In this Issue... From the President Page 1 Meet a Vet Page 3 Volume 1 Issue 2 From the President Hank Lewis virgill15@aol.com February 2017 Adopt-A-Street Page 3 Luke AFB Volunteer Program Page 4 New Membership Page 5 Going inside the numbers Page 6 VetTix Program Page 7 Veterans Furniture Center Page 7 Financial Report Page 8 Challenge Coin ROE Arizona StandDown Executive//Board Membership Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 W hat a great February of veterans serving veterans! In addition to our normal deliveries and pickups, we completed our annual mission of service at the Arizona Stand Down. We started with deliveries of 60+ pallets of products for our vets on Tuesday and Wednesday. Opening day was Thursday, February 9th, during which Bob Prow counted 784 veterans walking through our area and gearing up. On the 10th, an additional 346 vets geared up. This included the jeans and belts we had solicited from Trilogy, boots and shoes provided by DOD and cash to purchase boots from Stand Down itself. DOD also provided ruck sacks, packs and other bags along with cold weather gear, socks and teeshirts. Over the course of the event we had over 30 TVC members assisting 1,130 veterans. We received many smiles from these vets thanks to all of our club members and donors. I can t wait till next year. I would be remiss if I didn't give Butch Schumacher a huge thank you for a job well done. Butch ran the Stand Down this year and I assisted him. I ll let Butch give you more information during his After-Action Report at our February 28th meeting. I ll also ask him to have all our Stand Down volunteers to stand up at the meeting for some well-deserved applause. (Continued on page 2) Agenda Page 12 Dates for monthly meetings (Meetings start at 5:00 pm) is a monthly newsletter for the members of the Trilogy Veteran s Club. If you have an article that you would like published, please send to Scott Duke at sid.duke@gmail.com February 28, 2017 August 29, 2017 March 28, 2017 September 26, 2017 April 25, 2017 October 31, 2017 May 30, 2017 November 28, 2017 June 27, 2017 December 26, 2017 July 25, 2017
Page 2 (Continued from page 1) What a Great Mission! Well Done Butch! I am looking forward to finishing our By-Law revisions at this month s meeting. We did have a chance to meet with our Lifestyle Director, Gregg Snyder, regarding Shea s requirements in the Chartered Club Bylaws. He was complimentary of our changes and particularly happy about the inclusiveness of Allied Vets. I have had suggestions that we change that to Canadian Veterans, but we would then have to change the Bylaws should an Australian, Kiwi, Brit, Dane or any number of currently allied veterans come to Trilogy. I would therefore like to keep it as proposed. volunteers and food suppliers not to send utensils or dishes to the Madison Street Outreach Luncheons that they cannot live without. Sometimes items are misplaced in clean up and are inadvertently left behind. A quick update on our mission leaders, the VFC will be consolidated with the Luke AFB volunteers under Richard Brown s able leadership. Bill Connor will continue to provide computer support for signups at the VFC office, and for pickups and deliveries. Another item we will discuss is an earlier meeting start time to allow our members more time to mingle at happy hour and find new members for the club! Don t forget that under the section of the Agenda For the Good of the Club, anyone can speak to anything benefitting the club and our members. Remember this is YOUR club. It is only as good as you make it. The Board is open to your suggestions as to how we can improve our service to our fellow veterans in need. My personal thanks to all our members who have served this month. Well done shipmates! I also spoke with Bob Alford, one of the TVC founders and a drafter of the original By-Laws. We discussed one of the issues that came up last meeting regarding Honorary Members. I would propose that we consider using the title Friends of the Trilogy Veterans Club. It is still an honor that we would bestow on those who, although are not veterans, provide us with invaluable amounts of time and energy to assist our missions. We will make a few other tweaks and vote. I look forward to your discussion at the meeting. Remember to have your candidate(s) for the at large member of our board of directors ready to introduce themselves at the meeting. I will ask our mission leaders to briefly report on their respective missions. I would like to pass along a request I received from Don Borland reminding Pictures from January s meeting
Page 3 ous towers and enroute centers across the country. Mark is married to Vicki Grindle. They have lived full-time in Trilogy for over 5 years. He enjoys working with fellow veterans in our various missions and looking forward in seeing continuous growth of our club. Editor s note: In an effort for the membership to get to know more about the executive board, Meet the Vet will start with them, move to the board members, then to the mission leaders, followed by members of the club. T his month s Meet a Vet is our Vice-President, Mark Grindle. Mark served in the United States Air Force, Reserves and Air Guard from 1992 to his retirement in 2006. He earned an Air Medal and several Aerial Achievement medals while serving during Operation Desert Strom and several other campaigns. While in the Air Reserves/Guard, he worked for Hughes Aircraft, Rockwell Collins and Honeywell as an Avionics and Aeronautical Engineer developing flight management systems and flight displays for numerous commercial as well as military aircraft. Currently, Mark is working for Systems Enginuity Inc, a subcontractor to the Federal Aviation Administration, and is involved in the system and safety development for air traffic controller modifications and improvements to the vari- Adopt-A-Highway Scott Duke Sid.duke@gmail.com A s we continue to collect trash on El-Mirage street, outside the member-only gate on Blue Sky drive, we welcome other Trilogy Veterans to sign-up and take part in this worthwhile volunteer effort. This task not only cleans up the street, but is also a good 1-mile walk that helps your health. Right now, I know of only two people (myself and Bruce Murray who is pictured) that are out cleaning up the street each week. We go around 0730 each Tuesday morning. Lately, we have found very little trash to pick-up, but like I said, that s okay because you are getting some cardio workout at the same time. It really is a win-win all the way around. If you are interested, contact the mission leader (e-mail in the header above) and we will get you on the calendar. We only need to do the walk once or twice a week to ensure El Mirage stays clean and beautiful for all to enjoy and live up to our obligation as a Veterans Club to the city of Peoria.
