Texas VVA Chapter 1069 holds its 5th annual Christmas Party, held at Mikeska's BBQ in El Campo. 100 members & guests attended the Christmas party, a record attendance. The Social hour lasted from 6:00 PM to 7:00 PM. Wine, beer, punch & snacks were enjoyed before the meal. The evening dinner was catered by Mikeska's BBQ. The membership enjoyed roast beef, buttered potatoes, gravy, mixed vegetables, salad, with peach cobbler and ice cream for dessert.
Above photo shows Carolyn Milder early in the evening waiting for the guests to arrive and sign in. The Mikeska crew
had done a wonderful job of putting up a huge Christmas tree in the banquet room, along with other various Christmas
displays & decorations. The chapter would like to thank both Carolyn and Dale Boone for helping with the registration table.
15 poinsettias were given away as door prizes to those that attended. Other door and raffle prizes included cream cheese and poppyseed rolls, homemade fudge, Prasek's noodles, gift baskets, a Texas flag donated by Representative Phil Stephenson, and other gift items.
The above photo shows Chapter 1069's memorial display for all Vietnam soldiers that was setup for the party.
The white cross on the left honors all those who were killed in action (KIA) during the Vietnam war, and
the black cross on the right honors all those who were later declared to be missing in action (MIA).
Above photo shows the large number of Veterans and spouses that attended this year's party.
Again, this our Chapter's 5 annual Christmas party and we did have a record attendance. Everyone seems to be having a great time.
The Chapter would like to thank Frank & Nancy Kacal (above photo) for helping sell both 50/50 and gift raffle tickets.
Above photo shows 3 very happy party attendees.
Above photo shows Local State Representative Phil Stephenson (far left). Phil is a very good friend of VVA Chapter 1069.
He gave a short presentation to the membership after the meal describing some of the things he's working on at the
state capitol in Austin.
Above photo shows more very happy party attendees.
This year, one of our chapter members, Dwight Winkler, thought it would be proper and "The right thing to do", to
setup a Memorial Table (see above photo) for those members in our chapter who have
passed away and are no longer with us. The table symbolizes the loss of these fine Veterans and served as a visual
rememberance for all of us. Since our Chapter has been formed in 2012, we have lost a total of four members, with
two of those having just passed in the last few months of 2016. The table was met with much approval by the membership.
The Chapter also wants to thank Brenda Steelman for providing the china, silverware & center-piece for the table,
and Dana Sternadel for creating & printing the place-cards. The table could not have been any nicer.
VVA Chapter 1069 Memorial Table Honorees
To read more about the VVA Chapter 1069 members who have passed away, use the link below to visit our Chapter's "In-Memoriam" page.
Visit Our Chapter's In-Memoriam Page
Just as a sidenote, a similar "Missing Man Table", also known as the "Fallen Comrade Table", is a place of honor, set up in military dining facilities of the U.S. armed forces, during occasions such as service branch birthday balls. Various Veterans organizations also setup the table during special meetings and special occasions. The table represents the memory of fallen, missing, or imprisoned military service-members, one chair/place for each of the 5 military branches. A short ceremony script may also be included in which the various items on the table are described to have some special symbolism. The table serves as the focal point of ceremonial remembrance, primarily originally growing out of US concern of the Vietnam War POW/MIA, issue.
For example, The VVA Texas State Council, which meets twice a year with representatives from all Texas Chapters, does setup a "Missing Man Table" at all their bi-yearly meetings, with a selected person that performs/reads the ceremony script before the meeting starts. You may CLICK HERE and CLICK HERE to see two photos we took of the "Missing Man Table" that was setup at the VVA TSC meeting that was held in Killeen, April 2014.
If you're interested, you may use the link below to learn more about the Missing Man Table and the ceremony script that may be read during the short accompaning ceremony.
Click here to Learn more about the Missing Man Table on Wikipedia
After everyone had eaten, Chapter President, Leonard Sternadel, presided over a short program.
Above photo shows Leonard & Dana Sternadel enjoying the Mikeska meal. This is a total "Sternadel" table affair, as the
other two gentlemen sitting at the table are Leonard's brothers Kenneth (a Vietnam Veteran) & Frank (an Army Veteran).
And again, the chapter would like to thank Leonard and Dana for all the hard work & time they put into the planning of
the Christmas party.
The above photo gives you some idea of the large attendance we had at this year's Christmas party. The Chapter officers
would like to thank all those who attended this year's Christmas party and they hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas
and that everyone is having a very Happy New Year!
The above photo shows Leonard, Dana and State Representative Phil Stephenson drawing the winning numbers for the gift
raffle. Phil and his wife have been great supportors of VVA Chapter 1069. Unfortunately, Phil's wife passed away last
year - she was a wonderful lady. In April of 2015, Barbara came to our monthly chapter meeting to present the chapter
with a special gift from Phil (Phil could not attend as he was at work in Austin).
CLICK HERE
to visit the report page for that meeting and see the gift that Barbara presented to our Chapter.
The above photo shows some of the great decorations that Mikeska's BBQ had setup for Christmas 2016. The Chapter would
like to thank both Gerry & Nick Mikeska for being such great supportors of VVA Chapter 1069. The Chapter would also like
to thank the entire Mikeska staff for all the hard work and effort they put into the planning of our Christmas party.
They all did one heck of a job!
You may use the links below to read the report and see the photos from VVA Chapter 1069's past 4 Christmas Parties...
4th Annual 2015 Christmas Party Report & Photos
3rd Annual 2014 Christmas Party Report & Photos
2nd Annual 2013 Christmas Party Report & Photos
