Dear Fellow Comrades,
Great news this month, our Rice Lake National Guard Unit made it home safely on the 17th of January. We had approximately 300 people attending the program at the armory. Yellow ribbons were made up prior to their arrival by the FRG and my wife Betty and tied up to light poles around the city. The City of Rice Lake put up American Flags on Main Street to welcome the troops home. Our Veterans Center Color Guard along with several other members from the VFW, Legion and Auxiliaries were at the armory for the ceremony. Market Place Foods, VFW, American Legion and both Auxiliaries donated food for the event. Thanks also goes to my wife Betty who helped coordinate all the food with Jean Malsom of the FRG and the ladies auxiliaries that helped during the event. If you missed the event, you missed out on a lot of great cookies.
The VFW 9th District meeting was held on 16 January at Altoona. Commander Ben, Herb Zimmer and I attended. During the noon meal, Chuck Stene was honored as the 9th District First Place Winner for the Teacher of the Year Award 6-8 grades. Sorry to say, Chuck did not win first place in state competition. Chuck will be honored again at our post during our Loyalty Day Banquet. Our Patriot Pen entries did not do as well as in the past and none of our entries took top honors. Our winners will also be honored at the Loyalty Day Banquet.
We did have a short but productive meeting this month. We did miss a few of our comrades and hopefully they are doing well. Herb Zimmer had a mild stroke on the 18th of January but returned home the next day and is doing well. Denny Leuthner is over at the VA Hospital in Minneapolis and is getting his knee replaced on the 21st. He said he wanted it done now so he can get back on the golf course for a little recuperation this spring.
We are still working on the Scuttlebutt issue, we are trying to resolve the issue of how much it actually cost to print and mail each copy. We are still discussing it and we might be mailing a bi-monthly or quarterly letter but not yet sure. We are continuing to update the web site for the Veterans Center. The web site is www.rlvets.org
The VFW 9th Mid-Winter Conference will be held on 05-06 February at Appleton, Wisconsin. Commander Ben Anderson and I will be attending. We will provide information gained at our February meeting.
**** If you know of any member who is sick or could use some sunshine, please contact Steve Clark at 715-719-0218 .
Upcoming Event:
- 05-06 Feb 2010 - VFW Mid-Winter Meeting (Appleton)
- 16 Feb 2010 - Monthly Meeting
- 16 Mar 2010 - Monthly Meeting
- 10 April 2010 - 9th District Meeting (Chippewa Falls)
John L. Fredrickson
Jr. Vice Commander