Ana Burnes, the Community Relations Director for Merrill Gardens here in Bellingham, has kindly extend an invitation to our organization for their upcoming USO event.

Please see the attached flyer. We hope to see you there!

The very first thing to note is that we are scheduled to have our June monthly meeting this coming Tues, 6/7/2011 with dinner starting at 6 (1800) followed by our meeting at 7 (1900). Dinner will be from what we have left from our BBQ picnic on Memorial Day. For those who missed it — it was great and you can still enjoy the fruits of Kenny Payne’s and Co. labors from the BBQ.

This meeting will be important to attend since we have a major car show we are hosting for the first time in our Chapter’s history —- see the attached!!!!! Tom Modica and Dale Boe are spearheading the project — but they will need some help. That’s one of the reasons we need to have all hands on deck to assist where needed —- particularly since we are not having a meeting in July because the first Tue of the month is the day after the 4th of July and it was felt attendance may be lacking as a result. However, those assisting Tom and Dale will most likely get together before the Car Show’s July 24th date. So please come next Tues. to our meeting.

This note is long over due — but I want to acknowledge several things that occurred last month that need recognition.
Appreciate the effort Sears Taylor brought to the table in organizing and evaluating the scholarship recipients who were awarded their respective scholarships at the last meeting. He presented a good format for future evaluations.

The Coffee/Rest Stop weekend (5/20 – 5/22) was moderately successful — brought in $500. But what’s more important was those of you from the Chapter who volunteered their time to stand the 4 hour “watches” to provide comfort to those people passing through and collecting the donations you did. A list of those who participated is attached and I thank you all who helped out. We’ll be discussing future events like this but will need more volunteer participation.

One particular note of recognition on the Coffee Stop was a volunteer who came to us from the American Legion in Sedro Woolley, Loren O’Neal. We were in a bind to get the 10-2 and 2-6 night shift covered and Loren stepped up to fill the gap. Thank you Loren and to you Gerald Hulpert who talked to Loren about our blight.

The Memorial Day Service and Picnic was a great success. Thanks goes to Ron Hewitt who organized the service and to Kenny Payne who handled the BBQ with the help of Mike Nymeon, Dale Boe, Mike Novotney and several others I may be leaving out — sorry. Also, thanks to Gary Lysne for the stage / podium setup for the service. Last and not least of all our famous pinch – hitter, Randy Elmore, who provided the missing flag carrier for our color guard, the wreath bearer for the serviceman who didn’t show up and for all he did in setting up the chairs for the service. Thank you all who helped and enjoyed the time with fellow vets and family.
Once again, open up the attached file related to our Car Show — we’ll have posters at the meeting to have plastered where appropriate to notify the community about our event. Then be sure to be at our next meeting to review plans for the rest of the summer.

Bill Bowen
President VVA 165