PASS THE WORD The Official Newsletter of Detachment 14 Marine Corps League Fresno, CA February 2019 Mike Borrell COMMANDANT Welcome to Marine Corps League Detachment #14 We are a non-profit organization made up solely of volunteers. The purpose of our Detachment is to preserve the history and traditions of the Marine Corps; to promote the interests of the Marine Corps; band together in fellowship active duty Marines and those who have honorably served in the Marine Corps; provide charitable assistance to our community; to promote the ideals of American Freedom and Democracy; to affirm true allegiance to the American Institution and to commemorate those cherished happenings that we revere. THE MARINE CORPS LEAGUE THE MARINE CORPS LEAGUE - is the organization for all Marines and Navy Corpsmen who served with Marines. It takes great pride in crediting its founding in 1923 to World War 1 hero, then 13th Commandant of the Marine Corps, Major General John A. Lejeune. It s Federal Charter, approved by An Act of the Seventy-Fifth Congress of the United States of America was signed and approved by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on August 4, 1937. Since its earliest days, the Marine Corps League has enjoyed the support and encouragement of the active duty and Reserve establishments of the U.S. Marine Corps. PURPOSES - The purposes of the Marine Corps League as prescribed in its Federal Charter are to preserve the traditions and to promote the interests of the United States; to band those who are now serving in the United States Marine Corps and those who have been honorably discharged from that service together in fellowship that they may effectively promote the ideals of American Freedom and democracy; to fit its members for the du=es of citizenship and to encourage them to serve as ably as citizens as they have served the Na=on under arms; to hold sacred the history and memory of the men who have given their lives to the Na=on to foster love for the principles which they have supported by blood and valor since the founding of the Republic; to maintain true allegiance to American Institutions; to create a bond of comradeship between those in the service and those who have returned to civil life; to aid voluntarily and to render assistance to all Marines and former Marines as well as to their widows and orphans; to perpetuate the history of the United States Marine Corps and by fi]ng acts to observe the anniversaries of historical occasions of peculiar interest to Marines. The Marine Corps League The Organization for all Marines and Corpsman who Served with Marines. Active Duty/Reserve/Former/Re=red/Officer/Enlisted United States Marine
FROM THE COMMANDANT Hello fellow leaguers, First, I want to thank all of you for your well wishes and concern over my recent medical situation. It turns out that I had several blood clots that were restricting oxygen in my blood stream and causing the issue and stress on my heart. After a couple of days in the hospital I was released and sent home on oxygen and blood thinners. I am back to work, and all should be back to normal within a few weeks. On to league news The first thing I want to address is the Judge Advocate position and with that meeting notes and newsletter. Janet Nelson has graciously accepted the position of JA and with that we should be getting back on track with getting notes out to you, the general membership of our league. As with this first newsletter of 2019, and going forward, I will be getting back on track of sending out the newsletter to you and getting them posted on our website. I am not sure when we stopped the monthly newsletter, but I think it is important to get this information out to all of our members monthly to keep everyone informed. That brings up the website itself. As the webmaster I have done my best to keep up the site, but when I was given the position, there were files that I was missing and never given. As such some of the buttons on the site were not working correctly and to be honest, I found the site confusing and hard to navigate, so if it was hard for me who has been coding the site, I can imagine what it has been for others to find information. As such, I have been working on creating a new site that I think is easier to navigate and find what you are looking for. I have just a page or two to complete, and my hope is that by the time this newsletter has been sent out, that the new site will be live. That being said, the site is not mine, or the staff s, it belongs to all of us so if you find something you would like to add or change, please let me know so we can see about making the changes you want to see. The next topic I want to address is what we as a league want to accomplish this upcoming year. What I mean by that is past administrations wanted to focus on community service but is that what you as a league want to do? What I feel is of greater need is to strengthen our bonds between us and come together as a league before we can focus on helping out the community. What I suggest is that we do more things as league, BBQ s, outings to events, etc. In this last staff meeting it was discussed that maybe we see about going to a shooting range together, fishing, or other events. I ask that you all think about things like this so we can discuss this at the next general meeting. Which brings us to the next subject participation. In the past, many of the events that we have help such as the Spaghetti Dinner, Marine Corps Ball, the burden of putting on
these events has fallen to a handful of people. Unfortunately, some of these individuals have left the league so we are going to have to come together as a league to accomplish these events. I ask each of you to help out when possible. We are going to have to get a committee together for the ball this year as well as the Spaghetti Dinner and any other events we want to hold so if you can help out, please let us know as these committees are announced. I understand that all of us have lives outside of the league just as I do, but to be successful, we are going to have to overcome these challenges and give some time to the league other than just coming to meetings. The next item that I want to address is recognition. It is my opinion that in the past little recognition has been given to people that deserve to be recognized. While we call out things such as Toys-for-Tots and give them an applause, I don t think that many times that is enough. What I proposed to the staff at out last meeting was that we recognize out detachment Marine of the Year. As a detachment we have the ability to award this to any member of our detachment that we feel is deserving. The staff and I have come up with a plan to start recognizing our people. The plan is that we are going to ask you all to keep this in mind and let us know when someone needs to be called out for outstanding service. Throughout the year if there is a fellow league member that you feel to be recognized, please write up a short paragraph or two of why this member should be awarded this title and submit it to the staff. We are going to close submissions in September, as a staff decide who should be awarded the Marine of the Year, and at our November meeting as a last act of the outgoing staff (should we not be elected for another term) announce the Marine of the Year. I know this is long and drawn out it s the academic in me, sorry but I want to close with this. You as a league placed your trust in me and my staff and I greatly appreciate the honor and trust that you have given us. As such, I will do everything I can to make this league great and come together as a league. Thank you and Semper Fidelis Mike Borrell Commandant Marine Corps League, Fresno Detachment #14.
