News

Michael Lawrence Receives Legacy Life Membership

Comrade Michael Lawrence (center) is presented with a plaque and a Legacy Life Membership for his service to other veterans by Commander Pete Krawitz (right) on Oct. 5, 2017.

Post 3063 presented a Legacy Life Membership to Comrade Michael Lawrence for his exemplary service and tremendous generosity at the October business meeting on Oct. 5, 2017.

 

Mike headed up the post’s visits to the Seattle VA Medical Center for numerous years and donated large amounts of money to the VFW Children’s Home and Post 3063 Relief Fund. He is the epitome of a veteran serving veterans and his impact will be felt for years to come. Thank you, Mike!

 

Mike made a heartfelt appeal that a Post 3063 comrade step up and take charge of the VA Volunteer Coordinator position. The Seattle VAMC needs our help! Please contact Commander Krawitz if interested.

Quartermaster’s Update (October 2017)

By Harold Rodenberger

 

September was a good month for our VFW Post.

 

We’re off to a good start in the membership department with six new members on board. This puts us in the lead for our district but the year is still young. Our commander has set a goal of fifty percent above our 100% goal so it will take steady growth to achieve that lofty goal. Every one of us needs to keep an eye out for potential new members. Remember, very few new members ask you if they can join, almost all need to be invited before they will join our ranks.

 

We held a great fundraiser on Sept. 9. About 130 lively participants had a tasty spaghetti dinner and did their best to take home some of the many attractive raffle prizes available. Special thanks to Chairman Russ Seelig who organized the event, solicited many of the prizes and did yeoman duty as sous chef. Hats off to Kay Seelig for cooking her famous sauce and the rest of the dinner. My favorite part of the dinner was that complex salad which was dressed just right, tossed just prior to serving and served as a perfect foil to the rich spaghetti. Thank you to the Seelig family and the other volunteers in and out of the kitchen for their work. Kudos to all our other volunteers who gathered raffle prizes from local businesses and individuals, sold dinner tickets to friends and neighbors and, most importantly, attended the event. As I write this, the numbers aren’t final yet but it’s safe to say we made a lot of money for our relief fund and had a good time doing it.

 

Speaking of food, Chef Kay was out of town for the social so Russ and helpers stepped up and served a Vietnamese meal. If you were there you know it was good, but if you were absent, you missed Banh Mi, spring rolls, salad etc., that brought a refreshing taste of Vietnam to our Ballard VFW Hall.

 

Our two September flag retirement ceremonies had to be cancelled. One because of the smoky air and one because of unpredictable winds. We will be having at least one replacement ceremony this month, depending on weather, so please keep an eye on the website if you want to join in this special ceremony.

 

Commander Krawitz has refined the new meeting format in a more inclusive and stimulating way. If you haven’t been to a meeting in the past three months, please plan to attend one of our meetings and join in the new approach.

 

From the Commander (October 2017)

By Pete Krawitz

 

What a great way to end the summer. We pulled off a very successful spaghetti dinner and raffle event, raising over $4K for our various programs. A huge thank you to all who made this event a success. A special thank you to Comrade Russ Seelig, his wife, Kay, and their friends and family who volunteered a significant amount of time coordinating the event.

 

I’d also like to acknowledge the great work our color guard is doing. Many of you had a chance to witness the color guard in action during the Spaghetti Dinner. The team looked sharp! As of late, we’ve been receiving many requests for our color guard to conduct ceremonies at various events in the region. We are not only honoring our veterans, flag, and country during these events but are also increasing Post 3063’s visibility in the community. I’d like to thank all of the members of the color guard for their hard work and dedication. I’d also like to thank Comrades Bill Hoeller and Joe Fitzgerald for their hard work in planning, equipping, and leading the color guard. For those who might be interested in joining, please reach out to Comrade Joe Fitzgerald ([email protected]).

 

We’ve also been pretty fortunate to attract quite a few new members over the past few months. Many of these new members have dove right in and have been assisting with some of the activities around the post. To some of the newer members, we still have a few committees that I’d like to see brought online. The Community Activities and Scholarship committees in particular. If you are interested in leading either of these committees, please let me know.

 

Changing gears ever so slightly, I’d like to discuss one project that we will be working on over the next few months. As many of you know, we’ve been discussing the idea of refurbishing the post for a few years now. The purpose of a refurbishment would be to make the facility more attractive, comfortable, and accessible for our members and also increase the hall’s rental desirability and value. Before we can make any proposals on the refurbishment front, we’ve determined that we need a better understanding of our current situation. Over the next few months, I’ll be working hand-in-hand with the house committee and quartermaster to analyze our facility’s operation and maintenance situation. While the post’s finances are relatively stable, we want to ensure that we are planning accordingly and maintain this stability for many years to come. To keep our finances healthy, especially in this rapidly changing and expensive city, we need to make sure that we can adapt to the changing needs and preferences of our communities, both the veteran community and the Ballard / Seattle community. We will be sharing regular updates as we make progress with our analysis.

 

I look forward to seeing you at our next business meeting.

 

October 2017 Newsletter Available for Download

Ballard Eagleson VFW Post 3063’s October 2017 newsletter is available for download here. Highlights include September Spaghetti Fundraiser Nets $4K for Relief Fund; 105 year-old WWII Vet Joins Post During Birthday Party; Voice of Democracy and Patriot’s Pen Essays due Oct. 31; and Veteran Designation Available for WA State Driver’s Licenses.