St Mary s Chapter 26 and Auxiliary Unit No. 26, P.O. Box 788, Hollywood, Maryland 20636

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1 St Mary s Chapter 26 and Auxiliary Unit No. 26, P.O. Box 788, Hollywood, Maryland Chapter #26, Chartered April 25, 1974 Auxiliary Unit 26, Chartered September, 1976 Monthly Newsletter of the DAV St. Mary s Chapter #26 and Auxiliary Unit No. #26. March 2017 DAV Chapter 26 Contact Telephone Number (available 24/7) Web Site: Comrades As with you I also have been waiting patiently for VA decisions, so I visited the VA website (via Google) and these are the statics I found. Only one ID a date so?? But I m going to give the new administrator a chance and hopefully we will see a change? Nation disability benefits data Vets waiting Vets waiting 125 days Vets waiting one year (Dec 2012) Average wait time days Average wait vets filing first claim days Appealed claim wait time - 1,301 days Average claims completed per VA employee 281 Claims received month - 79,861 Claims completed month - 91,782 COMMANDER s MESSAGE

2 Now let s visit the Golden Corral (GC) as you know we the DAV is teamed with GC for the Camp Corral fund raiser, so we need your help, its only 4 hrs. on a weekend of your choice (now to Memorial Day), I m sure Big Ed will share with you how much we have raised so far at each of our meetings. It costs $500 per child for this wonderful experience so let s spend a weekend or two supporting a good cause. The following members have been nominated for office: Commander-Harry Metzler, Senior Vice-Raymond Nahrgang, 1 st Junior Vice-Mike Jones, 2 nd Junior Vice-Buck Bucklew, Adjutant-Ed Flynn, Treasurer-Nick Gravelle and Judge Advocate-Ralph Gough. Additional nominations, then voting, will take place at the March meeting. If you are having problems with the Veterans Choice Program paying for your claim call Vaughn I. McCall, Sr., Commander Chapter 26

3 CHAPLAIN S CORNER Pastor Donald G. Geller, Jr. Community with a Cause (A mission congregation of the United Methodist Church) Lexington Park, Maryland March marks the beginning of the season of Lent. Lent takes place every year in the 40 days leading up to Easter, and is treated as a period of reflection and a time for fasting from food and festivities. It symbolizes the days which lead up to Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection, when Christ spent 40 days and 40 nights alone in the Judean Desert being tempted by Satan. Lent should be considered a time of spiritual reflection; a time to prepare our hearts for Christ's sacrifice and the gift of Good Friday and the focus should be on repentance. For many churches here in the United States, especially in the south, the season of Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, which is preceded by Shrove Tuesday. Shrove Tuesday comes from the word 'shrive,' which means absolution of sins requiring some form of penance. The day gets its name from the traditions of Christians trying to be 'shriven' before Lent. Roman Catholics would head to Confession, where they would admit their sins to a priest and ask for absolution. A bell would be rung to call them to Confession, which is called the 'pancake bell'. It is still rung today. In the United States, Shrove Tuesday marks the beginning of Mardi Gras aka 'Fat Tuesday' because that s the day Christians would use up the fatty foods before the beginning the season of Lent. All this church tradition leads up to Holy Week and Easter, which occur this year in April. More about that next month! One out of every twenty-one veterans commits suicide every day! We know that for many Disabled American Veterans, holidays can be especially troublesome. Many of our veterans find themselves homeless from time-to-time, without family, and are close to giving up hope. As Christians, we can t continue to allow that to happen! We are our brothers (and sisters) keepers and we need to do our part to restore hope in the Son of God! Get involved in your local church, lead a small group Bible study, and for the sake of a Disabled American Veteran, reach out to our brothers and sisters in arms. Let s do our part to make sure we don t lose even one more veteran!! And don t forget our fellow veterans at the Veterans Home in Charlotte Hall either! Please help me get the word out that God has not forgotten our Disabled American Veterans and their families or those who care for children and adults with disabilities! I am honored to be your Chaplain and I am honored to be a part of the Disabled American Veterans organization! May this season of Lent be a time of spiritual reflection for you and may God bless each and every one of you!! Pastor Don May God continue to bless you! I am and always will be, Your Brother in Christ!

