- The meeting was held at Mikeska's BBQ, El Campo, TX.
- There were 42 members and guests present, along with 5 spouses in attendance. This is a record attendance for our chapter! Thanks to all of you for attending our monthly meetings - what a great membership we have!
- President Leonard Sternadel declared the meeting open at 1900 hours.
- The Pledge of Allegiance to the flag was recited and a prayer was said.
- Vice President of the chapter, Frank Kulcak, then surprised President Leonard Sternadel by presenting him with a plaque, recognizing Leonard's tireless efforts regarding the VVA organization and the operations of Chapter 1069.
- The Chapter Membership Bio & Photo Album (see photo below) was presented to the chapter for its initial viewing. It was
well received by the membership. Each of the 7 chapter members who are in now the Album, also received their own personal
copies of their Bio & Photo pages from chapter president, Leonard Sternadel. For those of you wishing to participate
in the Bio & Photo project or wanting more information, please contact chapter member, Bob Supak. The Chapter wants to thank
all those who have so far participated in the project. And again, one of the chapter's primary purposes for doing the Bio &
Photo Album project is so that VVA chapter 1069 members can find out if any of their fellow members were in the same place
during their Military time or Vietnam tour, and so bring those members in closer contact with each other. As a side benefit,
chapter members can learn more about each other which in turn induces a deeper friendship and camaraderie among the entire chapter.
- Dwight Winkler, the Wharton County Veterans Service Officer (VSO), then gave a presentation on Veterans benefits.
The presentation included (1) A Veteran's Burial Benefits - VA Form 21P-530, and (2) A Veteran's Pension - VA Form 21-534EZ.
A general handout was provided to all members, along with two VA forms. One form was an application for applying for a VA
Veteran's Burial benefits, the other form was an application for applying for a Veteran's Pension benefits. Note that there
are links provided below that will allow you to view or print all of Dwight's handouts.
CLICK HERE to View or Print Dwight's Handout Summary Sheet (PDF file)
CLICK HERE to View or Print VA Burial Benefits Form 21P-530 (PDF file)
CLICK HERE to View or Print VA Pension Benefits Form 21-534EZ (PDF file)
CLICK HERE to view Dwight's VSO home page
- The Travelling Wall will be back in El Campo July 16-20, 2015.
- "The Great Kayak Races" (or as some now call it, the Great PBR event
) were held on Saturday, September 13th, at "The Pond". A Hot dog supper was provided for all who attended.
Much thanks to all those who attended!
CLICK HERE for a Report on the Great Kayak Races held at the Pond
- Efforts are being made to assist Iraq/Afghan veterans in organizing a support group. Chapter member, Randy Ratcliff is heading up this effort and provided a brief report on his progress. More information will be forthcoming.
- The VVA Texas State Council (TSC) Fall Council meeting was held October 3-4, 2014, in Arlington, TX. Leonard Sternadel, chapter president attended the TSC meeting as our chapter delegate . Leonard presented a brief report on the TSC meeting and handed out the minutes from that meeting for all to view. One of the highlights in Leonard's TSC meeting report was that the VA now has representatives that are actually moving in the right direction to correct the problems with staffing and scheduling at the facilities. He added the next TSC meeting will be held in El Paso in April of 2015. CLICK HERE to visit the Texas State Council's Website
- Sternadel stated there will be a Veteran's Day recognition at the courthouse on November 11th.
- Sternadel also acknowledged a Thank-You note that he received from the "Zena Project" in Beasley. All veterans are invited
to attend a "Wellness Day & BBQ Fundraiser" event in Beasley Tx, being held on October 25th. More details below are from
Jan Shultis, Executive Director of "The Xena Project".
Good afternoon, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Please mark your calendars for Saturday, October 25th, and plan to spend it with us!
