NEWSLETTER: September 2017

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1 Post (North Myrtle Beach, SC) 111 Hwy 57 N. Little River, SC NEWSLETTER: September 2017 This is the 4 th edition of the Post Newsletter and I want to thank you for the kind, supporting, favorable words (about the newsletter) I have received from many of you. My goal, with the support of Commander Nick, is to keep you up to date on what s happening in the post, and provide you helpful veteran s information. COMMANDERS CALL: VFW Day is September 29 th and marks our foundation back in The American Veterans of Foreign Service was a group of 17 th Infantry Regiment veterans who fought in Cuba during the Spanish-American War and banded together to help other veterans. Fifteen years later, they merged with two other veteran groups to form the VFW. Over 1.7 members and 6,500 posts around the world will celebrate our 118 th birthday on the 29 th. Post will have a special anniversary/birthday dinner in the banquet hall with entertainment by Cheryl Z. To borrow some lyrics from Prince Lets party like its 1899! And our new Anniversary Tee Shirts are officially declared appropriate garb for our party. Casual! You re Post is getting revitalized and we are moving forward on all fronts. Our August meeting had nearly 40 members there-highest attendance in recent memory. Committee heads are reporting progress each month as they work towards our goals in membership, community support, youth activities, and Americanism to make Post an All American Post once again. Meanwhile, we ve been raising funds and donating to veterans in need and local community groups. Now, it s time to raise some money for our Post building. We re starting a campaign to raise $10,000 to replace our aging air conditioning units which are more than 17 years old. We re applying for grants and starting a number of fundraisers to reach our $10K goal. We ve already sold VFW Anniversary tee shirts and will soon start selling top quality belts with individual military service logos. We ll be selling raffle tickets for an authentic looking model of an M-16 rifle with the drawing on Veterans Day in November. And, we ll be asking you our members, to donate whatever you can afford to the fund. It s time to re-invest in our Post and we re hoping all of our Life Members will send a check to QM Dan

2 Farley made out to VFW Post for this tax-deductible donation. Please read Bill La Monte s NEED YOUR HELP column below and donate what you can.we need your help!! MEET YOUR AUXILIARY PRESIDENT Jacqui Williams.Born in Philadelphia, initially schooled in NJ. She studied music and is an accomplished musician, proficient in playing the violin, guitar, piano and organ. She studied Genealogy at the Virginia School of Genealogy and Brigham Young where she earned Certificates in the Study of Genealogy. She also holds an Associate s Degree in Business. Jacqui is the daughter of a WWII Navy Veteran who served on a Destroyer around Japan. He was a member of the VFW in Maple Shade, NJ. Jacqui is divorced. She spent her earlier days with her two sons on a farm raising various farm animals. Along the way she got into raising and showing Persian Cats and mentoring newcomers to her feline world. Jacqui s Persian s garnered her an International Award win and helped her receive a Lifetime Achievement Award. In her earlier days she even played substitute goalie for her son s hockey team. Jacqui has spent 30 years in the Food Service Industry. She has worked at various locations along the East coast, including Disney World. She runs a small catering business. Somehow she found the time to put in a career at Lowe s and recently retired from there. Jacqui was the Post Canteen Manager from Jacqui first got involved with the VFW Auxiliary in 2004 with the encouragement of her brotherin-law Al Colassi. She has put-in/continues to put-in many volunteer hours on various projects that raised money for the Post, the Auxiliary and needy civilian projects. She reports the Auxiliary is going strong (currently working on many projects) and will continue to do good things for the Post, local veterans and in-need civilian projects. Jacqui s work ethic was/is to always do the best you can. During her years in the retail world, she carried that ethic to her employees and co-workers, always trying to get them to see the benefit and pride associated with a job well done. She now does this with the Auxiliary members in that she shows them how doing their best even in a volunteer environment, makes each of them a success, along with the organization they are working for. Jacqui was recently rewarded for this and all the good things she has done for VFW Post by being elected President of the Auxiliary. Well Done Jacqui!!! DID YOU KNOW Your S.C. VFW web page has all kinds of information and help for veterans. A couple of examples are: NATIONAL RESOURCE DIRECTORY..Provides access to just about anything a veteran or spouse would need to find information. This includes, but is not limited to; Benefits & Compensation, Community Care, Education, Family & Care-Giver Support, Health, Homeless, Housing, Transportation & Travel and many more informative items. OPERATION UPLINK..Has been around for many years and is still doing the job today. Operation Uplink provides phone cards for hospitalized veterans and military personnel in touch with their families and loved ones. Phone cards are purchased and distributed to military

