| 26 Gold Stars Post 7754 Veterans of Foreign Wars |
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2009 Winter NewsletterHappy New Year! I hope you all had a Merry Christmas and a wonderful holiday season filled with peace, happiness, and joy. The kids Christmas party was well attended once again and many toys were received and donated to Toys for Tots. Special thanks to Lori Guzzi and her crew of volunteers for entertaining the children, Tom Zmecek, the jolly old elf, and to Chief Mark Kish and the officers of the Fairport Harbor Police Department, for making the party a huge success. As we look forward to a bright new year we also reflect back on a very successful 2008. From the efforts of the officers and members of all the units and many volunteers we accomplished many things in the past year, much needed roof repairs on the east side of the building, a new paved driveway and curbing, the purchase of new Christmas decorations and 30 new tables for the hall (purchased by the men's auxiliary), hall chairs recovered, a number of work parties to clean out and clean up the post and the south end property, continuation of the best fish fry in the area, and many successful fund raisers, dinners, and activities. There are not enough ways to say thank you to all who helped and I want you to know how much your time and efforts are appreciated. If you have not yet renewed your membership please do so as soon as possible. Do you know of anyone interested in joining the post or one of the auxiliaries? If you do contact an officer to get an application or request an application in the canteen they are available at the bar. It is imperative to recruit new members in order to keep our post growing. We have many activities and functions planned for the new year and, as always, help is needed to make these a success. Step forward and contribute to your post by helping out, there is no excuse not to! It's your post too! NOTICE: Nominations for post officers will be held at the regular post meetings of March 16th and April 20th, with election of officers to be held at the April 20th meeting immediately following the closing of nominations. Anyone interested in running for an officer position should plan on attending these meetings. Ladies Auxiliary will hold nominations on March 11th and April 8th with elections following the close of nominations on April 8th. Men's Auxiliary nominations will be April 6th and May 4th with elections immediately following at the May 4th meeting. Give the gift of life. Bloodmobile Dates for this year are as follows:
In 2008 the blood drives at our post the Red Cross collected 141 pints of blood that helped save the lives of 420 patients throughout northeast Ohio. This year let's aim to donate at least 150 pints. The Red Cross thanks everyone who donated this past year. Fish Frys are again in full swing. They are held on the second and fourth Fridays of the month from 11:00am-1:00pm for lunch and 4:00pm-7:00pm for dinner. Starting February 27th fish frys will be held every Friday during lent thru and including Good Friday April 10th. Why not stop by and enjoy a delicious meal for a very reasonable price. In the late fall I put up notices on all the entrance doors concerning members entering the post thru the meeting hall when a meeting or a private function is being held yet some members continue to do so. As I explained in the notice you will lose your canteen privileges if you are caught. Please extend the same courtesy to others as you would expect if you rented the hall for your own use. This rule will strictly be enforced! Veterans Memorial Update: It has been over a year since we started trying to raise funds to replace the existing memorial at the park in Fairport. With the downturn in the economy it has become extremely difficult to raise the funding needed for this project. Over the past year several hundred letters have been sent out to businesses and corporations in and around Lake county and to date we have received $x,xxx.00 in charitable donations. This is nowhere near the amount needed to replace the memorial. We will continue our efforts to secure monies needed for this project and if anyone can help or has any suggestions please contact me or Sr. Vice Commander Mel Fundermark. Let's all pitch in to make this project a reality to preserve the memory of our veterans' sacrifices for our great country. To those of you who are unaware, our post will pay for an individual's first year of membership for any veteran who is on their first enlistment, or, in the first tour they become eligible through their service by earning a recognized campaign medal or badge; served in Korea from June 30, 1949 until present; or earned Hostile Fire or Imminent Danger Pay eligibility. Anyone serving in the armed forces of the United States is eligible for membership immediately upon arrival on hostile soil, in hostile waters or the airspace above in the performance of service. If you know of anyone please contact an officer so that we can assist them with their membership. Please mark your calendars for the upcoming events to be held at the post in the near future:
