Archive for January, 2009

February 2009 Scuttlebutt

Thursday, January 22nd, 2009

22 January 2009

Dear Fellow Comrades,

I guess one of the most important items to mention this month is that our first place winner, Sarah Mattes in the Patriot Pen Program (Youth Essay) also won first place in 9th District. We have invited Sarah to attend the District Mid-Winter Meeting, but she will be unable to attend. She will be attending the Spring Meeting on 09 May at Altoona. Her entry was forwarded into state competition on 15 January and we are still awaiting final word on how she did at Department level. As soon as I hear more I will let you know. We will be presenting Sarah our post award at a later date.

We had a very good and short meeting this month, not a lot of action items to cover. One of the main items we discussed was the deployment and support to the Rice Lake National Guard Unit. The latest word that I have gotten is that they will be departing Rice Lake around 24-25 February. We would like to have a send off from either the Rice Lake High School or the Barron County Campus. Planning is still in the works and we would like to see as many veterans as possible attend this function. We will be discussing it more at our February meeting.

As you know, Burger King sponsored the VFW UNMET Needs Program during the month of November. A check of $250,000.00 was presented to the VFW last week. This is the combined effort of Burger King’s in 7 states. They are trying to get this program going in all 50 states next year. One of the owners that are working hard on the program is Mike DeRosa owner of the Rice Lake Store. If you see Mike, give him a big thank you for his efforts.

9th District is no longer in the lead in the state for membership. We dropped to 2nd place this month. We are currently at 93.23% and need 267 members to reach our 100% membership goal soon. One of the newest members to join our post is Pete Breed who transferred into our post from Chetek. Welcome Aboard Pete, we sure can use your assistance. Our Post 2204 still needs 5 more members and we will be 100%. We still have several members who have not yet paid their 2009 dues. If you have not, remember, you will no longer be able to vote at meetings.

**** If you know of any member who is sick or could use some sunshine, please contact Ted Kuchera at 434-3123.

Upcoming Event:

    17 Feb 09  - Monthly Meeting
    20-21 Feb 09  - Department Mid-Winter Conf (Milwaukee)
    24-25 Feb (Approx) - Rice Lake National Guard Unit departs.

John L. Fredrickson

9th District Commander

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February 2009 Scuttlebutt

Wednesday, January 21st, 2009

Hi Comrades,

As you all know, we had no meeting in January and there will be no meeting in February. With the way the weather has been, it was a good thing. I sure hope all of you made it through the cold spell we had the first part of January. I talked to Bill Dent and he said he was going to head to Florida. Bill and Gail are heading down this month and are looking for campsites for next year. He said the last two cold winters were enough for him. Hopefully he will bring some warmer weather back with him in February.

As we discussed at our December meeting Chapter 48 in Hayward is closing.  The members can transfer to any chapters of their choice. We have already received three transfers and hopefully we will get several more in the next couple of months. It sure would be nice to get several more active members into our chapter. There is a lot of good things that we can do for our veterans and the more members who would like to get involved, the more we can do.

The newest members to our chapter are Daryl Coons (Hayward), Dale Holste (Spooner), Harvey Ott (Cumberland) and Walter Rumrill (Hayward). Welcome aboard and I hope to see all of you at our March meeting.

The 4th District Spring Conference will be held in Rice Lake on 18 April 2009. We will need as many members as possible to assist during this function. We will need door prizes and also decide what we are going to serve for the noon meal. We will be discussing it more at our March meeting and finishing the final details at our April meeting. If you have any ideas, please contact our Adjutant John Fredrickson. We are always looking for new ideas.

Our Annual Christmas & Appreciation Dinner will be held on 28 February at the Cameron House in Cameron. Cocktails 1-2 PM and we will eat at 2:00PM. Dinner will be serve family style and on the menu are chicken, ribs, veggies, rolls, salad and dessert. Cost of the meal will be $12.95. We have invited Roger Dorman (State Commander) and Terry McNitt (4th District Commander) and both said they would plan on attending.

*** If you plan on attending this function, please contact John Fredrickson (234-8050) prior to 23 February, as we need to provide the restaurant with a head count ahead of time so they will have enough food prepared. Hope to see you all at the party!

Remember all our men and women serving all over the world to keep us safe. Say a big prayer for each and every one of them. May they all come home safe. God bless each and every one of you.

Upcoming Events:

  • February  -   NO MEETING
  • February 28  - Christmas & Appreciation DinnerMarch 09  - Monthly Meeting
  • April 13  - Monthly MeetingApril 18  - 4th District Meeting at Rice Lake

Yours in Comradeship,

Ben (Walking Eagle) Anderson

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