Pressed upon Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA ) a program dealing with volunteer hours in military facilities or helping Veterans in other ways like taking them to appointments, cleaning and cooking for them, etc. Our organization accumulated 9,000 voluntary hours of service in the past year.
Project Friendship is a fundraiser to repair the Memory Plaque. This is for Veterans that pass away post Vietnam.
At the luncheon, 4 Star General, B.B. Bell, U.S. Army, retired. 39 years of military service. Served under General Norman Swarzkopfs Executive Officer during Desert Storm. Spoke about the importance of duty and volunteering.
On Thursday July 23rd, Sharon Hobbs said the branding of "Together Always" was approved for the AVVA. It took 3 years to go through the process. The AVVA has been involved in35 Agent Orange meetings. There are 10 Incorporated states and three in process of becoming incorporated. Disabled (HOSPITALIZED) veterans can now join the AVVA at no charge.
Detroit Vet Center at 4161 Cass Ave. can help families suffering from secondary PTSD.
Went over Convention Rules item by item. Made changes to several sections with deletions and additions of terms and sentences. Changes were made in the following sections: Board of Directors, Article VII, Section 7.01 and 7.03, Chapters, Section 8.02, 8.03 and 8.04.
Election results
Sharon Hobbs – President
Cathy Keister -Vice President
Joanna Henshaw –Secretary
Kathy Andras – Treasurer
Cecilia Essenmacher – Region 5 Director
The next National Convention will be in New Orleans, Louisiana in 2017 and the Ladership Confrence will be in Tucson, Arizona in 2016.
Email Norma Demerly
AVVA Michigan Meeting - March 18th 2012
Members Present: Norma Demerly, Kathy Driscoll, Cecilia Essenmacher, Marilyn Lash, Melanie Thon, Betty Pike and Dennis Waling. The meeting was called to order by Vice President Betty Pike and the Pledge of Allegiance was recited and a silent prayer for a moment of silence. Betty asked Secretary Norma Demerly to read the minutes from the last meeting. Secretary Norma handed out copies of the minutes from the previous meeting in February. Norma read the minutes and asked if there were any corrections. The motion was made to accept the minutes as read by Kathy Driscoll and seconded by Cecilia Essenmacher. Treasurer Essenmacher read her financial report. Motion was made by Norma and seconded by Kathy Driscoll to accept the report subject to audit and with the correction. The motion was carried.
Kathy Driscoll gave her membership report. She did not have a current total as National had not yet send her the information. Kathy also mentioned she was in the planning stages for hosting an Agent Orange Town Hall meeting in October of 2012 and reported that there will be more information coming in the following months.
Marilyn Lash had no new fundraiser information at this time. There was discussion on having our 50/50 raffle at our next meeting in April. We decided to have a silent auction at our next meeting.
VP Betty Pike handed out Thank You letters to the members whose chapters donated money to the Grand Rapids Home for Veterans. Cecilia passed out a handout on PTSD and we discussed the symptoms of PTSD.
Melani Thon talked about a website she went to for ordering her father’s medals. It was also brought up that if you contact your congressman he/she might be able to help get the medals for the person a lot faster. Melani also talked about the Freedom Center at Metro Airport that needs supplies for the troops when they stop over. We decided we needed to find a contact person at the center to see what the troops need. A motion was made by Norma Demerly to adjourn the meeting and seconded by Cecilia.
FEBRUARY 19, 2012 MEMBERS PRESENT: Norma Demerly, Betty Pike, Marilyn Lash, Penny Meinhardt, Cecilia Essenmacher, Pat Erickson, Kathy Driscoll.
Call to order by Vice President Betty Pike. The Pledge of Allegiance was recited. A prayer followed and a moment of silence was shared for those who are still missing. Betty asked Secretary Norma Demerly to read the minutes from the last meeting. Secretary Norma handed out copies of the minutes and asked the members if there were any corrections. Motion was made to accept the minutes by Cecilia Essenmacher and seconded by Pat Erickson. The Motion was carried.
Treasurer Cecilia Essenmacher read her financial report. Motion made by Norma Demerly to accept the report subject to audit. It was seconded by Marilyn Lash. The Motion was carried.
Kathy Driscoll gave her membership report. She said Michigan had 17 new AVVA members join in January. Penny Meinhardt asked for reimbursement of funds to pay for postage to send out letters to the At-Large Members as well as all chapters regarding AVVA elections. Motion was made by Marilyn Lash and seconded by Norma Demerly to give Penny $40.00 toward postage. Information was handed out to the VVA chapter representatives present at the VVA meeting. Those who took the information had to sign for it. The remainder of the chapters will receive theirs by mail.
Penny Meinhardt discussed the new rules for the chapter elections. One new rule is that a Letter of Intent must be submitted to the person holding the election 30 days before the chapter election. The sign-in sheet, ballots and results must be sent to Betty Pike within 30 days after the election. It was also suggested that the Letter of Intent should also be sent. Another new rule is that the election committee must be AVVA members. Kathy Driscoll will be hosting an Agent Orange Town Hall meeting Saturday, October 20, 2012. More information will be available later. Marilyn Lash talked about a fundraiser her chapter is holding and said that it might be something we would want to consider doing to raise funds.
Cecilia Essenmacher gave a short report on PTSD and handed out a diagram on its effects on one’s body. There was a discussion on how many are going to Leadership in Irving, TX. There was discussion as to whether we wanted a silent auction table or 50/50. A suggestion was made to focus on having something at the time of the State VVA elections. There will be more discussion at the next meeting. Betty Pike explained some things that are going on at the Grand Rapids Home for Veterans. Penny Meinhardt passed around cards to sign for Ken Diegel as well as one for Nancy Diegel. Betty Pike also sent one around for Joyce Baldwin who broke her foot.
A motion was made by Cecilia to adjourn the meeting. Penny seconded the motion. The next AVVA meeting is March 18 at 10AM at the American Legion Post 141, 3265 W. Grand River Avenue, Howell, MI.
Adrian Cronauer the voice of "Goodmorning Vietnam" and Norma Demerly
