| 26 Gold Stars Post 7754 Veterans of Foreign Wars |
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2009 Summer NewsletterWelcome to the warm weather once again. I don’t know about you but it sure was a long winter for me and I’m extremely happy to see the flowers and trees in full bloom again. The post and both auxiliaries elections are now over and the new officers of all the units have been installed. I congratulate all the new officers and wish them all a successful year. This spring the village requested permission to plant a flower garden at the south end property next to our garage and adjacent to the senior citizens center. A motion was passed at the April 20th post meeting to allow this with the stipulation that if they need to install drain piping for this project they will need written permission from the post. This is part of a beautification plan for the roads entering the village. Also included in this plan is the installation of a white split rail fence in front of our fence that will run up East Street from the river bridge to Fairport Nursery Road and a request for stimulus funds for the memorial in the park. More on this in the future because plans keep changing.
I would like to thank all the members of our post for your support during my term as your commander it has been an honor and a privilege to serve. My congratulations to our new Commander, Mel Fundermark. Let’s all work together with Mel to keep our post moving forward. Hall Improvements: Recently the membership approved the purchase of new glass block windows and new wooden blinds to be installed in the meeting hall. They have now been installed and look terrific. Fish Frys: The fish frys are now over for the summer and will resume again in September. Thank you to all who helped out this year, we continue to receive many compliments about the quality and value of our frys and we were featured in an article in Cleveland Magazine this year as one of the areas best fish frys. All the hard work of our dedicated volunteers really paid off as this fish fry season was one of the best we have ever had. Thank you, thank you, thank you, to all who helped! Post members on active duty: I know that we presently have members serving on active duty and I am sure they would love to hear some news from back home. If you have a member’s military address please contact the post so that I can post their address for anyone who would like to drop them a line. Remember how it felt standing at mail call when your name was called? Just to know someone back home is thinking of you is a great morale booster. Ladies Auxiliary: Happy Spring! A big thank you to all those who have helped us with our programs and events that have taken place in the past year. Also, congratulations to Palma Bunting for her office of District 7 President, she has done a wonderful job and we are very proud that she comes from our auxiliary.
We are looking forward to the coming year and working with all members of the post and auxiliaries. Please welcome our incoming President, Lori Guzzi, and offer her the same love and support you have given me the past couple of years. If you have ideas or suggestions for programs or events, or if you know anyone who is eligible to be a member, please pass the information on to an officer. New members mean new ideas and those are always welcome! If you haven’t attended any meetings lately, please join us and see all the wonderful things we do serving our veterans and their families. Our meetings are the second Wednesday of each month @ 7 PM. WHY I JOINED THE MEN'S AUXILIARY By Mark Kish When I was first asked to join the men’s auxiliary, I thought there was no way I was going to do bake sales. Well let’s face it, that’s what all auxiliaries do, isn’t it? Well the short story is I was talked into it and became a charter member of the Men’s Auxiliary and am currently serving as secretary for the organization. Joining was one of the better things I have done, not comparing that with my marriage of course. According to the national rules of the VFW membership in the Men’s Auxiliary is limited to husbands, widowers, fathers, grandfathers, sons, grandsons, brothers and half brothers of persons who were or are eligible to be post members. When I think about our family one of the greatest gifts I ever received from my grandfather was his service in WW I. How better to honor the man I never met ( he died before I was born ) than to support those men and women who continue to keep us free. The mission of the Men’s Auxiliary is to support the post and all it’s members, we accomplish this through fundraising, working at post functions, work parties, and supporting the community we all belong to. Some of our members have even assisted the Ladies Auxiliary at their functions, although I don’t think anyone has baked for them yet! Without our post members service we wouldn’t have the country we have today. We could be living under communist rule or a complete nation of militant Islam. We need to support our post members pre and post service years. They have seen things some of us cannot comprehend. As a police officer I know how important their service is to each of us and I thank them all from the Revolutionary War to Iraq and Afghanistan. My neighbor is a post member, Lowell Henry, who is a Korean War veteran, and I have listened to his "war stories" in awe. I have also seen what being a veteran has meant to him. I have seen how our post and the County Veteran’s Service Office has helped him. Knowing that I have been a VERY SMALL part of that has been very gratifying to me. [Unfortunately, Lowell passed away this June] If you think you might be eligible to be a member of our Men's Auxiliary, please talk to me. You will not be sorry. To all current, former and future service personnel THANK YOU! South End Property: Each year we have a work party to clean up and fix up the south end property. For the past few years we have had about 6 or 7 members attending this work party and it consisted of 4 post officers, 1 auxiliary officer, and 1 post member. Where are all the members who have keys to the gate and use the boat ramp to launch their watercraft or use the property to fish????? It is way past time for members to start helping to maintain our facilities instead of sitting on your duffs and making excuses why you’re to busy to help out. No one is ever to busy to stop by when there are freebies to be had. Don’t sit there and think about this do something to help out! When you see a posting on the boards that help is needed it is not posted for those who are always doing the work but it is intended for all! Military facts: During the Vietnam war 12,054 helicopters served, of that number 5,602 were shot down and the crews were killed. That was almost a 50% ratio. During the D – Day invasion more than 9,000 men lost their lives, despite that staggering number, more than 12,000 men lost their lives during the invasion of Okinawa. Iraq & Afghanistan Casualties as of June 30, 2009: total 5,011
May God Bless and Keep Them All. May He comfort and console their families and friends. Please remember to pray for our troops each and every day where ever they may be serving. Always remember those who have given their lives for us and our freedom. |