vfw post 8870 · 4 phone 425-670-8912 stephen c. johnson, r. rh j & j pharmacy located at...
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VFW Post 8870 Edmonds, WA
www.vfw8870.org Jim Traner, Editor
Upcoming Events Calendar 2010-11
May 9th Peter Chiarelli, Vice Chief of Staff of US
Army—WA Athletic Club—11:30AM ($40)
May 10th Board Meeting—Traner’s office—110
James St., Edmonds, WA (0915 hrs.)
May 13th Post Meeting—South Snohomish Senior
Center—Lunch 11:30; Meeting 12:30
May 14th District 1 Meeting at 12:00PM—
Alderwood Boys & Girls Club
May 27th-28th Memorial Day Buddy Poppy Fund Raiser—
See Bob Crawford for details
May 31st Memorial Day Ceremonies—Edmonds
Cemetery
June 22nd - 25th State Convention—Yakima
Want to Go to a Ball Game?
May 2011
Volume 7
Issue 5
Please take time to review the calendar and if there
are additions that are necessary, please contact the
Quartermaster at [email protected] or
call Elizabeth Mather at 425-672-0279.
Post 1040 in Lynnwood and our Post are planning on
attending an Aquasox game on August 13th in the
evening. Tickets are $10 and I have only reserved 10
seats at this time so don’t procrastinate or you’ll be
out of luck. We already have 14 signed up but we
can still (I hope) get additional tickets. This is the last
call so let us know as soon as possible if you would
like to join us and 1040 at the ball game. It should be
a fun evening. Fireworks are planned after the game
and in the past, the veterans get the royal treatment.
So if you are interested, please let us know as soon
as possible either by email (preferable) or phone at
425-672-0279.
The congressman was scheduled to present Mike
Reagan with a copy of the Congressional Proclama-
tion that I published in an earlier newsletter. Unfor-
tunately, the D’s and the R’s couldn’t get their act
together and the government was threatened with a
shutdown so the congressman had to remain in WA
DC until that fiasco was sorted out. He is back on
for the June 10th meeting so make a note on your
calendar to attend this special meeting honoring one
of our Post members.
Congressman Jay Inslee to Visit Post
Post Election Results
Post elections were held at the April meeting. The
officers for the next year are as follows:
Commander Jim Traner
Senior Vice Commander Fred Apgar
Junior Vice Commander Ron Clyborne
Quartermaster Elizabeth Mather
Judge Advocate Chuck Siljeg
Chaplain Rock Roth
Surgeon Al Boyett
1st Year Trustee Bob Crawford
3rd Year Trustee Les Abel
In addition to the appointed officers, Elizabeth Mather
has been appointed Adjutant, Tom Hallums is Officer
of the Day, and Don Whedon will be serving as Ser-
vice Officer. Dexter Miller is Assistant Chaplain
while Bob Crawford will continue as Poppy Chair.
Memorial Day—Edmonds Cemetery
As in every year, the VFW and American Legion will
be raising the colors for the opening of the Memorial
Day ceremony at the Edmonds Cemetery. We need
assistance in putting out flags in the morning and re-
trieving them in the afternoon. If you would like to
help, please send the Quartermaster an email. Also,
Mike Reagan will be a speaker as well as Fred Apgar
who will explain the meaning of the White Table
which will be set up beforehand. Gold Star parents
are being recognized, so if you know of any, please
invite them. This year we have reserved a row for
the VFW and American Legion members so we can
sit together and enjoy the program. See you there.
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Mike Reagan Honored in Olympia with Fellow 8870 Post Members
Pictured above left to right are Tom Hallums, Rock Roth,
Mike Reagan, Phil Sacks and Jim Adams. Jim was instru-
mental in achieving the recognition he so truly deserves by
having State Senator Maralyn Chase issue a proclamation
recognizing Mike and his Fallen Heroes Project. At the left
I have included a note that Senator Chase sent to me but it
was addressed to our entire Post so I wanted to include it
in this newsletter. By the way, this picture was in the local
newspaper but identified Jim Adams as Jim Crawford. I
was going to put in a different picture but I thought I
should set the record straight.
Supporting Scriber Lake Students for WA DC Visit
Rock Roth presented students with a $200 check
to assist in their fund raising efforts to send a
group of students from Scriber Lake High School
to Washington DC where they will see govern-
ment at work (hopefully). Scriber Lake is an al-
ternative high school and this is an excellent op-
portunity for them not only to meet our senators
and congressman but to see what, I feel, is the
heart of this country. While they are there, they
will visit the Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials, Li-
brary of Congress and, hopefully, the changing of
the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. I
don’t know about the rest of you, but before I
went into the Army going to Oregon was about
as far away from Yakima as I ever traveled. This will be a great opportunity for these young peo-
ple to experience not only the travel to another
region of our country, but to be able to touch
and feel our history and heritage of this great
country.
