Vietnam Veterans of America, Chapter 380
Marquette County, Mi.
as written by
Chapter Treasurer:
Lynn Chevrette
Chapter Treasurer:
Lynn Chevrette
Updates for:11/08/09
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Dinner dance: this year’s dance is put to bed. We had the forethought not to store the decorations in the storage shed this year, so that will not be an issue. Overall, our net profit on the report to the state was $17,265.
The theme for next year’s dinner dance is “Show Your Team Colors”. Participants are encouraged to wear the colors of their favorite local, collegiate, or national team, without regard to whether it is track & field events, football, baseball, hockey, etc.
We had initially selected a date next year of September 18th, but that is now being reconsidered. When we took it, we had asked for a date around the same next year as this year. However, the hall this year was way too hot. The dinner dance was held in October for many years previous, and only changed due to scheduling conflicts for the hall this year. Now that we know that there were still other weekends open in October (last week, anyway), we’re going to try to push everything back a couple of weeks. Both the caterer and the DJ are available on the alternate weekends so far, so it’s a matter of getting with the armory and solidifying the date. The extra time will also give us more time to sell tickets, get the licensing/insurance/permits in place, etc. This is the first year we had unsold tickets.
Honor guard: Doreen just called. We have a funeral with full honors on Tuesday (her number is 361-4777- let her know if you can be there. They just moved from Ishpeming to Negaunee this weekend and her computer is still in a box somewhere.)
We have a rifle team firing for the Veterans’ Day ceremony at Jacobetti at 11 am on Wednesday, and a flag folding commitment at Aspen Ridge Elementary School at 1 pm the same day. After that, we have Len Pizziola’s funeral at 3 pm (flag only). I didn’t think to ask her where that would be (which funeral home or cemetery). I figured I’d get that info from the Mining Journal on Monday or Tuesday.
I’ve also asked Doreen to help me put on a modest Veteran’s Day tribute at Norlite at 10:30 on Wednesday. After the last fiasco we had there, I promised the guys I’d never ask them to do another presentation at Norlite. I “re-thought” my position the other night, at the employee awards banquet. Our administrator was liberated from a prison camp in Europe, brought to America as a small child (6 or 7) and adopted by a family in Negaunee. She has never forgotten the gratitude she felt for those soldiers who were a part of saving her from a living hell. After 22 years at Norlite, she’ll soon be retiring, and this will be my last chance to share her deep feelings for this very special holiday. With her permission, I propose to read a short intro over the PA system, giving recognition to the residents and staff who have served in the military, let Doreen play taps, and than offer flag pins to those staff members who wish to add them to their employee badges. We have a serious lack of patriotism in that place, and I’d like to give them a little shot in the arm. The pins will come from the many dozens that the recruiters donated to the chapter for the helicopter dedication, and will not cost us a cent. This thing shouldn’t last more than 10 minutes, tops. After that, she and I will join the others at Jacobetti.
Larry Collister and Gary Salo will be representing our Chapter in the 4-hour Veterans’ Day parade in Las Vegas again this year. Such sacrifice!
Steve heard on the radio that we are to lower the flags in Michigan in honor of the tragedy in Fort Hood. The flags will stay down until Wednesday. When you go by a flag that has been lowered, please keep those soldiers and their families in your prayers.
Oath Keepers: when we went to the meeting on Thursday, we listened to a message on the recorder from a guy named Scott Pyykola. The message was garbled, so I called him earlier today to see what he was talking about. He is a member of an organization called “Oath Keepers”. Their membership is comprised of people who have ever taken an oath to serve (such as active and former military members, past and present law enforcement personnel, etc.), and who still feel strongly about maintaining our constitutional rights (such as the right to bear arms, for instance).
They are having a meeting at the Holiday Inn, in Marquette, on Saturday, December 5th. Cocktails will be served from 5 to 6 pm, dinner commences after that (you order and pay from the menu), and the meeting starts at 7 pm. People are welcome to attend any or all portions of the evening’s events. They are having a guest speaker from down south. He said their founder is a guy named Stuart Rhodes (I am spelling it phonetically), who was at one time a paratrooper and since earned his degree at Yale in Constitutional Law. As members of this group, they have 10 orders that they have sworn they will not obey. Their website is oathkeepers.org, for anyone who is interested.
I am curious and have decided that I will go to this meeting. I know we have several members who feel strongly about the right to bear arms. I would also like to hear what their position is on other issues such as abortion, prayer in schools, flag burning, same-sex marriage benefits. etc. Their answers will tell me if this is a group of people I would like to associate with. If not, I haven’t lost much. It will also be interesting to see if I am even welcomed in their group (never a problem with the VVA). When I called him, he asked me to identify myself more than once, as though he was not expecting a call from a woman. My radar went up. I want to see if I was reading him correctly, or his perceived hesitation was just a figment of my sometimes overactive imagination. Having served in a predominantly male environment for 20 years, I am somewhat sensitive to gender bias.
