October 08 NEWSLETTER
GEMS
October 08 NEWSLETTER
Gem state branch 382 - fra
Branch Elected Officers
President: Jim Doering 331-1265 Bd. of Directors: Glen Dittman 466-7002
Vice President: Hazel Bettencourt 463-4682 Bob Keith 336-3342
Secretary-Treasurer: Keith Cottrell 283-2342 Ken Nungesser 467-5686
Financial Secretary: Larry Schmitt 463-1452 Jack Rhoads 342-8422
Secretary E-Mail [email protected] Jim Shadwick 468-0036
James Taylor 921-3038
CALENDAR
October 2008
5 Sunday 1100 Veteran’s Home Fall Fund Raiser Car Show
11 Saturday 0930 Branch and Unit BOD meetings
11 Saturday 1000 Branch and Unit meetings, pot luck luncheon follows.
15 Wednesday 1400 Bingo at the VAMC Community Living Center
November 2008
1 Saturday 0830 Breakfast by Back Country Horsemen
1 Saturday 0930 Branch and Unit BOD meetings
1 Saturday 1000 Branch and Unit meetings
7 Friday 1100 Missing In America Ceremony (interment of indigent veterans remains)
at Veterans Cemetery
8 Saturday 1000 Veterans Day Parade in downtown Boise
8 Saturday 1900 Sea Cadets Spaghetti dinner fund-raiser at the FRA hall.
10 Monday 1000 Branch 382 raise flags at Veterans Cemetery Avenue of Flags
11 Tuesday Veterans Day – Fly your flag
12 Wednesay 1500 Branch 382 lower the flags at Veterans Cemetery Avenue of flags
19 Wednesday 1400 Bingo at the VAMC Community Living Center
MEETING MINUTES
Instead of the Secretary reading the minutes of the previous meeting, printed copies of the minutes will be available next to the sign-in book. When you sign in, take a copy and read it before the meeting. During the meeting, the branch will be asked to approve the minutes as written.
OCTOBER MEETING NOTE
LAFRA Regional President Northwest, Mickey Talley, will make her official visit to the Unit at the October meeting. There will be a luncheon hosted by the Unit after the meeting. Also, the Branch President will be out of town and the Vice-President will preside.
NOVEMBER MEETING CHANGE
Because the Veterans Day Parade is scheduled for November 8, the November meeting will be held on the 1st, as shown above. The Back Country Horsemen will again treat us to their delicious breakfast at 0830.
AVENUE OF FLAGS
As usual, the branch will raise and lower the flags on the Veterans Cemetery Avenue of Flags for Veterans Day. Raising will be on Monday the 10th at 1000 and lowering will be on Wednesday the 12th at 1500. More hands make for less work. Call the Secretary to verify the date and time.
CHRISTMAS DINNER AND AWARDS PRESENTATION
The annual Christmas dinner and membership awards presentation will be held on Saturday, 13 December at the FRA Hall. Details will be published in the November newsletter.
MEMBERSHIP CAMPAIGN
The Membership Chairman, James Taylor, needs some members to help contact former Branch members, Members-At-Large, and prospective members. If you can make a few calls a day, contact James at 921-3038.
VETERANS ORAL HISTORY PROJECT
The Warhawk Air Museum in Nampa is participating in the Veterans Oral History Project, which is sponsored by the Library Of Congress. In this project, veterans are video-taped telling their stories of their service to the country. Volunteers are also needed to interview veterans, operate the video recorders and edit the videos. For more information, sign up to tell your story, or volunteer to help, call Sue Paul at 208-465-6446 or email her at [email protected]. Information about the project and the museum is available on their website, www.warhawkairmuseum.org.
COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN NEED
The Branch is in need of one or more members to take on the duties of the Americanism-Patriotism committee. This is the most active committee in the Branch. The A-P committee conducts the annual Essay Contest and coordinates the Branch’s participation in the Memorial Day services, the Fourth of July parade and the Veterans Day parade. One person can take the chairmanship or two or more can operate as co-chairmen. If interested, talk to the President or the Secretary.
