VETERANS OF FOREIGN WARS POST 6978

215 NORTH US 31

NEW WHITELAND, INDIANA 46184

317.535.4041

Look us up on the internet at: http://www.vfw6978us/ like our group page on Facebook at

https://www.facebook.com/groups/254723575456/ and like our public page on Facebook at

https://www.facebook.com/vfw6978

Augest 2017  Edition  #30 

In this Issue:

Post Events and Activities Next 30 Days

Post Commanders Corner

Auxiliary Presidents Corner

 Post Committee Updates

Community Support and Post Events

Canteen Menu

 In Memoriam

Post Events and Activities Events Next 30 Days

Poker every Tuesday at 7 pm

Dinner every Friday Night 5:30-8:30 pm

Euchre every Saturday at 2 pm

Post and Auxiliary Meeting at 7 pm Wednesday, August 2^nd

Dog Tag Triathlon Saturday August 5^th

National Night Out Saturday August 5^th

50^th Anniversary/ Member Appreciation Day Saturday August 13^th

Post Commanders Corner- Comrade Commander Chris Baldwin

Comrades, Sisters, and Brothers,

        I hope this newsletter finds everyone doing well. It’s hard to believe that we are already through our first month of the 2017-2018 year. In the month of June we conducted 19 community support projects that included support to the Flag ceremony at Christa House, many in-home and hospital visit assistance, etc. Our honor guard conducted 7 funerals in June as well. In all, we accrued 58 hours of community service and donated $765.00 to various organizations and charities.

         As many of you may remember from the 2015-2016 year, we try to provide motivation, vision, and perspectives that directly supports and correlates with our major themes for the year. So, if you came to the July Town hall Meeting, you heard us talk about “supportability and sustainability” and you also heard talk about “change management and adaption to societal requirements”.  For the years that I’ve been attending Post functions and meeting as well as canteen events, I always hear some reoccurring comments; “At the old Post”, “we use to do this or that”, “we use to be busy all the time”, etc., etc.   Reflection is a great tool to keep you on azimuth with where you’ve came from and where you are going, but living too far in the past is detrimental to both the old and the new.  We have come a long way in just a couple of years that I don’t believe most people can either see or recognize. Just a few years ago we were deep in debt, we had a lawsuit looming over or heads, and our membership and member participation was tanking. For instance, did you know that our Post was 100% membership for 2016-2017?  That’s a first in several years. Did you know that we no longer have any outstanding debt? Did you know that we’ve out performed many like organization in both community service and charitable donations to veterans, veterans’ families, and our local community?  We should all find pride and inspiration in these accomplishments. These things are “supportable and sustainable”, we are continuously going through change due to societal requirements, it’s just the era we live in. While we can look back at our past and have fond memories of the olden days, we are building great new memories and developing a long-term plan for our future success.

         In closing, I’d like to welcome our new member; Caleb Bennett in July. Additionally, we’d like to welcome members that have transferred to us from other Posts; No transfers last month.  As always, I want to thank everyone for their continued support and dedication to our great organization. We hope to see you at the canteen for some of the upcoming events that we have scheduled.  May God bless you and your families, our current service members and veterans all around the world, and may God Bless America.      

Christopher R. Baldwin

1SG (R), USA

Post Commander

Ladies Auxiliary Presidents Corner- Janet Riddle

Dear Comrades, Sisters and Brothers,

I hope this newsletter finds everyone well. Thank you to everyone that donated school supplies. They are being delivered on July 20^th. We collected approximately $500.00 worth of school supplies to help children in need in the Clark Pleasant School Corporation. This is appreciated.

To all our current members, it is time to pay your dues again. Here is an incentive that you might want to think about. The VFW Auxiliary #6978 is having an Earlybird Special for our current annual members. Your dues must be received by September 30, 2017, then at our October 4, 2017 meeting we will draw one name out of the qualifying members to receive a Lifetime membership and then we will draw two names to receive their annual dues back. We only have 49 current annual members so this is a great opportunity it you want to take advantage of it.

August 5, 2017 is National Night Out in New Whiteland/Whiteland. We are looking for members to volunteer to walk in the parade from 11:30am-1:00pm and if anyone has a golf cart that you would be willing to let the auxiliary/Post use to decorate and drive in the parade would be much appreciated. Please contact the Post at 317 535-4041 or Chrissy Hudson at 317 453-7600. We also have a booth that we need volunteers to cover from 12:30pm-6:00pm. Any amount of time you can donate to work the booth is appreciated. You do not have to do the full shift. There is a sign-up sheet at the Post or call the Post and sign-up for the time you can help.

 Just a reminder that the 7^th District has a web page that they’d like people to start using. It is http://vfwin7thdistrict.webs.com/. If you get a chance please check it out. 

The next auxiliary meeting is on Wednesday, August 2, 2017 at 7:00pm at the Post. May God bless you, our families and military here and abroad. 