We will host our next Wellness Day on the 25th from 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. As always, the event is FREE, and horses, dogs, and kids are
welcome. View a current exhibitor list, here. In addition to our vendors, many of whom are donating portions of their proceeds to
The Xena Project, FREE fitness and yoga classes will be offered throughout the day; the riding simulator will run for demonstrations;
and you can check "holiday card photos" off your list early by having your family pose for a professional portrait in your choice of
fall- or Christmas-themed sets, or in an outdoor space that suits your fancy (yes, dogs and horses are welcome for photos! Don't have
your own? You can borrow one of ours.)
Now that The Xena Project is a recognized 501(c)3 public charity, we're going to celebrate with a BBQ from 11 a.m. - 2 p.m. to benefit
The Xena Project. Plates are $10, and 100% of the proceeds go directly to help veterans into the saddle. Eat, be merry, support your
veterans, and write it all off on your taxes!
Get more information regarding Wellness Day happenings - see website link below:
CLICK HERE for information regarding the event
We look forward to seeing you. In the meantime, have a happy day.
Best, Jan
Jan Shultis
Executive Director, The Xena Project
Owner, All Xena's Horses, LLC
Beasley (Houston area), Texas
Cell: (619) 415-1440
CLICK HERE for information regarding the Xena Horse project - Sternadel announced that more of the new tan chapter vests were on order and were available for chapter members. See example photos below of the chapter vest. Please contact chapter member, James Kulcak, or come to a chapter meeting if you're interested in purchasing one of these vests. We now have vests available for purchase at the meetings! The cost to each member is ONLY $20 - A really great deal! Many members have already purchased one of these vests and are starting to wear them to our monthly meetings. It would really be great if all our membership could wear this vest when attending special Chapter functions or events as a group. And one very special upcoming event will be when the Vietnam War Traveling Wall comes to El Campo next year.
- Our in-house PX store is growing! See photos below. Much thanks goes out to James Kulcak for putting a lot of time and effort into finding and ordering all the items for the PX. All proceeds from the PX goes into helping pay for chapter operating and project expenses.
- On a final note, we would again like to thank chapter member, Joe Krasucky, for building and
donating the beautiful storage cabinet shown below, to our chapter. The storage cabinet will be kept at Mikeska's facility.
It will allow for us to store various chapter equipment in the cabinet so that we do not have to continuously carry the
equipment back & forth to chapter meetings. At our September meeting, Chapter President Sternadel did present Joe with an
appreciation plaque for his time and donation to the chapter.
- There being no further business, President Sternadel declared the meeting adjourned.
- And finally - Much thanks goes out to John Steelman, our Chapter Secretary/Treasurer, for taking and providing us with the excellent meeting minutes!
The inscription on the plaque reads as follows.
Presented To: Leonard Sternadel
With Deep Appreciation and Heartfelt Thanks for Your Service to God, Country and Your Fellow Veterans. Your Determination
in Establishing VVA 1069 has been Amazing. We Pray that the Patriotism yoiu possess will spread thru-out our Community and
Nation and bring Veterans and Citizens alike together as one. Respecting and Honoring our Veterans who have given of
themselves to protect the Freedom we ALL enjoy.
A close-up photo of the plaque is shown below. Note the miniature U.S. Vietnam War Soldier field items (1) The green jungle boonie hat, and (2) the pair of green and black jungle boots. Both items being synonymous with the Vietnam War Veteran. Also note that Leonard was with the 199th during his tour in Vietnam. The patch in the upper left corner is the "199th Infantry Brigade Vietnam Veteran (1966-1970)" patch. The patch in the upper right corner is the "199th Light Infantry Brigade" patch. The golden wreath encircled medallion in the bottom center is the official emblem of the Vietnam Veterans of America.
After Leonard thanked the membership for the plaque, he requested that everyone stay for a group photo. See photo below. Much
thanks to Dana Sternadel for taking and providing the photo. And remember the old saying Leonard, "Behind every great
man, there's a great woman".
Note that Dwight also setup his entire VSO shop at this meeting so as to better help VVA veterans with their VA benefits issues. See photo below.
