Ballard Eagleson Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 3063

No One Does More for Veterans

VFW Post 3063

News

Hybrid Approach to Business Meetings

We had our first in-person gathering at a business meeting in more than a year during the April business meeting. It was a hybrid event with some who tuned in via Zoom. There were a couple technical hiccups but going forward we think regularly using Zoom will allow more participation from our membership.

For those members who are vaccinated, they are welcome to attend our business meetings in person starting in May.

Pizzas for Queen Anne Food Bank Guardsmen

Thank you to the National Guard Airmen and Soldiers working at the Queen Anne Food Bank! Jr. Vice Commander Aly Teeter dropped off pizza for the crew this week. There she met Staff Sgt. Jesse Conner, a Public Affairs Airman from the 141st Refueling Wing in Spokane. Also pictured (center) is Carlos Rivera, a Student Flight member from the 141st. He recently enlisted in the Washington Air National Guard and is waiting to attend Basic Military Training. Last year, the Washington Air National Guard authorized new enlistees to volunteer for the food bank support mission. According to Sgt. Conner, Rivera is receiving mentorship from the other servicemembers to help prepare him for training. Overall, everyone is super motivated and enjoying the mission of helping fight food insecurity during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Service Throwback: Paul Pioli

Comrade Paul Pioli (third from the left), then a U.S. Army Sergeant with the HHC 2/32 7th Infantry Division, is pictured here on a hilltop in South Korea on his birthday, November 15, 1967.

We'd love to see your photos too! Submit them to editor@vfwseattle.org or drop a copy off at the office.

2nd Quarter 2021 Newsletter Posted

Ballard Eagleson VFW Post 3063’s 2nd Quarter 2021 newsletter is posted here. Highlights include: From the Commander; Quartermaster’s Update; Empty Lot Next to Post to Become EV Charging Site; The Surgeon Says: Covid-19 Update About Vaccines; 0 to 100+ Project Launch Includes Post 3063 Member Portraits; Thanks to FRIHET, Say Goodbye to Smoke Stained Ceilings; New Member Spotlight: Shennae Curtis; and Service Throwbacks: Comrades Kettle and Rodenberger.

Commander’s Corner (April 2021)

SPRING IS IN THE AIR! It’s coming...and hopefully coming with it will be the beginning of the end to this Covid pandemic crisis as well.


We have all been working hard to attain the herd immunity that will get us beyond the pandemic. But with the fear or threat of Covid hanging around us and the worry of it all, we have  found ourselves living “half lives” in the process.


So now with the vaccinations numbers ever increasing and our moving into phase 3, it’s time for us to drop the worry (without totally abandoning masking and social distancing ) and use the uplifting spirit of Spring to guide us into actions that move us forward and on with our lives. Erma Bombeck said it best when she wrote, ”Worry is like a rocking chair: it gives you something to do but never gets you anywhere.” Just as Daylight Saving has sprung our clocks forward, we too need to get off the Covid rocking chair and spring forward. We need to get our lives back, to get out and breathe the air again, to get on with the return to normal.


Your post has been moving into this return on several fronts: the tremendous efforts by Chef Kay and Co. in continuing to put out the monthly take out dinners is a prime example!  This service has helped the post keep the uncertainty of Covid at bay while maintaining a positive connection with members and friends alike!


We have not stopped there, however. Besides keeping the business meetings intact thru Zoom, there have been other ongoing post projects moving us forward as well. The damaged ceiling tile project has been completed, we have continued with the parking lot hillside cleanup and “tagger” wall maintenance efforts, and we are upgrading the Color/Honor Guard uniforms to a new and more appropriate look. But the most significant post effort to getting us back to normal is coming very soon. We are now moving forward with the return to in-person post meetings! As planned, it will happen starting with the upcoming April Business meeting. This is covered briefly in Quartermaster Rodenberger's column with more specifics to follow soon. Perhaps sooner than later we will be seeing you at the post again.


So there you have it, we are moving on! As Bob Marley sang, “Don't worry about a thing, 'Cause every little thing gonna be all right!"


- Commander Joe Fitzgerald