Finally - that’s it for now. Have a great day. Lynn
The theme for next year’s dinner dance is “Show Your Team Colors”. Participants are encouraged to wear the colors of their favorite local, collegiate, or national team, without regard to whether it is track & field events, football, baseball, hockey, etc.
We had initially selected a date next year of September 18th, but that is now being reconsidered. When we took it, we had asked for a date around the same next year as this year. However, the hall this year was way too hot. The dinner dance was held in October for many years previous, and only changed due to scheduling conflicts for the hall this year. Now that we know that there were still other weekends open in October (last week, anyway), we’re going to try to push everything back a couple of weeks. Both the caterer and the DJ are available on the alternate weekends so far, so it’s a matter of getting with the armory and solidifying the date. The extra time will also give us more time to sell tickets, get the licensing/insurance/permits in place, etc. This is the first year we had unsold tickets.
Honor guard: Doreen just called. We have a funeral with full honors on Tuesday (her number is 361-4777- let her know if you can be there. They just moved from Ishpeming to Negaunee this weekend and her computer is still in a box somewhere.)
We have a rifle team firing for the Veterans’ Day ceremony at Jacobetti at 11 am on Wednesday, and a flag folding commitment at Aspen Ridge Elementary School at 1 pm the same day. After that, we have Len Pizziola’s funeral at 3 pm (flag only). I didn’t think to ask her where that would be (which funeral home or cemetery). I figured I’d get that info from the Mining Journal on Monday or Tuesday.
I’ve also asked Doreen to help me put on a modest Veteran’s Day tribute at Norlite at 10:30 on Wednesday. After the last fiasco we had there, I promised the guys I’d never ask them to do another presentation at Norlite. I “re-thought” my position the other night, at the employee awards banquet. Our administrator was liberated from a prison camp in Europe, brought to America as a small child (6 or 7) and adopted by a family in Negaunee. She has never forgotten the gratitude she felt for those soldiers who were a part of saving her from a living hell. After 22 years at Norlite, she’ll soon be retiring, and this will be my last chance to share her deep feelings for this very special holiday. With her permission, I propose to read a short intro over the PA system, giving recognition to the residents and staff who have served in the military, let Doreen play taps, and than offer flag pins to those staff members who wish to add them to their employee badges. We have a serious lack of patriotism in that place, and I’d like to give them a little shot in the arm. The pins will come from the many dozens that the recruiters donated to the chapter for the helicopter dedication, and will not cost us a cent. This thing shouldn’t last more than 10 minutes, tops. After that, she and I will join the others at Jacobetti.
Larry Collister and Gary Salo will be representing our Chapter in the 4-hour Veterans’ Day parade in Las Vegas again this year. Such sacrifice!
Steve heard on the radio that we are to lower the flags in Michigan in honor of the tragedy in Fort Hood. The flags will stay down until Wednesday. When you go by a flag that has been lowered, please keep those soldiers and their families in your prayers.
Oath Keepers: when we went to the meeting on Thursday, we listened to a message on the recorder from a guy named Scott Pyykola. The message was garbled, so I called him earlier today to see what he was talking about. He is a member of an organization called “Oath Keepers”. Their membership is comprised of people who have ever taken an oath to serve (such as active and former military members, past and present law enforcement personnel, etc.), and who still feel strongly about maintaining our constitutional rights (such as the right to bear arms, for instance).
They are having a meeting at the Holiday Inn, in Marquette, on Saturday, December 5th. Cocktails will be served from 5 to 6 pm, dinner commences after that (you order and pay from the menu), and the meeting starts at 7 pm. People are welcome to attend any or all portions of the evening’s events. They are having a guest speaker from down south. He said their founder is a guy named Stuart Rhodes (I am spelling it phonetically), who was at one time a paratrooper and since earned his degree at Yale in Constitutional Law. As members of this group, they have 10 orders that they have sworn they will not obey. Their website is oathkeepers.org, for anyone who is interested.
I am curious and have decided that I will go to this meeting. I know we have several members who feel strongly about the right to bear arms. I would also like to hear what their position is on other issues such as abortion, prayer in schools, flag burning, same-sex marriage benefits. etc. Their answers will tell me if this is a group of people I would like to associate with. If not, I haven’t lost much. It will also be interesting to see if I am even welcomed in their group (never a problem with the VVA). When I called him, he asked me to identify myself more than once, as though he was not expecting a call from a woman. My radar went up. I want to see if I was reading him correctly, or his perceived hesitation was just a figment of my sometimes overactive imagination. Having served in a predominantly male environment for 20 years, I am somewhat sensitive to gender bias.
Finally - that’s it for now. Have a great day. Lynn
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