Page 4 Luke AFB Volunteer Program Update Richard Brown rbrowntrilogy@cox.net L et me start with some impressive statistics.192 Luke Airman have volunteered and supported us since Aug, 2015, and with their assistance, during January, our Club exceeded 1,000 combined deliveries and pickups since mid-2015. Luke personnel additionally exceeded supporting our Club with over 600 man-days of furniture movements, surpassing that milestone in late January. Also in January, 30 Luke volunteers received the Club s Letter of Appreciation and Certificate for having supported us at least twice. To date, 110 Airmen have received these recognition documents. The Luke Airmen are also supporting Arizona Stand Down. Thus far, 9 Luke personnel have volunteered to help us on Wednesday, 8 Feb loading and unloading the many large and heavy boxes of DOD-provided clothing and hygiene kits that our Club will distribute to needy veterans during the Maricopa Stand Down, 9-11 March at the Phoenix Coliseum. Several Luke personnel are volunteering as guides and in other capacities during the Stand Down. In the event you were not aware, The base population includes about 7500 military members and 15,000 family members. With about 80,000 retired military members living in greater Phoenix, the base services a total population of more than 100,000 people. One airman, Airman First Class Cora Ruth, was recognized by our Club at the January meeting for supporting us 20 times in just an 8 month period, and this will reach 24 times by the end of this month. To put this in perspective, since August, 2015, Luke volunteers have averaged supporting us 3.3 times each. Cora s 25 is a staggering number, and represents helping us 3 times per month since the onset. She was awarded the first Veterans Furniture Center tee shirt and was also treated to dinner at V s after the meeting.
Page 5 New Membership Mike Ponting Michael.ponting99@gmail.com Veterans Club Membership T 137 hanks to all who have paid their membership for 2017. At this writing, our club has 137 members. There are still about 40 members we are in the process of notifying. We have also been updating and correcting our member information. As some members move on, we are fortunate to have many new members join. We welcome them and encourage them to become involved in our activities. When I first moved to Trilogy, I was welcomed into our club and made to feel a part of something larger. I became active at the Veterans Furniture Center and also helping to feed the veterans monthly, at the Outreach Center in Phoenix. I encourage all new members (and long time members not currently involved) to become active in our club. At the very least, try the different activities we are involved with at least once. You may find it as rewarding as I do to give back some of the many blessings we have been given. Bernard Guggemos Jim Brager Bill Morse Davie Waggie Frank Priore Army Army Marines Air Force Marines Lewis (Chan) Conrad Air Force Ron Gabaldon Air Force Brian Schries Navy Brian Bailey Marines
Page 6 Going inside the Club Numbers Scott Duke Sid.duke@gmail.com W e thought we would go inside the numbers and see how we are comprised by branch of service. I can report that we have all branches of services included in the club, except Coast Guard. But you have to wonder, is the number higher from your branch that the others? Well now we can reveal those numbers and identify who gets bragging rights for the club! Three (3) members did not show branch of service on their membership form; one (1) person was in the Marines and the Army, so he is listed under Marines.
