Meeting Report 10-13-2021

The meeting was held at Mikeska’s BBQ, (located on Hwy 59) El Campo, TX. A big thanks from the chapter to Mikeska's BBQ for showing the Welcome message for our members, on their new big business sign (see photo below). It is much appreciated by the membership!

Chapter President, Joe McCreary opened the meeting at 7:00 PM (see photo below). 25 chapter members, spouses and guests attend the meeting. This was a pretty good turnout, considering we cancelled last month's meeting due to a rise in Covid cases Wharton County. Much thanks to all those who attended!

Joe led everyone and the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag was recited. A prayer was given by a chapter member, and then Joe recessed the meeting for the evening BBQ meal.
And by the way... Let's give Joe a big round of applause - he's doing a great job as our chapter's new President!

Near the end of the meal time, Bob Supak gave a short update regarding some of the more imprortant Constitutional Amendments and Convention Resolutions that will be presented at the November VVA National Convention, being held in Greensboro NC. The Amendments and Resolutions that Bob talked about were related to the ongoing desire of some VVA National officers and membership to change the name of our organization and to change the membership criteria so as to allow any/all veteras to join our organization. Most of our chapter membership does not want to see our "Vietnam Veterans of America" organization change its name, nor do they want to see our membership of solely Vietnam Era veterans change.
Use the link below to View or Print Bob's collection of 5 Constitutional Amendments and 5 Convention Resolutions, that could impact any changes to our current VVA organization. Note that the document also contains links to the actual proposed VVA Constitutional Amendments and the Convention Resolutions documents.
View Bob's Document
More information about the upcoming VVA National Convention can be found at the following link.
VVA National Convention 2021

Joe then recognized all those members who were having birthdays in August were recognized and Happy Birthday was sung by all. The all Navy members were recogized, as it was also the Navy's birthday.

Joe then introduced a guest who was applying for new membership into the Chapter. He is a resident of El Campo, and is a Navy veteran. He should soon be an official member of our chapter. Note that our current chapter membership total is 86.

Joe then turned the meeting over to Chapter Secretary, John Steelman, for a few announcements. See photo below.

John announced that the chapter Officers had met earlier before the meeting started, to decide on the selection of a new Board of Directors member. We lost a BOD member a few weeks ago, Jimmy Ochoa. The Officers recruited Louis Milder to take the vacant BOD position. Much thanks to Louis for accepting the position. You can also read Jimmy's obituary and tribute on our webpage. Use the link below to access the weppage.
Memoriam Webpage - Jimmy Ochoa

John then announced that in cooperation with Mikeska's BBQ, we will be changing the start time for all our future chapter meetings, from 7:00 PM to an earlier time of 6:00 PM. This will help out with Mikeska's operation so that their staff can close up shop a bit earlier. Everyone in attendance also liked the idea as it will allow for our membership to get home a bit earlier on meetings night. A win-win situation for all. So remember, the next meeting on Nov 10 will be starting at 6:00 PM!

John then mentioned that the chapter received a Thank-You note from the Staff family for the chapter sending flowers to Tommy Staff's funeral a few weeks back. Tommy too was a member of our chapter who passed away a few weeks back. You can also read Tommy's obituary and tribute on our webpage. Use the link below to access the weppage.
Memoriam Webpage - Tommy Staff

Joe then talked a bit about our upcoming Christmas party scheduled for December 8. Joe passed around a sign-up sheet to get a head count of how many would be coming to the party. Details for the party are still to be worked out and will be presented at the November meeting.

Joe also mentioned that our chapter was again invited to particpate in the El Campo Christmas parade. Anyone wanting to volunteer the use of a large trailer should contact Joe or John. More information will be presented at the November meeting.

Joe then mentioned a bit about the ongoing planning for the Veterans Fellowship Gathering that is scheduled for March 29 of 2022 (Vietnam War Veterans Holiday). It will include our VVA chapter and 4 other VVA chapters in the area, Halletsville, Schulenburg, Columbus and Victoria. More information regarding this event will be forthcoming.

Note that 25 members & spouses attended this meeting. The chapter officers and directors thank all those that attended the meeting.

VVA Chapter 1069 Meeting Report for: Oct 10-13-2021 [posted on: 10-14-2021]