News – Page 72 – Ballard Eagleson Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 3063

Recap: VFW National Convention 2018

By Nestor Tamayao

The 119th National Convention Veterans of Foreign Wars convened July 21 – 25 at the Kansas City, Mo. Convention Center. The attending post delegates to the convention were Quartermaster Harold Rodenberger, Junior Vice-Commander Joe Fitzgerald, Trustee Aaron Stoltz, Junior Past-Commander Nestor Tamayao, and Comrade James Williams.

On Saturday and Sunday, the exhibition hall had many vendors’ and sponsors’ exhibits, a health fair, an auction, “Buddy” Poppy Contest featuring entries constructed of poppies, a veterans walk-in claims clinic, Southern, Big Ten, Eastern and Western Conference Caucuses as well as various committee meetings. On Sunday, in addition to various workshops and National-level meetings, there was a Joint Memorial Service and a Welcome Concert featuring Trace Adkins.

At the Joint Opening Session on Monday, July 23, VFW and Auxiliary members attended the formal opening of the 119th National Convention by VFW Commander-in Chief Keith E. Harman. A video recapped the many successes of the VFW in 2017-2018. Many VFW awards were given to individuals and organizations.

After the lunch break, the VFW and Auxiliary went into their respective business sessions. The VFW business session usual room seating configuration was grouped by state departments. Each department’s commander placed a placard bearing his or her state on a pedestal. Department, District and Post officers and delegates were all seated within their particular state’s area. Proposed by-law, manual of procedure, ritual amendments, finance and internal organization, general resolutions, national security and foreign affairs, veterans’ service resolutions, and convention rules were introduced by respective committees and approved or disapproved by the membership.

Tuesday’s highlight was the appearance of the President of the United States, Donald Trump. Among other subjects, he spoke on issues with favorable direct bearing for the military, veterans, military personnel and their families. The president acknowledged the importance and need for the Veterans of Foreign Wars as a congressionally-chartered veterans organization. Prior to the president’s appearance, Marine Lt. Col. (ret.) Oliver North was introduced and given the VFW Distinguished Service Award. Also on Tuesday afternoon was a patriotic celebration for all delegates attending the convention.

The final day of the convention culminated in the election and installation of the national officers for the

Joe Fitzgerald and Harold Rodenberger stand in front of the National WWI Museum and Memorial in Kansas City.

ensuing VFW year 2018 – 2019 complete with the usual pomp and circumstance. It’s quite the scene observing many delegates parading throughout the hall to celebrate each national officer’s election.

The old adage of “All work and no play…” did not apply at this convention as delegates were afforded many opportunities to eat, drink and be entertained. Kansas City, Mo. is noted for its great cuisine, local breweries and distilleries. Barbeque is one of the “food groups” of this city!

Yearly, thousands of VFW and Auxiliary delegates gather to represent the organization’s total membership of nearly 1.6 million at the National Convention. The convention gives the organization’s membership the opportunity approve national priorities, elect new leadership, recognize prominent individuals and organizations and work on issues important to veterans, service personnel and their families. The 120th convention will be in Orlando, Fla. July 20 – 24, 2019.

Post and Boy Scouts Team Up to Retire Flags

Comrade Dan Stokke, with assistance from Boy Scout Troop 80 out of Magnolia, retire flags using the post’s portable incineration device.

Comrade Dan Stokke, with assistance from Boy Scout Troop 80 out of Magnolia, conducted a flag retirement ceremony in the post parking lot July 21, 2018. They honored unserviceable American Flags by properly disposing of them in the post’s portable incineration device. If you or your neighbors have an unserviceable flag, bring it by the office during regular office hours and we will add it to the collection for the next retirement ceremony.

Comrades Dan Stokke (left), Gail Engler and Pete Krawitz (right) pose with Boy Scout Troop 80 during the flag retirement. Comrade Elizabeth Servey helps lead the troop and is pictured in the back row.

From the Commander (July 2018)

By Pete Krawitz

First, I’d like to thank you all for voting to have me stay on as the post commander for another year. I’m very humbled by the privilege to serve you and the community in this capacity. The rest of the leadership team and I look forward to continuing to work with you to build off the momentum that we’ve been building over the years.

I’d like to take a minute to reflect and celebrate some of our successes in the 2017/2018 term. It’s been a busy 12 months for Ballard Eagleson, but our hard work has paid off. This was evident at the Department of Washington convention when were informed that we achieved 111% of our membership goal, which now makes 3063 the largest post in the District. We also achieved the coveted “All State” status for the second year in a row. We even earned 1st place in the Department’s newsletter competition. We have a long list of successes this year and needless to say, I’m very proud to be a part of this post. Many thanks to all of you who helped get us here.

As our post community continues to grow, so will the challenges. Ballard, like the rest of the Seattle area, is changing rapidly. If we want to continue to be relevant in the community and serve veterans, we need to adapt and change with the city. “Change or Die” was the message that the VFW national rep delivered to us at the Department Convention. Thankfully, Post 3063 is in much better shape than some other posts around Washington State, but we still have a lot of work to do if we want to ensure our relevancy and long-term existence in Seattle. Over the next month, I’ll be working with the post leadership team to draft up our strategy, goals, and initiatives for the 2018/2019 term. We will need your help to make this next term just as successful as the last. I look forward to working with you all for another year!

Quartermaster’s Update (July 2018)

By Harold Rodenberger

Having recently returned from taxing my body physically while climbing in the Himalayas, it’s back to taxing my brain while serving as your post quartermaster.

Those of you who followed along on my blog are aware of the rigors entailed in climbing to Everest base camp. If you didn’t follow my reports, I can assure you that it was one of the biggest challenges I’ve ever faced.

While the trekking pretty much was a solitary quest, the tasks and burdens of quartermaster are shared by many of you. Our Commander and Adjutant have picked up parts of the load, many volunteers have stepped up to share the day-to-day jobs that need to be done to keep our post operating. All of you, whether sharing a word of encouragement, signing up a new member or renewing your own membership early, have helped keep our post alive and growing.

At the recent Washington State VFW Convention in Bremerton, Commander Pete and myself were awarded white hats as All State Commander and Quartermaster. These honors reflect well on us, but, to continue the trekking comparison, they reflect the great job you, as members and volunteers, have done to keep the heart of this post throbbing and its blood pumping.

This month marks the beginning of the new VFW year. Again, we are starting from ground zero to help veterans and their families in our post, in our community and wherever we find them.

As veterans of foreign wars ourselves, we are uniquely positioned to reach out to our fellow veterans of all generations. Having been there we alone can understand their problems and their achievements.

To get this new year of to a good start, please keep an eye out for new recruits to our post. Invite them to join with our veterans in comradeship and a community effort to help themselves and others in an ever-widening circle of influence.

Finally, as the year progresses, please help us get the credit we are due for helping in our community by reporting any of the good things you do. We are making the feeder forms easier to send in and, if each us could find the time to complete the report we will help our post, state and national organization get the credit we deserve as Veterans Helping Veterans.