Please continue to check the bulletin boards for additional events or for changes of time or dates of the above scheduled events. There are also many things that come up from time to time that are posted on the boards such as, members confined to hospitals, deaths of post and auxiliary members or their family members, important meetings or conferences not previously scheduled, need for color guards and military funerals, or when help is needed. Got the blahs from all the snow, tired of staying at home, feel like cabin fever is setting in, you are probably suffering from SAD ( seasonal affective disorder ). One of the best ways to overcome the effects of this disorder is to get off your backside and get out of the house. Volunteering your time and efforts here at our post is a great way to relieve the symptoms of this disorder and give you a feeling of self satisfaction by helping out. You will surely enjoy the camaraderie of being with old friends and maybe even make some new ones! So don't be sad, be glad. As you can see from the previous paragraphs there are many different events you can help out with. Pick one and start having fun today. Anyone interested in becoming a member of the Color Guard or Honor Guard please contact the post commander George Gamber or post adjutant Tom Zmecek. New members are needed and welcomed. Uniforms are paid for by the post. Honor Flights will be starting up again in the spring. Any World War II veteran who has not yet seen their monument in Washington, D.C., please sign-up. This trip is free and space availability is limited and is handled on a first come first served basis. Handicapped and wheelchair bound veterans are welcome as escorts are used to assist those in need. Any terminally ill veterans from any war are given top priority for flights. Sign up now! Applications are available in the canteen. Experiencing financial difficulties? Lost your job and need help with utility bills, food, rent or mortgage payments? If you are a veteran help may only be a phone call away. Any veteran may apply for assistance at the Lake County Veterans Service Office located at 105 Main Street in the Lake County Administration Building in downtown Painesville. Or you can call them at 440 350-2904 or 440 350-2567 and request an application for assistance. This office also helps veterans file claims for service connected disabilities, veterans pensions, VA medical care, survivors benefits, aid and attendance help and many other benefits. If you have any questions please give them a call. Attention All Veterans from Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom: If you were injured while serving you may be entitled to monetary compensation from the state of Ohio through the Military Injury Relief Fund. The cut off for applications for this program is June 30th, 2009. Call the Lake County Veterans Service Office to apply.
THOUGHTS FROM THE ADJUTANT - Tom Zmecek
TAPS HONOR ROLL of DEPARTED 2008
Boyhood Memories of World War II
Bill Simko Many thanks to Bill Simko for sharing a bit of history with us! I know that there are many of you that have similar stories and bits of history of our post. Won't you please share them with us? If you do, let me know and I will be more than happy to include them in future news letters. On many occasions while visiting the canteen I see many new and younger members sitting and talking with older members. I'm sure many of these discussions include ideas to improve our post and make it a better place for all of us both young and old. Membership attendance at Post meetings is down to the officers and usually 4 or 5 members. I know that everyone has busy schedules and I certainly don't expect members to attend every meeting, but a few meetings a year can't be that hard to make. When was the last meeting you attended? I know that there are some members who have NEVER ATTENDED a meeting! What is the purpose of being a member if you don't want to participate? Think about it! Hope to see you at the next Post meeting ( 3rd Monday of every month at 7:00pm ) or officers' meeting ( ALL members welcome ), 1st Monday of every month at 7:00pm. IF ANYONE HAS NOT YET RECEIVED AN INVITATION TO THE APPRECIATION DINNER TO BE HELD TUESDAY MARCH 3RD, AND YOU FEEL YOU ARE ENTITLED, PLEASE CONTACT ME IMMEDIATELY!!! ONCE IN AWHILE WE MAKE A MISTAKE AND UNINTENTIONALLY MISS SOMEONE - PLEASE DON'T FEEL SLIGHTED! GET A HOLD OF ME OR LEAVE YOUR NAME AND PHONE NUMBER AT THE POST!!! Newsletter written by George L. Gamber, Commander |
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