The Vet Connection · 2019-03-18 · Page 5 The Vet Connection O ur decision, as a club, to...
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ans Outreach Center (VOC). Chuck will give us an update on the VOC and I am sure tell us how thankful he is for the second meal being pro- vided by our club. Thanks to your efforts and generosity, we have been able to fill 100% of our requested food and beverage items needed to serve homeless military veterans. We will sur- prise Chuck when mis- sion leaders, Chris Salz- er and Jose Lopes pre- sent him a check for $5K from our club. We do need some help on our “Muster and Mingle” event at Veter- ans First Limited. We are short nail polish and fingernail art/stickers. Please contact mission leader, Colleen Tucker ([email protected]). We really could use some help on this one, so we don’t fall short on our volunteer efforts. For those that have signed- up to bring an item, make sure you get it to the lower level parking lot of the Kiva Club be- (Continued on page 2) “The Vet Connection” is a monthly newsletter for the members of the Trilo- gy Veteran’s Club. If you have an article that you would like published, please send to Scott Duke at [email protected] Dates for monthly meetings (Meetings start at 4:30 pm) From the President Page 1 Humor In Uniform Page 2 Meet a Vet Page 3 Who am I? Page 4 VOC Serving Hot Meals twice… Page 5 Membership Update Page 6 Fundraiser Raises $1.2K for Club Page 7 Raffle Update Page 9 Bocce Tournament Page 10 Gift Shop Page 11 Meeting Agenda Page 12 In this Issue... The Vet Connection March 2019 Volume 3 Issue 3 From the President Scott Duke [email protected] January 29, 2019 June 25, 2019 November 26, 2019 February 26, 2019 July 30, 2019 December 17, 2019 March 26, 2019 August 27, 2019 April 30, 2019 September 24, 2019 May 29, 2019 October 29, 2019 T his has been a pretty tough year so far, as we have seen the pass- ing of two club members (Norm Freedman and Bill Trenkle) and a for- mer member (Jim Wil- liams). This is a trend that needs reversing im- mediately, but I am pret- ty sure, we won’t have much say in that endeav- or. We miss our fellow veterans and we pray for their families. Our guest speaker this month will be a re- turning friend, Chuck Ashby from the Veter-
Transcript of The Vet Connection · 2019-03-18 · Page 5 The Vet Connection O ur decision, as a club, to...
ans Outreach Center (VOC). Chuck will give us an update on the VOC and I am sure tell us how thankful he is for the second meal being pro-vided by our club. Thanks to your efforts and generosity, we have been able to fill 100% of our requested food and beverage items needed to serve homeless military veterans. We will sur-prise Chuck when mis-sion leaders, Chris Salz-er and Jose Lopes pre-sent him a check for $5K from our club.
We do need some help on our “Muster and
Mingle” event at Veter-ans First Limited. We are short nail polish and fingernail art/stickers. Please contact mission leader, Colleen Tucker ([email protected]). We really could use some help on this one, so we don’t fall short on our volunteer efforts. For those that have signed-up to bring an item, make sure you get it to the lower level parking lot of the Kiva Club be-
(Continued on page 2)
“The Vet Connection” is
a monthly newsletter for
the members of the Trilo-
gy Veteran’s Club. If you
have an article that you
would like published,
please send to Scott Duke
Dates for monthly meetings (Meetings start at 4:30 pm)
From the President Page 1
Humor In Uniform Page 2
Meet a Vet Page 3
Who am I? Page 4
VOC Serving Hot Meals twice…
Page 5
Membership Update Page 6
Fundraiser Raises $1.2K for Club
Page 7
Raffle Update Page 9
Bocce Tournament Page 10
Gift Shop Page 11
Meeting Agenda Page 12
In this Issue...
