Post 1865 News (2009)

At the May 11 meeting of the Junior Girls Auxiliary, Commander Holton presented a Certificate of Appreciation for Outstanding Leadership as Junior Girls Advisor to Veronica Anderson.  He also presented a Certificate of Merit to the Junior Girls Unit for their Outstanding Teamwork in winning the 2008-2009 Poppy Display Award.

On May 8th and 9th, Junker-Ball Post 1865 held its annual Buddy Poppy Campaign.  Under the leadership of Jr Vice Cdr Junior Gonzales, the Post had a record-breaking drive which contributes greatly to the Post Relief Fund. 

Many thanks to the Volunteers who made this Campaign a huge success.  Members of the Post, Auxiliary, Junior Girls, Color Guard and Family Readiness Group who made this happen have a lot to be proud of.

Special thanks to Jr Vice Cdr Junior Gonzales for his weeks of hard work and dedication in preparing for the Campaign.

Before the May 6th meeting, Officers elected for the 2009-2010 term were installed.

Ladies Auxiliary Installation Debbie Charnota, President	Junior Girls Unit Installation	Junker-Ball Post 1865 Installation Don Lynch, Commander	Wally Hogan, Past National Commander Installating Officer	Contratulations!

At the April 15 meeting, Commander Holton presented a certificate of appreciation to member Larry Green for his efforts in selling our Dog Tag machine.

At the April 15 Post meeting, Commander Holton initiated two new members.  They are Nick Leonard (Navy, Global War on Terrorism) and Mike Christiansen (Army, Global War on Terrorism).

On Saturday, March 21, the Veterans Council of Kenosha County held its 41st Annual Banquet.  Lenny Kitson, a member of Junker-Ball Post 1865 was honored as Veteran of the Year for 2009.  Congratulations, Lenny !

 

2009-03-21 Vet of the Year

At the March 18 meeting of Post 1865, Commander Randy Holton initiated eight new members of the VFW.  They are Dave Parkinson (Army, Desert Storm), Joe Whipple (USMC, Iraq), Pepijn Schmidt (Army, Iraq), Bill Fedderly (Army, Desert Storm), Troy Crippen (Army, Desert Storm), Kevin Wierzbicki (Army, OEF) and Kevin Bengtson (Army, Desert Storm)

Fran Rice likes to keep her hands busy.  She does beautiful work with a Crochet hook.  Fran, who is Past Worthy Matron of Pike Chapter #285, Order of the Eastern Star, also likes to help people, especially Veterans.  For the last year, she has been making "lap robes" for disabled Vets in wheelchairs and donating them through our Post to The Southeast Wisconsin Veterans Facility at Union Grove.  On March 5, Commander Holton and Adam Stoll, Case Manager/Volunteer Coordinator at the Facility went to Fran's home to pick up five more lap robes and to present a letter of thanks and a certificate of appreciation to Fran for her kind efforts.

Fran goes through a lot of yarn.  If you would like to keep Fran busy and help some disabled Vets, get some yarn to Commander Holton.  He will see that Fran gets to work with it.

Hi, Homes for Our Troops has a goal of building 30 specially adapted homes this year. By raising awareness about our mission, you are taking an important step in helping us reach our target. The best way to spread the word is to encourage your friends and family to get involved. We have a brand new tell-a-friend feature at our website that makes this very easy to do. Click here to help us spread the word! It only takes a moment of your time and it helps us, and our veterans, so much. Thank you for your time and continued support. With warmest regards, John Gonsalves President and Founder Homes for Our Troops Homes for Our Troops is located at 37 Main St., Taunton MA 02780.  Visit us on the Web at http://www.homesforourtroops.org/  Copyright (C) 2009 Homes for Our Troops All rights reserved.

From Commander Randy Holton:

"On Saturday, February 21, 2009 at the Mid-Winter Conference in Milwaukee, we were informed that our Post was the State Raffle Ticket Sales Winner for our division. This means that all proceeds submitted with our ticket stubs will be refunded to the Post.

Thanks to all those who worked so hard to achieve this great accomplishment for our Post."

On February 19, members of Junker-Ball Post 1865 participated in a send off rally for Co. B, 257th Brigade Support Battalion, Wisconsin Army National Guard.  Our Post has adopted "Bravo Company" and will be supporting them throughout their deployment.  Service Officer Dave Goeldner spoke to the soldiers and their families about our ongoing support.

(Click on the photo below to see all of the photos from this event)

2009-02-19 Send Off Rally for Co. B, 257th Brigade Support Bn, Wisconsin Army National Guard

(Photos by Gene, Larry and Bob)

At the February 18 meeting, Commander Randy initiated three new members of Post 1865.  They are Aaron Rendler (Army, OIF), Roger Crump (Army, Vietnam) and Matt Lutz (Navy, OEF).

On February 6, Junker-Ball Post and Ladies Auxiliary presented awards to the winners of the Patriots Pen competition at Lincoln Middle School.  Kaitlyn V. Breunsbach was the First Place winner, Jeremy H. Moon took Second Place and Ashley E. Schneider was Third Place.  Mr. Tim Nieman was also named "Teacher of the Year".

At the February 4 meeting, Commander Randy Holton signed an agreement with American Legion Post 21 pledging joint support of our adopted National Guard unit (Co. B, 257th Brigade Support Battalion).  Legion Post Commander Brad Cramlet signed the agreement and spoke to the members about the joint effort.