VVA Chapter 1069 Meeting Report for: February 2-10-2021
[posted on: 2-11-2021]
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The meeting was held at Mikeska’s BBQ, (located on Hwy 59) El Campo, TX.
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President, Frank Laitkep opened the meeting at 7:00 PM (see photo below).
The Pledge of Allegiance to the flag was recited and a prayer was said.
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Frank then recognized all those members who were having birthdays in February.
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Frank then introduced guests and potential new members.
Note that approximately 25 members & spouses attended the meeting.
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The meeting was then recessed for the evening meal (Mikeska's BBQ).
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Frank then re-opened the meeting open at 8:00 PM. The first item on the agenda was to take care
of a bit of unfinished business from the previous January chapter meeting, at which a 3-member
Election Nominating Committee was selected. The committee is required for the upcoming Election
of Chapter Officers and BOD members for 2021-2022.
Although the 3-member committee was selected at the January chapter meeting, they still needed to
be officially approved by the attending members, and also a committee chairman needed to be selected
and approved by the attending members. Frank then again announced that the 3 chapter members listed
below were selected for the nomination committee. A vote was taken and the 3-man nomination committee
was officially approved by show of hands.
- Louis Milder
- Harold Piekert
- Bob Supak
Frank then took suggestions from the attending members, and Bob Supak was selected and was
officially approved by show of hands as being the nomination committee chairman.
Again note that the purpose of the Nomination Committee is to solicite candidate nominations for chapter
officer positions, President, Vice-President, and Secretary/Treasurer, along with Board of Directors
positions (our chapter bylaws state that we will have 4 total BOD members). The committee must then
submit the slate of candidates at our March 10th chapter meeting. The committee will also handle the
election process at annual April 14th monthly chapter meeting.
For reference, our current chapter Officers are:
- President: Frank Laitkep
- Vice-President: Leonard Sternadel
- Secretary/Treasurer: John Steelman
Our current BOD (Board of Directors) are:
- Richard Woods
- Billy Orsak
- Ronnie Miller
- Bob Supak
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Nominations committee chairman, Bob Supak, then gave a short presentation on the progress of the
the committee thus far. He mentioned the following items that the nomination committee has addressed.
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Committee members have had face-to-face conversations with several chapter members at the January
chapter meeting regarding their nominations for chapter officer positions.
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Committee members are staying in constant contact with each other via email and phone conversations
to discuss and exchange information and updates with regards to incoming nominees, and other related items.
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The nomination committee's first task was to notify all chapter members of the upcoming election
and that the committee was accepting nominations for chapter officer and BOD positions. The
committee decided that the most reliable method of ensuring that ALL members were contacted, was
to use the good old U.S. Postal system. So, a letter was drafted by the committee that included
the basic election-related information, but also included a request from the membership to update
any changes they may have regarding contact phone numbers or email addresses. 88 letters were
mailed out to the membership on Monday, Feb 1, 2021. Use the link below to view the letter that
was sent out to the chapter membership.
Letter sent to membership via mass mailing
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Of the 88 letters that were mailed out, only 2 letters came back as undeliverable. And those two members
with bad mailing addresses, we already knew of. Several chapter members contacted the committee with
updates for phone numbers and email addresses. We thank those members for doing so. The committee also
recieved nominee suggestions from some members. In all, we have recieved good reviews regarding the
letters we mailed out.
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Bob has also sent out notices of the upcoming election via email to all our membership that does have
email access. Those email notices also included links to the job descriptions for chapter officer
positions, for those members wanting to know what is expected of those chapter officer positions.
Online links are provided below.
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In preparation for our upcoming chapter officer & BOD elections being held in April, anyone considering
running for an officer position may refer to the online VVA National links below for job descriptions of
chapter President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer positions. Bob has also found job descriptions
for chapter BOD officers.
Local Chapter Officers and BOD Officers job descriptions:
The job descriptions for both chapter Officers and BOD Officer positions can be found in VVA National's
Constitution document. I have extracted the pertinent information for both, from the document, converted
that information to PDF format, and have posted the two documents on our chapter website. Use the two
links below to view or print those two job description documents.
Local Chapter "Officers" job descriptions:
Chapter Officers Job Description
Local Chapter "BOD" Officers job descriptions:
Chapter BOD Officers Job Description
Local Chapter President & Vice-President job description Handbook:
Chapter President Handbook
Local Chapter Secretary & Treasurer job description Handbooks:
Chapter Secretary Handbook
Chapter Treasurer Handbook
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Bob also brought several copies of both the chapter Officers and BOD Officers job description handouts to the meeting.
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Committee members have also had phone conversations with several potential candidate nominees for all
chapter officer and BOD positions, and with good results. And there have been other contacts via email.
In all, the committee feels that we should have a good field of candidates for the election in April.
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Chapter Secretary/Treasurer, John Steelman, has furnished the committee with a handy guidelines document
that he created for the 2017 chapter election - a very helpful document for the nominations committee.
Much thanks John!
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Bob also mentioned that he is keeping a running notes document of the committees various tasks and
other detailed nominee related information. Hopefully this document may be of some help to the
next chapter nominations committee.
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Bob also mentioned that at the April chapter meeting, each nominee if he wishes, will be allowed 2-3 minutes
for a self promotion presentation. This will occur before the election process begins.
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In closing, Bob reminded everyone that the committee will present election nominees candidate list
at the next March chapter meeting. Try and attend if possible. The committee would also like to thank
all those members who have shown interest in running for chapter officer positions. It is much
appreciated.
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At our last chapter meeting held January 14th, chapter Vice-President, Leonard Sternadel presented
some information for those members living in Wharton & Jackson counties, regarding the registration
for the Covid-19 vaccinations that have recently started. We are again presenting that inoformation
for our membership.
The hospitals in El Campo and Edna are accepting registrations (sign-up list) for the vcaccine. Use the
links and phone numbers below to either register online or call for more information. Several of our members
have recently gotten their vaccines at the Civic Center in El Campo.
El Campo Texas (Wharton County), Memorial Hospital, Covid-19 Vaccine registration number:
(979) 543-6251
Link - El Campo Memorial Hospital:
El Campo Memorial Hospital
Link - Coronavirus Information & Vaccine Registration:
Coronavirus Information and Vaccine Registration
Edna Texas (Jackson County), Hospital, Covid-19 Vaccine registration number:
(361) 782-7800
Link - Jackson County Hospital District:
Jackson County Hospital District
Link - Jackson County Hospital District - COVID-19 Vaccine Registration & Waiting List:
Jackson County Hospital District - COVID-19 Vaccine Registration
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Our Next chapter meeting is Wednesday, March 10, 2021.
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There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned.
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