DUES ALERT
The dues payments of the following shipmates are due during the next two months and had not been received by National as of 28 September. If your check is in the mail, disregard this list. Dues notices are normally sent out the first week of the month before your dues expire. For example, if your dues expire on 31 October, you would receive your notice in early September. If you don’t get your dues notice by the first of the month in which your dues expire, contact the Secretary. Dues should be sent directly to National using the envelope provided with the dues notice. The Secretary can forward dues in special circumstances.
Butler, Thomas T Call, Elton L Cavaiani, Charles Cook, John D Finney, Robert B
Gamel, Thomas E Heintz, William L Johnson, Ken W Kirkland, Jessie L Loop, Stephen B
Mansfield, Larry S Nungesser, Kenneth D Rasmussen, Jennifer R Schum, William S Smith, Stephen R
Thompson, Ron J
To check your record via Internet, go to the website, www.fra.org. In the upper right-hand corner of the home page, enter your 9-digit membership number (including leading zeros, if applicable) in the “username” block and enter your first initial and last name (e.g., jdoe) in the “password” blank and click on the blank next to the “username” blank. Then click on the “MY FRA” block near the top of the page to show your personal record. You can make changes to your address or telephone number by clicking on the “edit” block. You can also change your username or password.
To check your record if you do not have access to the internet, or to make other changes to your record, call National at 800-372-1924 between 0900 and 1700 Eastern Time (0700 – 1500 Mountain Time) on regular workdays. In the opening menu, press “1” for member services. Having your membership number available is helpful, but not necessary.
MEETING NOTES
8/9/08 JOINT MEETING
Branch President James Doering and Unit President Jena Shadwick presided.
A motion to allot up to $2500 from combined funds for refurbishment of the “parsonage” for use by the caretakers was approved.
Discussion was held on the need for some repairs to the roof of the rental house.
8/9/08 BRANCH MEETING
The Branch charter was draped in memory of Past Regional President, Northwest, Louise Miller and Branch 382 Shipmate Harold W Cowles.
Branch President James Doering presided. The minutes of the 14 June meeting were presented and approved. The Treasurer’s and Financial Secretary’s reports were presented.
A discussion was held on possible ways to get the word out about the Branch and its new meeting hall.
Nominations were re-opened for the Bingo Advisory Committee. Hazel Bettencourt, Larry Schmitt, and Jim Shadwick were nominated at the June meeting. There were no further nominations.
The following Standing Rule was adopted:
SR-9 (o) The branch shall purchase a brick in the Idaho State Veterans Cemetery Memorial Wal for each deceased member in good standing whose date of death is after 1 July 2004.
A Two-Bell Ceremony was held in memory of ADRC Harold W Cowles, USN (Retired).
The name drawn from the membership list for $200 was David Roe, who was not in attendance. The winner of the consolation drawing from the sign-in book for $25 was James Taylor.
9/13/08 BRANCH MEETING
The Unit had met on 10 September, therefore there was no joint meeting.
Branch President James Doering presided.
The following personnel were initiated into the Fleet Reserve Association and Branch 382:
Joe Kilbourne, EMFN, USN, Veteran
Sharell Newman, PR1, USNR, Retired
A motion to advance $1000 to the Property Account to re-roof the shed and laundry room area of the rental house and have the work performed was approved.
An advertisement was run in the Press-Tribune (under a vastly reduced rate) promoting an Open House scheduled for 25 September. A motion to spend up to $200 for open house supplies was approved.
Larry Schmitt and Bob Burmeister will represent the Branch at the Navy Ball on 4 October and present the Sailor Of The Year award. Frank Craig will perform the same functions at the Marine Ball on 1 November.
The President announced that the Property Committee had approved a lease for the Taylors to occupy the house on the property in return for groundskeeper and maintenance work.
A motion to allot up to $300 for participation awards for the Veterans Olympics was approved.
Steve Scott gave a report on the summer activities of the Sea Cadets. A fund-raiser dinner is scheduled at the FRA hall for 8 November.
The Secretary announced that the Branch had won Regional First Place awards for Youth Activities and Public Relations and Second Place for Hospitals, Welfare, andRehabilitation.
The name drawn from the membership list for $200 was James Sparks, who was not in attendance. The winner of the consolation drawing from the sign-in book for $25 was Joe Kilbourne.