General Meeting Minutes January 26, 2019 Opening Ceremony: 9:38 A.M. Roll Call of Officers: all present with the exception of Commandant and Judge Advocate Introductions of Guests and/or Guest Speaker: Brian Nelson, Bob Breshers Applications for Membership/Ceremony of Initiation: none Approve Minutes of Previous Meeting Lack of Adjutant: Correspondence: None Reports: Paymaster Jessica Montano Paymaster Report: Balance: $8,953.11 as of December 31, 2018 Discussion of Profit and Loss Detail-item by item report. Report on file with Paymaster Jessica also has detailed hard and electronic copies Motion to accept the Profit and Loss Detail: Motion made to accept by Neal Schneider and 2 nd by Don Lenz Motion Carried. Chaplain Don Lenz **Members Sick or in Distress Joseph Castanos, Lance Cpl. David Marley, Cpl. Greg Lee Brannon, Lance Cpl. Riley S. Kuznia, and David McDonald: huge supporter for MCL, Commandant Mike Borrell went to the hospital. Junior Past Commandant Judge Advocate Jr. Vice Commandant Sr. Vice Commandant Commandant Jessica Montano--No Report Alex Fabros excused Andrew Wood--No Report Jim Leyser--No Report Mike Borrell--excused Unfinished/Old Business: Toys for Tots: Overall, we did well. We made our goal for what we had. There was a question about a thank you letter sent to Me and Ed s? Yes, an official letter comes from the Foundation. Recognition to Rudy Aguilar who filled the gap at the warehouse. Thank you to Rudy and his efforts. Volunteers acknowledged as well. Jessica is looking for volunteers for this year and meetings will start earlier in the year. Appreciation expressed for help given at events. Volunteers
need to see Jessica to set date for Thank You dinner. There were questions about cash donations and buying power for Toys for Tots. Can we get a warehouse earlier? Can we monitor the amount of money we get for Toys for Tots? Yes, and it can be accessed anytime. New Business: Change is staff meeting times: First Tuesday of the month at 19:30 (7:30) p.m. Location to TBA make sure contact information is up to date. Flag Day June 8 tentative date: Together with the Clampers. The Memorial District have asked us to join them. Chairman and committee needed for Flag Retirement Ceremony. CVMD Round Table Member First Wednesday 1400-1700: Commanders are there. Members are invited to attend. Verify the time Commandant has requested a representative to go. Sweetheart Dance CVMD: February 10, 2019 at 2:00 p.m. Membership, ice cream booth, dance. Commandant has asked to put together ice cream booth. Heather and Mary have volunteered. Goals of the League: Looking to add membership: advertise about the League, business cards, trifold flyer, contact Fresno City College, Fresno State Activities: Considering having a group going up to the rifle range, going to lunch (non-meeting event) BBQ at a home or park etc. MCL Detachment Marine of the Year: Asking for recommendations for recognition of individuals that help on the work line. Let an Executive Board Member know. Good of the League: Mary: We have 4 Chaplains coming up. Check website for information. It will be at St. Mary s in Sanger, North Ave and Bethel. Hosted by the American Legion Website: www.4chaplains.org: -Neal: National Convention information in MCL Magazine, March 15-16 Spring Conference in Commerce, CA June Conference: still up in the air. Birthdays/Anniversaries: Dave Borrego s wife Birthday. Announcements: Stephanie texted Jessica: Mike may have a blood clot Closing Ceremony: 10:51a.m.
Staff Meeting Minutes February 5, 2019 Meeting Opened 1935 hrs Members Present: Commandant Mike Borrell Sr. Vice Commandant Jim Leyser Jr. Vice Commandant Andrew Wood Chaplain Don Lenz League Members Present Stefanie Borrell W. C. Hilton W. C. Hilton discussed possibility of having salsa and bagels in addition to regular breakfast at meetings. Sweetheart Dance February 10, 1400-1700 hrs Heather Fisher is taking the lead and has 6 other MCL members assisting with table at dance. Webpage new site is almost complete. Looking for assistance on creating a calendar page that we can add to easily. Sr. Vice Jim Leyser said he has a resource to check with as well. W. C. Hilton advised he would attend CVMD roundtable meetings as situations permits. Commandant also advised he would still seek representative that can attend regularly. Chaplain Don Lenz advised he needs roster for mailing get well cards. Jr. Vice Andrew Wood proposed we have Marine Corps Birthday ball in conjunction with Reserve Unit from Lemoore as we did a few years ago. Commandant Borrell advised that we can look into it, but no promises made due to issues with the ball two years ago. Need to start putting together a committee to start planning Birthday Ball. Jr. Vice Wood presented recruiting flyer. Copies will be made available at next general meeting. Flag Day ceremony tentatively set for June 8, 2019. Need to get committee together and check with Sergeant-at-Arms to check about Clampers availability and participation. Discussed Detachment Marine of the Year. Commandant discussed that more
recognition needs to be given to members that go above and beyond. Staff is going to solicit submissions from the general membership for candidates. o Submissions for Marine of the Year due in September o Staff to discuss and decide on Detachment Marine of the Year in October o Outgoing staff to announce and award member in November at Installation ceremony. Meeting adjourned 2030 hrs