2014 Christmas Party
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VVA Chapter #1069 held its 3rd annual Christmas party & monthly meeting on Wednesday,
December 10th, 2014. The party was held in the banquet room of Mikeska's BBQ, located in El Campo, Texas, just
off Hwy 59. There were 93 total attendees, which included Chapter members, their spouses and guests. Heck, even
Santa Clause showed up as can be seen in photo at left!
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The evening meal was provided by Mikeska catering and was served at 7:30 PM. The evening meal consisted of roast beef, gravy, mixed vegetables, buttered mashed potatoes, bread rolls, and ice tea. The food was great. The Chapter wishes to thank Gerry and Nick Mikeska, and the entire Mikeska crew for their help with our Christmas party and the wonderful food that they served.
Special guests included: Gerry Mikeska & Nick Mikeska, owners of Mikeska's BBQ, Richard King, Wharton Countey Commissioner (Precinct 2), Steven Goetsch, Wharton Countey Commissioner (Precinct 3), Sarah Hudgins, the local leader/coordinator for the Wreaths Across America program, Phil Stephenson, State Representative from Austin (however, could not attend the party), Santa Clause, played by local El Campo resident, Bubba Baker.
A special Thank-You goes out to Diane Neumann for handling (via email and phone) all the RSVPs for this party. Jimmy, you're a lucky guy! And a a big Thank-You to all others (including member spouses and chapter supporters) who made this year's Christmas party such a huge success. We also want to thank Bubba Baker for making time in his busy schedule and stopping by as Santa Clause - a real treat for all those that attended the party.
From The President - Our Year in Review:
It's been another great year for VVA Chapter 1069! We have done a lot of things together the past year. Again think about
it - we've only been in existance for a little over 2 years and our total membership is now 76 members! We've got a great
bunch of guys in this chapter, and we all should be proud of what we've accomplished so far. We know that 2015 will be
another great year for VVA Chapter 1069. On behalf of my wife, Dana, myself, all officers and board members, we wish our
membership, spouses and supporters, a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, and we'll see you at the January 14th meeting!
Leonard Sternadel
Above photo shows chapter president, Leonard Sternadel opening the Christmas party with a prayer and a viewing
of the online video hymn/prayer (on YouTube) called
Mansions of The Lord.
Because of many member requests, this Hymn/prayer has now become standard viewing at every chapter meeting.
Above photo shows James Kulcak handing out envelopes containing allocated raffle tickets to each chapter member.
The remainder of the tickets will be mailed out to chapter members. These raffle tickets are for our 2015 annual
fundraising raffle. The drawing will be held at our March chapter meeting. SELL THOSE TICKETS!
Above photo shows the large crowd of folks that attended the party. A BIG Thank-You goes out to the couple shown at
the table in the foreground, sitting on the right. They are Louis & Carolyn Milder. They spent the afternoon
cutting table cloths, setting up all the tables with the decorations, and helping with other setup tasks. Carolyn
was also taking photos, during the party, of couples sitting on a bench next to the Christmas tree - kind of reminded
us of those photos we had all taken at the old high school prom, just a few years back.
And for those couples who had their photo taken by Carolyn, we are working on a plan to get those photos to you, either
by email, or, we may take orders and have prints available for pickup at future meetings. More details to come.
We had a total of 93 members, spouses and guests attend the party! No doubt about it, it was a huge success!
Above photo shows the nice arrangement and display placed near the podium. Note the small white cross sitting on the table.
In above photo, President Leonard Sternadel provides some commentary about the small white cross and its purpose. This cross
and about 17 others just like it will be part of a very special ceremony that will be held when the Vietnam War Traveling Wall
comes to El Campo next year. Each cross will represent a Vietnam War soldier from the Wharton County area that was killed in action
during the Vietnam War. Each cross will also have a personalized military type dog-tag hanging from its center upright. The
ceremony will be conducted by members of VVA chapter 1069, whereby each cross will be carried out to a reserved space in front
of the Vietnam Memorial Wall. At the end of the ceremony, each cross will be presented to the soldier's family members. More
details regarding the chapter's participation while the Traveling Wall is in El Campo will be forthcoming in future chapter meetings.