The Vet Connection
March 2019 Volume 3 Issue 3
From the President
Scott Duke
January 29, 2019 June 25, 2019 November 26, 2019
February 26, 2019 July 30, 2019 December 17, 2019
March 26, 2019 August 27, 2019
April 30, 2019 September 24, 2019
May 29, 2019 October 29, 2019
T his has been a pretty tough year so far, as
we have seen the pass-ing of two club members (Norm Freedman and Bill Trenkle) and a for-mer member (Jim Wil-liams). This is a trend that needs reversing im-mediately, but I am pret-ty sure, we won’t have much say in that endeav-or. We miss our fellow veterans and we pray for their families.
Our guest speaker this month will be a re-turning friend, Chuck Ashby from the Veter-
tween 11:00-12:00 on March 18th.
April 12th is quickly approaching at that is our “Totes for Troops” effort with MANA House. Mission leader Ron Gabaldon has posted on sign-up genius what items are needed, so if you can help with that mis-sion, please do so. Ron will make another pitch at this month’s club meeting.
Not taking anything away from our Membership update on page 6, I wanted to just make note of the in-crease in membership from a year ago. March 2019, our membership was 133 and today, it sits at 219. This is an increase of 86 members. That is 7 new members each month! Many thanks to all of you that talk so highly about our club, our efforts in supporting military veterans in need or at risk, and for bringing potential new members to club meetings so they can see for themselves what this club is all about. We are ready, reliable, and relevant because of YOU. I can’t thank you enough for that. You make this club work. Don’t forget that.
(Continued from page 1)
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H aving spent 42 years in the Air Force, de-ployed to a war zone,
and spent over two decades in Washington, DC, working with the Department of the Air Force, I think this chart adequately describes how really great serving in the Air Force was for me, and I suspect many oth-es.
With 56 Air Force veterans in the club, I thought it would be fun to share this chart and my guess, most of them will smile, nod their heads, and say…”pretty accurate.”
Scott Duke
Our “Meet a Vet” this month is the Army’s own, Larry Smith.
Larry was born in Roxboro, NC in 1955, and grew up on a tobac-co farm where his relatives were sharecroppers.
He graduated from Person Senior High School in 1973 and worked for a year at Carolina Power & Light as a coal yard handler, operating rail and heavy equipment. It was at that time that he and two basketball team friends decided to enlist into the Army. The Ar-my Recruiter was the only service that came to his small town.
In 1974, Larry and his friends enlisted, but only two of them was accepted, Larry being one. He had never told his family he was enlisting. And, on Thanksgiving Day 1974, the Recruiter picked him up at a designated spot and off he went to the MEPS station in Durham, NC. After spending one night there, he boarded a Braniff Airlines flight for Shreveport, La enroute to Fort Polk for Infantry basic Training. Larry had enlisted for Combat Arms, thinking he was going to Armor School to be a tanker. Recruiters never change!
Upon arrival at Fort Polk, the Drill Sergeant told Larry “don’t go out the back gate”….as if he had some liberty to go and come! But he knew what they meant! Larry loved Basic Training, and after working hard on the farm, the physical part was a lot of fun!! He excelled at all the basic skills and was promoted to PV2 and appointed a Squad Leader for a time. It was during the graduation ceremony that Larry, seeing the National and Unit Colors waving in the wind, that he knew the Army was for him. After Basic, an error in his contract sent him off the Ft Leonard Wood MO with a $2500 bonus to train as a Combat Engineer.
Larry has served in every enlisted leadership position from Team Leader to Command Sergeant Major. His assignments include: 8th Engineer Bn, 1st Cavalry Division, Ft Hood, TX; 12th Engineer Bn, 8th Infantry Di-vision, Mainz Germany; 295th Military Police Company, Seneca Army Depot, NY; 6th Bn (Drill SGT), 2d Bde, 98th Division (Tng), Rochester, NY; Headquarters Company, Human Resources Command, St Louis, MO; Hqs, Army Reserve Command, Fort McPherson, GA; Office of the Chief, Army Reserve, the Pentagon, Washington, DC; The U.S. Army Sergeants Major Academy, Fort Bliss, TX; U.S. Army NCO Academy, Fort Dix, NJ; Installation Command Sergeant Major, Fort Hunter Liggett, CA. He retired from active duty in Oct 2003 as a Command Sergeant Major.