4 AUXILIARY COMMANDER S MESSAGE I want to thank everyone for supporting me as your Unit #26 Commander this year. It has been my honor and pleasure! The new slate of officers is as follows, Tela Jones Commander Lavern Wasson SVC Linda Phillips JVC Erin Weers Treasurer Nettie McCall Chaplain Wilma Myers Adjutant Miriam Boles Sgt. at Arms We will be voting at our next meeting on March 1, 2017 at 7 p.m. The meeting is held at the VFW in California, MD. We will take nominations from the floor. If you would like to attend the installation dinner, please see the flyer on the Chapter webpage. It is always a nice evening and dinner. Thank you, Miriam Boles Commander Unit # 26 God Bless you and God Bless the United States of America!

5 CHAPTER #26 OFFICERS Commander Vaughn McCall (H) (C) SVC Harry Metzler First JVC Mike Jones Treasurer Nick Gravelle Adjutant Edward Flynn Chaplain Donald Geller Judge Advocate Ralph Gough Sgt.-At-Arms Lou Dunn OOD Vacant Public Information Officer Vacant Newsletter Lou Dunn Chapter Service Officers Robert Boles Harry Metzler Easther Locklear Terry Singer Tony Newman AUXILIARY OFFICERS Commander Miriam Boles SVC Lavern Wasson JVC Tela Jones Treasurer Erin Weers Adjutant Wilma Myers Chaplain Nettie McCall Sgt.-At-Arms From the Editor Medical transportation contact person: If you need transportation to a medical appointment the contact person is Mr. Rick Reed, he can be reached at: Veterans Crisis Hotline: , then press 1 Nominations, voting and elections for incoming officers for : Nominations in February, voting in March, installation dinner at the Ye Old Town Café in Leonardtown on Saturday April 1. Seating at 1800 dinner at Helping with Food Banks: Our Auxiliary is asking us to bring a can or box item to the monthly meeting for food banks and the pop top from aluminum cans. The Auxiliary will collect these items and present them to local food banks. Web Site Update: Other reading articles, besides the newsletter, will be placed on the web site for your info. An info will be sent out to you to advise you of these articles and what they contain. Other news articles of interest will be sent out via for faster dissemination. Newsletters will remain on the web site but the other reading articles will remain on the web site for about a month or so then deleted.

6 Important dates in March General Meeting VFW Post 2632 Social Hall Executive Committee Meeting Ye Old Town Café in Leonardtown Upcoming Important Dates April Chapter 26 Installation Officers Dinner Ye Old Town Café in Leonardtown 1815 POW/MIA Ceremony, 1830 dinner General Meeting VFW Post 2632 Social Hall DEC Meeting Bowie Chapter 7, 8205 Laurel Bowie Road, Bowie, MD Executive Committee Meeting Ye Old Town Café in Leonardtown General Meeting VFW Post 2632 Social Hall Memorial Day A time to remember Executive Committee Meeting Ye Old Town Café in Leonardtown May **** NEXT CHAPTER MEETING April 5, 2017 at the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post Three Notch Road California, MD ARE YOU DOING YOUR PART? THE DISABLED AMERICAN VETERANS ORGANIZATION IS CHARTERED TO: FULFILLING OUR PROMISES TO THE MEN AND WOMEN WHO SERVED

7 Robert, Harry and Easther present a $500 check to the Commanding Officer of the Naval Air Station, Capt. Scott Starkey, for the Navy/Marine Corps Emergency Relief Fund and a plaque in appreciation for the Exchange and the Commissary permitting the DAV to collect funds for the forget-me-not campaign. Vaughn, Ed and Harry present a plaque to the Golden Corral manager, Ms. May Connor, and assistant manager, Mr. Erik Gilley, for their support in our fund raisers such as the forget-me-not. Ms. May made the following statement: I am so honored to receive this plaque on the behalf of the Lexington Park Golden Corral. I am so proud to work for a company that supports our community and the Disabled American Veterans. Please thank everyone and God bless them and their families. Awards wall at the Golden Corral Ed at the Golden Corral. Help is needed on weekends for the collection of donations not only for Camp Corral but the forget-me-not s too. If you can, volunteer we need you.