Hey, even Santa Clause attended our party! HO, HO, HO!
Above photo shows chapter president, Leonard Sternadel, presenting Gerry and Nick Mikeska with a check for
$600, which is to be used for the purchase of a new U.S. flag for the humongous flagpole that sits out in front
of Mikeska's BBQ located on hwy 59. The check is in appreciation from the chapter for all the support Gerry
and Nick have given to chapter 1069 the past year.
Above photo shows chapter president, Leonard Sternadel, presenting chapter member and local VSO, Dwight Winkler,
with an appreciation plaque for doing one heck of a job as Wharton County's Veternas Service Officer the past year.
Dwight will be retiring from the VSO position at the end of this month, and a new Wharton County FULL-TIME VSO
will be starting in January.
Above photo shows chapter president, Leonard Sternadel, presenting Steven Goetsch, Wharton Countey Commissioner (Precinct 3),
with an appreciation plaque for his support of VVA Chapter 1069. Steven was part of a group of individuals that donated and
provided 60 "Vietnam Veteran" folding chairs for all chapter members that attended the TCVVM dedication ceremony, held in
March of this year in Austin Texas. Steven was also instrumental in making sure Wharton County will now have a full-time
Veterans Service Officer, starting in January of 2015.
Above photo shows chapter president, Leonard Sternadel, presenting Richard King, Wharton Countey Commissioner (Precinct 2),
with an appreciation plaque for his support of VVA Chapter 1069. Richard was part of a group of individuals that donated and
provided 60 "Vietnam Veteran" folding chairs for all chapter members that attended the TCVVM dedication ceremony, held in
March of this year in Austin Texas. Richard was also instrumental in making sure Wharton County will now have a full-time
Veterans Service Officer, starting in January of 2015.
Above photo shows chapter president, Leonard Sternadel, presenting Sarah Hudgins, local leader/coordinator for the Wreaths
Across America program, with an appreciation plaque for her support of VVA Chapter 1069. Sarah was part of a group of
individuals that donated and provided 60 "Vietnam Veteran" folding chairs for all chapter members that attended the TCVVM
dedication ceremony, held in March of this year in Austin Texas. Sarah is also responsible for bringing the Vietnam Traveling
Memorial Wall to El Campo in June of next year.
Above photo shows chapter president, Leonard Sternadel, presenting Phil Stephenson, State Representative from Austin,
with an appreciation plaque for his support of VVA Chapter 1069. Phil was part of a group of individuals that donated and
provided 60 "Vietnam Veteran" folding chairs for all chapter members that attended the TCVVM dedication ceremony, held in
March of this year in Austin Texas. Note that Phil could not attend the party, but Leonard caught up with Phil at the
Wharton City courthouse.
CLICK HERE for pictures and story about the Vietnam Veteran folding chairs that were donated to our chapter by the above mentioned supporters.
Can you guess how many shell casings are in the box? Felipe Castro won the shell casings guessing game.
Above photo shows Leonard and Dana handing out various prizes at closing of the party.
Joe Krasucky won the "Guess Total Number of M&Ms In The Jar" game.
And via drawing, Gerry Mikeska won the blue wreath prize and Nick Mikeska won the Santa wreath prize - go figure!
VVA Chapter 1069 again participated this year in the Wreaths Across America program.
The above photo shows the "All Services" wreath display at the Wharton City Courthouse.
VVA Chapter 1069 again participated this year in the Wreaths Across America program, and donated and
distributed the Wreaths for Wharton and Jackson County Vietnam War KIAs. The above photo shows the
wreaths that our chapter donated this year for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, located on the Wharton
City square. Much thanks goes out to local resident and chapter supporter, Sarah Hudgins, who is the
local coordinator for the national Wreaths Across America program.