VVA Chapter 1069 Meeting Report for: June 6-14-2023
[posted on: 6-27-2023]
The meeting was held in the banquet room at Mikeska’s BBQ, (located on Hwy 59) El Campo, TX.
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Photo below shows Chapter President, Richard Woods, opened the meeting at 6:00 pm.
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Richard then asked our newly elected Vice President, Prudencio Arriaga, to come up front and lead
the members in the Pledge of Allegience. Prudencio is an ex-Marine Vietnam veteran.
Oops, I forgot, there is no such thing as an ex-Marine.
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Prudencio then made the comment (see photo below) that Marines do not salute the flag during the
Pledge of Allegiance, but said he would make an exception this one time.
The Pledge of Allegiance to the flag was led by Prudencio - see photo below.
By the way, if you're wondering why so much banquet meal service silverware is out on the
tables in the above picture, Mikeska's employees were getting the banquet room ready for
the annual Father's Day Sunday dinner.
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Richard then led the members in a prayer.
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There were about 35 members, spouses and guests that attended this meeting.
Much thanks to all those that attended! It is good to see that the attendance for our
monthly chapter meetings is getting back up to the pre-Covid days.
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Richard then recognized all those who were having birthdays in June. Only one
attending member had a birthday in June, and that was John Steelman, our chapter's Secretary/Treasurer.
See photo below. Everyone then sang Happy Birthday to him.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOHN!
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Richard then temporarily adjourned the meeting, to allow our membership and attending guests to go next door to get
lunch from Mikeska's BBQ restaurant.
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Richard then reopened the meeting at 7:00 pm - The following business shown below was conducted.
At this meeting, Richard made several announcments related to our chapter's hosting and planning
of the 'Vietnam War Veterans Day' fellowship gathering event, being held on April 3, 2024 at Taiton
Community Hall. As a reminder, this will be the third year for this event that includes our chapter
VVA Chapter 1069, and 4 other local area VVA chapters; Hallettsville VVA Chapter 854, Schulenburg VVA
Chapter 870, Victoria VVA Chapter 898 & Columbus VVA Chapter 1127.
And to again clarify, the actual official government date set for the "Vietnam War Veterans Day" holiday,
every year, is March 29th. However, that date in 2024 conflicts with a Catholic holy day - Good Friday.
So, our chapter has made the decision (with approval from the other 4 VVA chapters) to change the event
date to Wednesday April 3, 2024.
DO NOTE THAT THIS WILL NOT BE A PUBLIC EVENT, BUT ONLY OPEN ONLY TO THE 5 VVA CHAPTERS MENTIONED ABOVE!
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Richard invited Prudencio and chapter member, Bill Orsak (center in photo below), up to the front. See photo below.
First, Chapter Vice-President, Prudencio Arriaga, will be taking the lead position for being the overseer
and manager of the planning & organizing of the event. When introduced, Prudencio said to the attending
members, that he would do everything he could to make sure the event would be a success. He also thanked
all those chapter members and spouses who have already helped with (1) the Taiton Hall reservation and
(2) the selection of the event caterer. He said we really have a good start on the planning for the event.
Second, Chapter member, Billy Orsak, will be assisting Prudencio to help him with the event planning, including
such things as budget planning, creating various committees, soliciting volunteers and keeping track of everything
up to event day. Billy also spoke a bit about his thoughts on what various planning items we need to be aware of.
Both members said that at next month's meeting they will have much more to talk about and most likely will
have some special committees setup and volunteers in place. More importantly, they also said that from here on,
they will give progress reports at every monthly chapter meeting. This will also be an opportunity for attending
members to ask questions, provide suggestions for the event, or to volunteer their services. It will also ensure
that this event is the top priority project for our chapter from here untill April 3, 2024.
A big thanks to Prudencio and Billy for giving their time and expertise to make sure this event is a successful
project for VVA Chapter 1069.
So, at this point in time, or until some further notice, if any of you have questions about or suggestions for
the event, please contact both Prudencio and Billy via phone or email. Probably email would be the best way to
contact them both, but a phone call would work too. They in turn will be keeping track of all suggestions and
ideas brought forth.
Both Richard and Prudencio commented that it was really good to see the interest and responses we had from
those of you that attended the meeting last night. There were some really good suggestions brought forward
during the discussion about the event, and some really good questions asked. They say they had the feeling
that everyone is getting excited about us hosting this event and that we all have the same desire to make
it great success. They both encourage all of you to contact Prudencio and Billy and tell them of your ideas
or to volunteer your services. And be sure you attend next month's chapter meeting - I'm sure Prudencio and
Billy will have some good information to present to the membership regarding planning progress.
Photo below shows Carolyn & Louis Milder (on the right). They both are already checking into what sort of
table decorations we could use for the event, and had brought some sample decorations to the meeting for
show & tell. Much thanks to Carolyn & Louis for their early help with the April 3-2024 event planning.
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Richard then invited chapter members, Augie Limas, Ronnie Miller and Harold Peikert, up front.
Augie gave a short presentation regarding the
Texas Outdoor Heroes May 20th event, where our
two chapter members, Ronnie and Harold were honored as Vietnam Veterans. The event took place
at the American Legion hall, located in El Campo, TX. See photos below.
Above photo shows Augie (far left), Ronnie (center), and Harold (far right).
Both Ronnie and Harold also spoke a bit about the event, and gave a few details of how well they
were treated at the event. The 4 pictures below were taken at the Texas Outdoor Heroes event.
Above photo show Augie with the Texas Outdoor Heroes banner.
Above photo shows Harold (far left) and Ronnie (center) being presented with special made War Veterans blankets
along with other special gifts given to them by the Texas Outdoor Heroes.
Above photo shows Ronnie (far left) and Harold (next to Ronnie) alsong with the 3 other Veterans that were
honored by the Texas Outdoor Heroes.
Above photo shows Augie with his motorcycle and several Veteran flags.
Ronnie and Harold thanked the Texas Outdoor Heroes organization for selecting them
for the honor ceremony. Be sure to congratulate both when you see them.
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Richard then thanked all those members that attended the funeral of chapter member, Kenneth Sternadel.
Bob showed some pictures on the big screen projector taken at Kenneth's funeral - see photo below.
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There being no further business, Richard then adjourned the meeting at 9:00 pm.
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Thanks to everyone for attending our June chapter meeting. See everyone at the July 12th meeting.
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