His awards are too numerous to list, but include: the Legion of Merit, Meritorious Service Medal w/2 Oak Leaf Clusters, Army Staff Identification Badge, and the Army Drill Sergeant Badge.
In addition to 26+ years of active duty service, Larry served as a dept of the Army Civilian with assign-ments as a Deputy Garrison Commander, Deputy G3, and Garrison Director of Plans and Operations in South Korea. He retired from civil service in Dec 2017 as a GS-14.
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Dues are due OVERDUE! Please make every effort to keep yourself in good standing by paying your dues. Dues remain at $10 for 2019 and you MUST fill out a 2019 membership form (can be downloaded from our website—tvaveteransclub.weebly.com). Contact our Secretary, Mark Grin-dle for any questions at [email protected]
Do you know who I am?
I am a member of the Trilogy Veterans Club and served in the United States Navy.
Answer can be found on page 12
I t was late February, when I sent out an e-mail blast
about helping a WWII Vet-eran celebrate his 100th
birthday.
His name was Joe Cuba and
he wanted to receive 100 birthday cards. I asked that each of you send Joe a Birthday card to help
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him reach that 100th card! Well, we didn’t do it by ourselves, but at last count, Joe received over 3,000 birthday cards from around the country!
What a great feeling to know that our club helped to make a wish
come true for a fellow veterans. Thanks to all that supported this effort.
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O ur decision, as a club, to increase the number of meals we cook and serve to homeless military veterans was
a big winner for the men and women who go to the Veterans Outreach Center. When you add the additional meal served by residence of Trilogy, military veterans are getting a hot
meal 3 out of the 4 weeks of the month! That is something we all should be proud of.
Mission Leaders Chris Salzer (VOC2) and Jose Lopes (VOC4) continue to lead our most popular mis-sion with March’s meals being 100% filled...AGAIN! Many thanks to the club members that volunteered to serve and drive to the VOC, but to those that make it all happen with the donated food!
Special thanks to club member, Ron Schaub who personally cooked 20 pounds of meat loaf w/scallop
potatoes that was a huge hit with the veterans!
For both events, nearly 50 military veterans were served.
W ell another month has past and we contin-
ue to grow and hold more ac-tivities. Currently, we have 219 members on the roles. Five (5) members were re-moved from the roles due to death or moving from Trilogy. We are asking all members that have yet to renew for 2019 to do so. The bylaws indicate that members that have not re-newed will be removed from the roles. We have extended
W e found out who the hard-core trash
pickers were last month; with the snowy mountains in sight and the temperature holding at 34 F, the following hearty souls turned out; Paul Ber-nard, Jack Dreyfus, Dave Lederer, Steve Drum, John
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Mark Grindle
Bruce Murray
Fowler, Jose Lopes, Bruce Murray, Jim Reavis, Bob Swete, Marv Shadman, Bob Swete, & Colleen Tucker (Bernard not shown). We continue to have a target rich environment for trash by the Cross Eyed Cricket/Safeway area and in and around the Circle K!!!
As you know the things you find while picking up trash are sometimes surpris-ing. Today's winners of the Really Valua-ble Lane Loot are Jim Reavis (pictured) in first place with the find of a crystal with a silver colored chain and in a close second place was John Fowler with the find of a
this a couple months and asking members to renew that have not done so by March 31st. This coming Thursday will be our March Thirsty Troop Thursday at the Cricket from 1500 - 1600. This is a excellent way to socialize with you fellow club members. If you know a veteran that lives in Trilogy and not in the club, please bring them along.
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I t was a night to remember to be sure. Eleven (11) guests were treated to a wonderful four-course/wine pairing din-
ner at the Trilogy home of David and Holly Stichka. Da-vid prepared an amazing array of courses that included
Braised Short Ribs, Farce of Green Pea Agnolotti, Mushroom
Carpaccio, and for dessert, Dark Chocolate Pistachio Semifreddo w/Macerated Berries.
