flag retirement ceremony Sept. 18, 2016. They honored twenty-seven unserviceable American Flags by properly disposing of them in their portable incineration device. They are now caught up so if you or your neighbors have an unserviceable flag, bring it by the office during regular office hours and they will add it to the collection for the next retirement ceremony.
District 2 convenes meeting at Post 3063
By Harold Rodenberger
On Sept. 24 District 2 met at our post for its quarterly meeting and School of Instruction.
In the Department of Washington there are 108 posts divided into thirteen districts. Our post is part of District 2, which also includes Rainier (2289), Farwell Roosevelt (2713), Vashon (2826), Blackburn-Aurora (3348), Burien (4314), and Seattle (6599) Posts.
Each district serves as an intermediate level of administration between the individual posts and the department headquarters. District officers guide the posts by answering questions, training and inspecting as necessary. The School of Instruction conducted at this meeting helped train post level officers.
Another important function of the district is to screen entries for VFW programs including those for scouts, teachers, first responders and veteran of the year among others, and forward the winners to department level.
Our next district meeting will be on Nov. 19 at Farewell-Roosevelt Post 2713 in West Seattle. Lunch is served at 11:30 a.m. and the meeting starts at 12:30 p.m. All post members are invited to attend.
Quartermaster’s October Update
By Harold Rodenberger
For the past nine months we have had regular office hours three days per week. We have had some walk-in business but in our modern digital society most people do things online via our wonderful website, by email, or sometimes by using that old fashioned device, the telephone.
Based on this experience, starting in the middle of October we will reduce our schedule to Thursdays and Saturdays, one weekday and one weekend day per week, same times. I will be in the office most days and am available most anytime (unless traveling) so if you need to meet at the office just let me know and we can arrange it.
Don’t forget our document shredder day is this Sunday, Oct. 2, in our parking lot. Bring your old personal papers and watch them turned to confetti in the shredder truck.
The winter holidays are coming and with them the increased need for blood. As a service to our community we would like to schedule a blood drive at our post in December but we need at least 25 people to commit to giving blood before we can schedule a local drive. I promise to bake homemade cookies for the occasion so send me an email, call, or write to sign up and ask your neighbors to do the same.
Our Veterans Service Officer (VSO) Gail Engler is available to help veterans and family members with questions about veteran’s benefits. Gail is available at the Ballard Senior Center 1- 2 p.m. the third Thursday of each month or by appointment at the post. You can reach her at 206-706-2703 and [email protected]. If you have questions about VA benefits, please contact her.
Next month brings a most important day, Veterans Day. We will be honoring our veterans in many ways: visiting cemeteries, distributing Buddy Poppies, visiting patients at the Seattle VA Medical Center, and participating in special assemblies at our local schools. Please let me know if you would like to volunteer for any of these activities.
October newsletter available for download
Ballard Eagleson VFW Post 3063’s October newsletter is available for download here. Highlights of October’s issue include: Post hosts District 2 meeting. Volunteers visit the Seattle VAMC on Labor Day. VA and Walgreens team up to provide flu vaccinations.