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The mayor didn’t get the word that Congressman Jay
Inslee had cancelled his presentation to Mike Reagan
so he ended up attending our luncheon. I opened up
the podium to the Mayor prior to the beginning of
our business meeting. The city, as most of you
know, is unable to keep the required cash reserves
into the next year without making some very difficult
decisions. The mayor is proposing an operating levy
which may appear on the ballot this fall. The mayor
was very direct on what would be cut without addi-
tional funding including the police department and
the maintenance around the city. Of course, we had
some members give the mayor ideas of what to do
which he graciously accepted.
Buddy Poppy & Memorial Day
Mayor Mike Cooper Speaks to Post
I would like to have the various members submit pic-
tures of themselves while they served. We should be
able to recognize the Gulf War, Afghan and Iraqi's
vets, but l would like to get some of the WWII, Ko-
rea and Nam pictures and see if we can figure out
who they are. If you never attend meetings, give me
a current photo as well. Thanks.
Send Me Your Picture
Like the swallows returning to Capistrano, Memorial
Day brings Bob Crawford’s signup sheets out of hi-
bernation. All kidding aside, Bob does a great job
organizing the Post Members and arranging for the
various stores to allow us to set up our tables. Bob
has all of the slots filled for our existing stores but
would like some additional help to allow us to cover
additional doors at those stores. Particularly for you
members who are unable to attend meetings, this
would be a great opportunity to get to know some of
your fellow Post members. It’s not hard duty and the
folks are very friendly for the most part and often
stop to chat about their military service or that of a
family member. So if you are interested in helping
the Post raise funds for the relief fund, please con-
tact Bob at 206-909-4893.
Post Sponsoring Two WWII Post
Members to Washington DC
We recently sent letters to all of our members who
are WWII veterans informing them the Post has
committed to sending two individuals to Washing-
ton DC to visit the World War II Memorial which
opened in 2004. The Post is partnering with Free-
dom Fighters Honor Flight to cover the cost of the
airfare, ground transportation, and hotel. While the
next flight leaves in May (shortly after you receive
this newsletter) another flight is scheduled for June
and there will be additional flights in the future. If
you are interested, please contact the Quartermas-
ter as soon as possible or call Fred Apgar at 206-940
-7502 and let him know you are interested. Hope-
fully, we can eventually send all who are interested.
Test for Phil Sacks
This is a test only for Phil Sacks. I want to see if he
ever reads this newsletter since all his questions are
addressed here.
District 1 Meeting is May 14th
I know this is on the Post’s calendar in the newslet-
ter, but I am seeking a work detail to arrive before
the meeting and stay a bit longer after the meeting.
Our Post and the auxiliary are responsible for host-
ing the meeting and the ladies tell me they need help
in bringing in the food and setting it up for lunch at
noon. Afterwards, we need to clean up and put
away the chairs, fold the tables, etc. We provided
the ladies with $50 to buy the food. I would really
like to see someone other than the usual suspects
pitch in and help, so please consider volunteering.
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Phone 425-670-8912 STEPHEN C. JOHNSON, R. Rh
J & J PHARMACY
LOCATED AT EDMONDS PROFESSIONAL CENTER
7315 - 212TH S.W. , EDMONDS, WA 98026
Traner
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110 James Street, Suite 106
Edmonds, WA 98020-8430
Telephone 425-640-8650 Fax 425-640-8655
Jtraner @tranersmith.com
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The Last Word
I think Memorial Day and Veterans Day are perhaps two of the most important observances in America. July
4th should rank up there, but it has pretty much deteroriated into a fireworks show rather than a patriotic
holiday. Perhaps we should only refer to it as Independence Day rather than the 4th to get it back on track.
Veterans Day is a specific recognition day and that is great; our veterans deserve it. Memorial Day, on the
other hand, started as a day to remember the dead of the Civil War but has expanded to where we remem-
ber not only our military who were killed in action, but our loved ones who have passed on as well. It is also
a time when we don’t shoot off rockets but rather contemplate those who have gone on before us. It, and
Veterans Day, has retained the reason the day was named. This Memorial Day, like so many in the past, will
be spent at local cemeteries where we show our respect for those who have gone on before us. Our Post,
together with American Legion Post 66. will raise the colors. Fred Apgar will explain the White Table that
honors our MIA/POW’s and educate those attending as to the meaning of each item on the table. And, final-
ly, Mike Reagan will talk about the more than 2,500 portraits he has drawn of the young men and women
who are KIA’s in the Global War on Terror. Please be there to honor them and all of our fallen comrades.