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!

Ron Davenport
Vietnam Veterans of America
Memorial Chapter 165

Board Members Present

Bill Bowen President Present
Gene Goldsmith Vice President Present
Jim Pace Present Expires 2012
Tom Darling PP Excused Expires 2011
Ron Hewitt Secretary Present
Tom Modica Treasurer Present
Richard Martinez Present Expires 2011
Kenneth Richardson Absent Expires 2013
Steve White Emeritus Expires 2012
Board Member
Randy Elmore Present Expires 2014

The general membership meeting was called to order at 7:00 PM by President Bill Bowen at VFW Post 1585 on Tuesday, May 6th,, 2011 followed by the pledge of allegiance and a moment of silence for our MIA/POWs.

Tom Darling gave the invocation.

Scholarships were presented before getting down to regular business. President Bill Bowen spoke about this year’s scholarship being four instead of the usual three. All recipients had been invited. Three of the recipients could not make the meeting due to prior commitments.

The recipients were:

Matthew Rodenberger is attending WWU as a Manufacturing and Supply Chain Management student. His GPA is 3.2

Courtney Hicks attends WWU. He is working towards his Bachelors in Accounting, then her Master’s and taking the CPA examination. Her GPA is 3.8

Owen McKeown attends WCC. He is major’s in history and to become a History Teacher. Owen was presented a scholarship certificate and the check will be mailed to him and the other recipients once Tom is back. Owen thanked the membership and spoke a few words about himself and his plans.

Brandi Bowen is a student at Everett Technical College in Tacoma. Brandi is studying to become a pharmaceutical technician.

The membership meeting was called to order at 7:30 PM

Bill Bowen Present
Gene Goldsmith Excused
Tom Modica Excused
Ron Hewitt Excused

No secretary’s report

No treasurer’s report

Membership: VVA 165 has 109 members.

Old Business

Bill reported on the coffee stop and asked members to fill the remaining times.

Memorial Day festivities will be held on Monday, May 30th beginning at 4 PM at Hovander Park. Bill will meet with Ron when he is back to finalize details.
Bill discussed the Army Band concert donation that the chapter agreed to make. Bill advanced the donation and will be reimbursed by Tom when he returns.

Ken Richardson commented about the excellent performance.

Randy Elmore was acknowledged for helping to locate a sponsor for the event.

New Business

Ken Richardson asked if a preliminary flyer for the musical salute which will be held on Friday November 11, 2011 could be made so that it could be distributed at all the upcoming events and get the word out early. Renewed energy for the Musical Salute help is to be discussed at the next meeting.

There was nothing new to announce concerning our car show. This issue was left for discussion at the next meeting.

Motion to adjourn the meeting was made by Ken Richardson and seconded by Ray Radke. The meeting was adjourned at 8:30 PM

_______________________________________________
Virginia Pace for Ronald D. Hewitt Wednesday May 6th, 2011
Secretary

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