3 personnel separated from family and loved ones. Military personnel use these cards to call people they care about, but are separated from. This program ONLY works with donations from other veterans or the civilian world. TO FIND OUT, OR GET MORE INFORMATION ABOUT EITHER OF THE ABOVE; Go to SCVFW on any web search page. Both these items can be found on the SCVFW Home Page. Just click on that item and follow the instructions. ECLIPSE PARTY The Post hosted a very good Eclipse Party with a special eclipse lunch, drinks and several TV s for patrons to watch from inside the Post. Unfortunately; we had a large storm cloud that obstructed our view of prime time. After the clouds moved North, you were able to see parts of the partial eclipse until about 4PM. To our knowledge, no one at the Post went blind that day. WANT TO FIND OUT HOW YOUR DEPARTMENT (State) VFW WORKS? Come to the Fall Conference, November 3rd to 5 th at the Myrtle Beach Hilton. The Post will pay your Registration Fee (not motel room or meals or transportation) if you let the Quartermaster (Dan Farley) know you want to go. Hope to see you there!!! NEED YOUR HELP As with any VFW Post that has a building or canteen, there are financial needs associated with this Post s operation. Post is no different. In the last year the Post has had to replace two air-conditioners. It has two more that are soon going to need replacing at a cost of about $10,000 total. Y all know how hot it s been this summer. Just think of the Post without air-conditioning. It would have to shut down and deprive you of a location to gather (as many of you like). It would not be able to do the lunches and dinners and special events that many of you enjoy on a regular basis. The problem right now is that the Post does NOT have the money to replace the air-conditioners, nor does it look promising in the near future that the Post will acquire the money. New energy-efficient air-conditioners could help drastically reduce our monthly electric bill and drastically improve our building climate control. WHAT CAN YOU, the member, DO??: Make a donation to The Air-Conditioner Fund. Monies donated to this will be set-aside and ear-marked for this project only. Know someone looking for a place to donate money? Leave money to in a will? Why not put your VFW Post in-line for this? Donating, or memorial donating is a great way to help your Post support current and future veterans. The Post recently received a $1,000 donation from the estate of a departed friend -of-the-post. You, your family or friends could do the same. Think about it! The Post September Calendar is full of fun, food and activities. Come out and support YOUR Post and all it has to offer. DID YOU KNOW That, once you qualify, you can shop on-line in military exchanges? The process is simple. Just go to VetVerify.org and follow the instructions. DoD uses your information in the Defense Manpower Data System (DMDC). If your information is not there or is incomplete, VetVerify.org will provide guidance in what to do next. So far 38,000 veterans have been cleared to shop on-line. If you want to call instead, call Once

4 verified, you can shop at; shopmyexchange.com, shopcgz.com, mymex.com and mynavyexchange.com. It s FLU SEASON and if you are enrolled in the VA Healthcare System (You have a valid VA ID Card). You can get your Flu Shot free at any Walgreens Drug Store. Just fill-out the Walgreens form on the last page of this newsletter. Take it, along with your VA ID and one other source of ID to any Walgreens and get your flu shot. Walgreens will send your information to the VA and your VA records will show you received the shot. NOTE: This program is only good if you receive the QUADRIVALENT Vaccine. If you or your doctor require another vaccine, you must go to your VA health provider for your flu shot. NOTE 2: This program does NOT cover spouses or dependents, but Walgreens is a Tri Care provider so they can get flu shots through Tri Care Bill La Monte Editor or 4william6@gmail.com PS: See Walgreens Flu Shot Form below (scroll down)

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