Veterans Club President, Scott Duke spoke to the group before dinner about the amazing work military veterans of the club do in the Phoenix area in support of Military Veterans in need or at risk. He provided
handouts of each of the primary missions the club performs and spoke about homeless military veterans.
The fundraising dinner raised $1.2K for the Veterans Club, and was hosted by the Time 4 Others Foun-dation, which was formed by the Stichka’s and their close friends, Ryan and Sharon Jacobsen.
The Trilogy Veterans Club is incredibly grateful to the guests that attended and the wonderful evening provided by the Stichka’s and Jacobsen’s.
Time 4 Others Foundation members; Left to right, Jacob-
sen’s and Stichka’s.
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PRESIDENT
Scott Duke
SECRETARY Mark Grindle
VICE-PRESIDENT
Bob Meizinger
Member-at-Large Richard Brown
TREASURER Les Kessler
Manager of Charities
Chris Salzer
Member-at-Large
Joe Ingalls
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W e congratulate our monthly raffle win-ner who won two
tickets to the Harkins Theater.
For this month, our gift card will come from V’s Tap-room.
Will you be the next win-
ner? All you need to do is show up at our January 29th meeting at 4:30 and purchase a ticket for $1, or heck increase your chances and buy three!
All proceeds from the Raffle offset costs of operating the club and funding various events and op-erations.
I t was another successful event for Food for Kidz and our club was proud to be a part of the effort.
According to the Food for Kidz Chairperson, Susan DiGiovanni, “Because of the efforts of you and your club volunteers, we were able to set a new record and achieve our goal of packing 150,000 meals.”
We sponsored two (2) tables for this event and had over 20 club members and many spous-es show up to participate. We
es show up to participate. We also had a heavy dose of Airmen from nearby Luke AFB help as well. It was a true team effort that got the job done. Thanks to all that volunteered!
Special thanks to Bob Meizinger who took the lead for the Veterans tables, and special thanks to Sanford and Judy Charles, who as I understand it, filled in for several club mem-bers who turned out to be no-shows for their scheduled time.
W e are only a month away from the 2nd annual Military
Services Bocce Tournament and things are well underway for an-other successful event. Committee members Steve Winer, Nancy Duke, Bill Hohman, and Terry Rowse have been quietly working hard to finalize everything for the
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event.
The schedule for the tournament has been prepared by Bill Hohman and released to all the team captains (see below). Each team is guaranteed four (4) games and we will have two pools (A and B) that will give us a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners.
This year, your Board of Directors have approved the club cover-ing the cost of lunch for all club members who are playing or attend-ing the tournament. For everybody else, the cost will be $8. The lunch will consist of Hamburger or Hot Dog, or Chicken Sandwich, bag of chips, and beverage. We ask that you wear your “red shirt” or mili-tary-related hat to the event.
Tickets for the lunch will go on sale at the Kiva Club, starting on March 26th. So you can come a bit early to our club meeting at 4:30 and stop by the front desk and get your tickets. They will have com-plimentary tickets for club members as well as tickets for sale.
We are so excited about hosting this tournament and with nearly 60 players and 10 teams competing, it is bound to be a competitive tournament and we are hoping for a good crowd and lots of fun!
W e will soon be offering a different style tee shirt and look for a newer hat to be sold at the Gift shop very soon. The Board is look-ing at some options, presented by mission
leader, Larry DiGiovanni.
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Item Cost
Club Polo Shirt (red) Branch of Service Logo $45
Club Tee-Shirt (red) Branch of Service Logo $35
Club Hat - sold out at the moment and new style hat coming soon. $30
Club Memorial Brick $40
Club Coin $10
H ere is a look at the agenda for this month’s meeting of the Veterans Club. We hope to see you there!
Meeting comes to order at 4:30 PM
Pledge of Allegiance
Guest Speaker - Chuck Ashby
President’s Comments
Secretary Report
Treasurer Report
Health & Well Being Update
Old business
New business
Good of the Club
Adjourn
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If you thought it was Mike Lowe, you would be correct!