Respectfully,

Janet Riddle, President

VFW Auxiliary #6978

Post Committee Updates 

1.       PAO and Community Support Committee; Chairman Comrade Unknown- If you have an e-mail and you are NOT getting frequent e-mails from us please send an e-mail to us with the correct information. On average, you should get 2-3 emails a week. Please ensure you look at our Website, Facebook pages, and local media sections for news releases about Post activities in the future.  If you have any questions or ideas about media exposure, our newsletter, Website or Facebook page improvements please contact us at vfw6978webmaster@gmail.com. 

2.       House Committee: Chairman Comrade Tabor Siedl.  Our committee is dedicated to evaluating, developing, and coordinating new and re—occurring events at the Canteen as well as how our canteen operates. Our committee meets weekly on Wednesday night, if anyone has any suggestions or issues that they’d like this committee to review and discuss, submit them to our Post e-mail at vfw6978webmaster@gmail.com or you can write/type a letter and place it in a sealed envelope and give it to one of our canteen associates, not later than Tuesday of each week.

3.     Visitation Committee: Chairman Comrade Don Metcalf-If you are having issues or just need someone to talk to please reach out to us.  If any members know of anyone that needs a visit please contact us at vfw6978chaplain@gmail.com or call the post at 317-535-4041 and leave a message for the visitation committee. Emails and phone calls will be answered within 2-3 business days.

Community Support and Post Events

August-

August 2^nd- Post and Auxiliary Meeting @ 7pm

August 5^th- Dog Tag Triathlon-  8am-6pm- 18 Holes Golf, 2 games of Bowling, and a Cornhole Tournament. Proceeds benefit veterans in Johnson Co through Johnson County Extension Homemakers Club. This is a great event and organization to support.

August 5^th- National Night Out- 12- 6 pm. This year New Whiteland and Whiteland PD will celebrate national Night Out on Saturday August 5^th. This is a yearly event that we support. This is the first year for the parade. We will also have a membership and information both at the festival. A sign-up sheet is in the canteen for anyone interested.

August 5-6- State Golf Tournament- Jim Thiel Memorial State Golf Outing. Richmond, In. Details in the July general orders on post bulletin board

August 12^th- School of Instruction for Post Commander, Sr. Vice, Jr. Vice, Quartermaster, and Trustees as well as Auxiliary leadership.

August 13^th-  50^th Anniversary Party. Our Post will be officially active for 50 years this year and we will celebrate it by hosting a member appreciation event with food, games, etc. for family, kids, adults, etc. Please ensure you have the date and attend this commemorative event.

August 31^st – End of Operation Iraqi Freedom

We will have a veteran centric community support event in August, date is to be determined (TBD).

September-

September 6^th- Post and Auxiliary Meeting @ 7pm

September 9^th- Greater Whiteland Community Day- Once again the executive committee has asked our Post for manpower assistance. We need approx. 8-10 volunteers to help with various activities for the event. The Post needs approx. 6 volunteers to man out membership and information booth. Additionally, we are looking for 4 Comrades to lead the parade with the national colors and well as present the National Colors during the Opening Ceremony. A sign-up sheet is located in the canteen.

September 11^th- Patriots Day- We will have a Post event for local Law Enforcement, Firefighter, and EMS. This will be a pitch-in luncheon. We’ll have a small ceremony and prayer before serving. The Post will open at 1100 am that day. 

September 15^th- POW/MIA Recognition Day- We will have a small Post event, Loretta is working on the details.

September 17^th- 7^th District Meeting Oden, In at 1030 am.

September 23-24- Bus trip to National Home for Children. Details in the July general orders on post bulletin board

October-

October 4^th- Post and Auxiliary Meeting @ 7pm

October 21^st - House Winterization Project.  We will help veterans around the local area prepare for winter by conducting yard clean-up, gutter repair and cleaning, covering windows with plastic, splitting wood, etc. Please send us an e-mail with anyone needing assistance.

October 26^th from 7:00-8:00 pm.  Quarterly Town Hall Meeting This meeting will be open for all Post members to attend. We will provide our vision, strategic goals and objectives, our measures of effectiveness for the year, and all members will have an opportunity to ask questions and get answers by the senior officer of each segment at the end of the meeting.

October 27-29- State VFW Fall Conference. Details TBP by State.

Friday Night Dinner Schedule- Dine in or carry out available

August 4^th – Baked Spaghetti w/ small salad and garlic toast

August 11^th- Pam’s Grilled Steak Salad

August 18^th- Hawaii Chicken Breast

August 25^th- Friday Steak Dinner, Potato, Vegetable, and Side Salad for $13.00

In Memoriam:

Our thoughts and prayers go the family of the recently deceased member(s) of Post 6978.

Thankfully we did not lose any members this past month