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INSTITUTED 1931 |
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JOHN F. GLASS JR POST 2188 |
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COMMRADES IN ARMS |
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MEETINGS & EVENTS |
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VFW POST 2188 NEWSLETTER Post Tel and Website: 508 967 6027 for VFW business middleborovfw2188.org January 2012 Words from the Commander Alan Giampietro Next Meeting Date: Wednesday January 25th 2012 Monthly meeting for January 2012: We will be holding our next monthly meeting on Wednesday the 25th of January 2012 at 7pm in the VFW hall with the Cooperation meeting at 5:30pm. Please make sure you put this on your social calendar. There will be a free meal of baked stuffed chicken and all the fixins for the post members in attendance after the meeting and 2 free drinks of your choice from the bar. VAVS event of 18 January a big success: We had a VAVS dinner for the veterans from the Brockton VA hospital on Wednesday the 18th of January 2012 and it went very well thanks to the help of members from the post, the auxiliary, and the Driftwood Lounge. Also a big thanks goes out to Tony, Sandy, and their helpers for preparing a great meal of beef stew. These events mean a lot to the veterans from the hospital. It gives them a chance to get out and about into the community and enjoy the camaraderie of fellow veterans and their helpers. Marshfield is the hosting post of the district 12 meeting in February: The schedule for the district meetings for the rest of this meeting year is as follows: March 12th 2012 Marion, April 9th 2012 Plymouth, May 14th 2012 Halifax, June 11th 2012 Onset. I want to thank the members of our post that joined me in attending the January 2012 district meeting in Whitman. We had a good turnout at the meeting and a great meal knockwurst, baked beans, and sauerkraut after it was over. They discussed a number of things that were relevant to our post and the district. One of the things that was a big issue discussed at the meeting was the need to crack down on organizations that are out there soliciting monetary donations outside of retail establishments in our district and also telemarketing our communities in the name of helping out veterans in need. Almost all of these organizations have such high overhead by virtue of having to hire companies that do the telemarketing for them or having to hire individuals to work at the retail establishments that in most cases less than 15% of the money raised goes to helping out veterans in any way, shape, or form. Even the money that goes to helping veterans from these fund raisers seldom if ever goes to helping local veterans regardless of what the individuals that are soliciting the money say. If you run across a situation where you are telephonically solicited or encounter one of these fund raising groups out and about at retail establishments soliciting contact Paul Provencher the Director of Veterans’ Services for the town of Middleborough at 508 958 3557 and he’ll notify the proper authorities so they can determine if the fund raiser is at least legal to solicit in the state of MA Those that are going to attend the district meetings meet in the driftwood Lounge prior to 6:30pm on the nights of the meeting and we car pool from there. Those that drive get a $10 stipend for using their car. I hope to see as many of you there as possible. Also remember that the hosting post puts on a no cost meal at the end of each meeting Wounded warrior fund raising project: Each State Commander has a major fund raising project that he works on during his 1 year tenure. This year it is the Wounded Warrior project. Our post will have $5.00 blue ribbons and $10.00 red ribbons available from the barmaid . Once the ribbon is purchased by you your name will be written on it and it will be posted on the designated wall in the lounge for all to see that you’re supporting the Wounded Warrior project. The Wounded Warrior Project is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to "honor and empower wounded warriors" of the United States Armed Forces. "The Wounded Warrior Project (WWP) works to raise awareness and enlist the public's aid for the needs of severely injured service men and women, to help severely injured service members aid and assist each other, and to provide unique, direct programs and services to meet their needs."[ Meeting held with 2 of our local State Representatives to discuss issues dealing with veterans on Thursday the 12th of January 2012: State Representatives Orall and Calter met with about 20 local veterans to cover a number of veterans’ related topics. Representative Straus canceled out of attending the meeting at the last minute. The discussion dealt with both state and federal aid and assistance for veterans and their family members in such areas as financial assistance, jobs, retraining, fuel assistance, education and a number of other issues. The issue of the state cutting power to the lights shining on the flag at the American Legion Rotary across from Friendlys’ was addressed by representative Orall. She’d followed up on this since the December meeting she’d had with local veterans and found out that the state appears to be willing to install a solar lighting system for the flag pole. This would do away with the possibility that any electrical problems with lights on the flag will impact the safety of those using the rotary due to the outage of the blinking warning lights around the rotary. Representative Orall was going to follow-up with the MA highway department to make sure that the problem gets resolved. Our post was well represented at the meeting with the representatives. Representative Calter painted a very realistic but yet gloomy picture of the financial state of the country and the reaction of federal government to try and get its’ financial house in order. He said that services across the boards will be significantly impacted by the reforms and budget cutting that needs to be done. He said as much as he hated to say it that aid to veterans would be impacted by these measures also. He did say the financial health of the state is very good at this time but that with the cuts that the federal government needs to do he’s not sure how long the state will continue to be financially sound. Overall all that attended the meeting felt that it was very worthwhile and informative. They felt that the 2 state representatives that did attend the meeting listened to the issues and concerns and were genuinely concerned about helping where they could with the issues presented.
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