Page 7 tickets were valued at $60 apiece. I took a couple of friends with me and we had a great time. If you are interested, here is the link to their website, so you can decide for yourself. To prove I was a veteran, I had to scan by DD214 and a photo ID. It was pretty simple after that. R ecently I ran across this organization on-line, and wanted to share with our Veterans Club. This is from their website: Vet Tix provides tickets to events which reduce stress, strengthen family bonds, build life-long memories and encourage service members and veterans to stay engaged with local communities and American life. We support our troops by honoring their service and providing positive family and life experiences, during and after their years of service to our country. Vet Tix provides tickets to all branches of currently-serving Military and Veterans, including immediate family of troops KIA. Vet Tix secures tickets to sporting events, concerts, performing arts, educational and family activities across the nation. Vet Tixers sign up online. We verify their service. Vet Tixers request tickets to events that interest them, then pay a small delivery fee to receive their free tickets. Scott Duke (sid.duke@gmail,com) www.vettix.org Veterans Furniture Center Richard Brown rbrowntrilogy@cox.net S everal members have said they can t help with the Friday/Saturday furniture operations for fear of tweaking a back, pulling a muscle, or sustaining some sort of injury. We get this, but it s no longer a concern. We reserve all the heavy lifting for the Luke Airmen. The heaviest item you will lift is a table lamp, and remember, every trip back and forth means a lot, it speeds up the process, which means we get more furniture to more needy vets. Also, you can drive your car as a chase vehicle, follow us around and save others gas money, including the volunteer airmen. These outings are also fun, we typically socialize over a good lunch at Mel s dinner. We d like to see greater club participation, and this opportunity happens every week, two times! C mon out, it s fun, it s painless and it s rewarding. I wanted to check this out for myself, so I entered their lottery for tickets to a recent NHL hockey game with your Coyotes. A day later, I received an e-mail that I was one of the folks selected. I had requested three tickets and received all three tickets. I had to pay $14.97 (often times less than this) for a handling fee, but the
Page 8 Financial Report Jim Long jimlong13058@gmail.com I plan to have a longer article next time, but for now I just wanted to pass along that we have heard the feedback and starting this month, I will present a financial report during our meeting. It will be a simple slide that will show the following: Deposits Expenses Donations Balance On request to any member of the club, I can provide a more detailed report, but I think of the majority just want a single slide that gives us the macro view of the club s finances. I will not be able to make this month s meeting (out of town), but always available on e-mail. w e have an opportunity next month to support the Trilogy Food for Kidz charity. You will hear more about this at our February meeting from one of our members, Larry DiGiovanni. It is a great way to support a fellow Trilogy group and get involved with such a worthy cause. Food for Kidz is a fundraising and volunteer opportunity that has taken place in Trilogy at Vistancia for ten years. The event raises money donated by residents for food packages that will be assembled by our community volunteers during our packaging event on March 7th, 2017. A portion of the food stays in Arizona and the remainder is distributed to needy families by the Food for Kidz organization in Stewart MN. Our club is an community-based organization and this would be a prime example of how we support, not only our veterans, but our local community and children as well. More from Larry on February 28th. w e had an anonymous donation for Furniture, Jeans, Slacks, Linens, Housewares. The donor wants to remain unnamed, but was OK with us including the information. This allows us to thank the anonymous party, publicly! We thank these folks and all our club members who donate their time, belongings, and their most valuable asset.time.
Page 9 Challenge Coin ROE T here was much discussion about the Challenge coin at last month s meeting, so we thought we would send out the Rules of Engagement (ROE) on the coin and its usage among Club membership. A coin challenge consists of a challenge and a response. 1. RULES: A. The challenge is initiated by drawing your coin, holding it in the air by whatever means possible and state, scream, shout or otherwise verbally acknowledge that you are initiating a coin check. Another, but less vocal method is to firmly place it on the bar, table, or floor (this should produce an audible noise which can be easily heard by those being challenged, but try not to leave a permanent imprint). If you accidentally drop your coin and it makes an audible sound upon impact, then you have just "accidentally" initiated a coin check. (This is called paying the price for improper care of your coin.) challenger and the group being challenged. D. If everyone being challenged responds in the correct manner, the challenger must buy a round of drinks for all those people they challenged. E. Failure to buy a round is a despicable crime and will require that you turn-in your Coin to the issuing agency. 2. WHEN - WHERE: A. Coin checks are permitted, ANY TIME, ANY PLACE. 3. EXCEPTIONS: A. There are no exceptions to the rules. They apply to those clothed or unclothed. At the time of the challenge you are permitted one step and an arms reach to locate your coin. If you still cannot reach it -- SORRY ABOUT THAT! 4. A COIN IS A COIN B. The response consists of all those persons being challenged drawing their coin in a like manner. C. If you are challenged and are unable to properly respond, you must buy a round of drinks for the
Page 10 Arizona StandDown 2017 W hat a success! Thanks to everyone that supported and participated in this years event. We did a short video on the event that was mailed to all members, but here are some sights from Arizona StandDown 2017.
Page 11 The Executive Board consists of the President, Vice-President, and Secretary/Treasurer PRESIDENT Virgil Hank: Lewis Virgill15@aol.com VICE-PRESIDENT Mark Grindle jetsetter05@msn.com The Board includes the Membership and Communications Directors to the Exec Board. SECRETARY/TREASURER Jim Long jimlong13058@gmail.com Communications Director Scott Duke Sid.duke@gmail.com Membership Director Mike Ponting michaelponting99@gmail.com
Page 12 H ere is a look at the agenda for this month s meeting of the Veterans Club. We hope to see you there. Meeting comes to order at 1700 Pledge of Allegiance President s comments Financial report mission Leader s report OLD business New business Good of the Club Adjourn