February General Meeting
Held February 28, 2010


EXECUTIVE OFFICERS PRESENT
CHAIRMAN EDDIE RENTERIA
VICE-CHAIRMAN JOHN BLAIR
SECRETARY/TREASURER DAVID LEAVITT
OUTSIDE COORDINATOR JEFF LANGNESE


MEMBERS AT LARGE
NORTH BLOCK CHRIS SCHUHMACHER
H-UNIT ANTHONY PARKER


Chairman Renteria called the meeting to order at 8:05 hrs. Roll was called, 31 members were present, a quorum. 25 voting members were present. 1 voting member was absent. 6 probationary members were present. 2 probationary members were absent, so their probationary period will be extended by a month. Chief Sponsor Lieutenant J. Evans was present making it possible for us to have this meeting.

Members were asked to remove their hats for a moment of silence for the American Prisoners of War, those Missing in Action, those Killed in Action, and for our Marines and other service people deployed around the world.

Members were asked if they received their minutes of the last month’s meeting. Chairman Renteria explained that we did not have a quorum at last months meeting when we voted John Blair into the office of Vice-Chairman. Mr. Lott also mentioned the error, stated that he would not be running this time; Ballots were passed out to all voting members. Sgt. At Arms Giovanni Caffale collected the votes. Lt. Evans tallied the 24 votes and 1 absention that were returned to him. Mr. John Blair was elected to office of Vice-Chairman once again. A motion was made to accept the minutes with the new vote as a change. Mr. Barton seconded. The motion to accept the January 2010 minutes, with the noted changes, passed.

TREASURER'S REPORT:
David J. Leavitt: We have $1,781.47 in our account. We mailed a donation check of $800.00 to Operation:Mom, and that leaves us with a balance of $981.47. $200.00 of that will be used for the purchase of a new member hats. The remaining $781.47 will be split in half, ($390.74), betwen the next Run to the Pen, and to help defray the cost of the food for the scholarship banquet.


OUTSIDE COORDINATOR:
J. Langnese: received the below listed correspondences during the month of February 2010.

VVA The Airborne Quarterly fron New Windsor, Maryland. Great story about Air America fighting off an attack by NVA biplanes.
Between the Lines, VVA Chapter 20 publication, Rochester, New York.
Military magazine from Sacramento California.
Operation:Mom, a letter thanking us for the December 2009 donation, which made holiday, packages for our service women and men possible. You are one of our favority places to send money to. We also greatly admire you Gloria and Dottie.
N.I.V.N. Bill Anderson, Ephrata, WA. Thank you for your most interesting letter.
N.I.V.N. Roberto D'Avanzo, VVA Chapter 371, Iona, Michigan. Thank you for your most interesting letter.




COMMITTEE REPORTS:


BY-LAWS:

Mr. Fernando Lemus: Secretary/Treasure Leavitt stated that he and Chairman Renteria attended a meeting help by Ms. Laura bowman, Community Partnership Manager, on Friday February 26, 2010. There are now new forms to be filled out and turned in to Ms. Bowman every month, as well as new regulations for all groups to comply with. The Constitution and By-Laws for all Inmate Leisure Time Activity Groups, (ILTAG's), is to be submitted for approval by the end of every March. This is the new date for submittal. They will then be effective July 1, 2010 through June 30, 2011. A discussion was held concerning where the paperwork is and where the electronic copy is. Chief Sponsor Lt. Evans and By Laws committee chairman Lemus will locate and retrieve an electronic copy for us to use.



FOOD SALE:

Mr. David Leavitt: Our Sponsor signed off The Food Sale narrative on February 16, 2010. The last known location for it was at the Community Partnership Managers Office. Chief Sponsor Lt. Evans has the cost information for the In and Out burgers we hope to be selling hot in the yard. He will be formalizing the info and getting it to us this next week so we can complete the menu that we will use for the mainline population. It looks like all is well for us being abot to sell "Hot Off The Grill Burgers on The Yard" that day. Our May 23rd delivery will allow us to have our scholarship funds available for a June 2010 date.



SCHOLARSHIP BANQUET:

Mr. David Leavitt: Dottie and Gloria have given us June 12, 2010 as the date that works best for our Operation:Mom sponsors and supporters. The narrative is complete and signed off by our sponsor. It is currently enroute being signed also. A discussion took place about what we would like to serve OUR guest to eat at this banquet. Suggestions were for Appleby's, Panda Express, catering by Tracy Hutchinson, and our fall back plan will be Costco Pizza. Trust withdrawals will be circulated by our Members-at-Large, to all members to pay for this meal. Remember, this is OUR banquet and OUR guests. Any members that do not have a job, any money, or any means of support, please let the Member-at Large know so that someone else can cover or worrk something our for you. We are a band of brothers after all. Any yes, sorry Pete, No fish and chips will be served again this time, but keep on asking every year anyways, 'cuz ya jist never know.



COLOR GUARD:

Mr. Stanley Baer: We need a couple few more volunteers for the V.V.G.S.Q. Color Guard. Mr. Leavitt, Mr. Polley, Mr. Baer, Mr. Caffale, are the current members. Mr. Spillman, and Mr. Barton raised their hands and stepped up for the challenge. Welcome to the crew men. Your help is greatly needed as Geo is still ill and not able to participate and Stan will be undergoing treatment for his illness once again real soon. Our next Ceremonial function will be either the June 2010 graduation or our Scholarship Banquet on Saturday, June 12, 2010.



SCHOLARSHIP:

Mr. Fernando Lemus: The Scholarship committee members are Chris Schuhmacher, Joe Diggs, David Basile, J.B. Wells, and Scholarship Committee Chairman Fernando Lemus. Packets of information, applications, and DD214 request forms were mailed out to 252 local high schools. As yet, no one has responded. We are expecting quite a few applications to come in this year.



STAMPS FOR SOLDIERS:

Mr. Pete Rooke: Two weeks ago, we mailed our a box of 12,000 stamps to this program. A request for information on this program came in. Mr. Joe Diggs will get the information, Mr. Jeff Langnese will get the address, and Committee Chairman Pete Rooke will forward it to the requester.

(We would like to clarify that the stamps for Soldiers Program is used stamps still on the ripped off corners of the envelops. These stamps are peeled off the envelops, then used as therapy for wounded Marines, Sailors, and Soldiers.)



CAMARADERIE NIGHT:

Mr. Fernando Lemus: Our next Camaraderie night will be Saturday March 27, 2010. The movie has yet to be chosen, and will be a surprise. We now have a complete listing of all movies available. In addition, from now on, one copy of OUR list will also be kept in our archives for future use, rather than being controlled by one individual.



REAL CHOICES:

Mr. Ed Renteria: Committee Chairman Renteria was at another meeting when the Real Choices meeting took place. Mr. Barton stood in for him and stated, we are currently being stood down due to some new forms to be filled out by the prospective shcools and organizations that bring children in. We still need more V.V.G.S.Q. members to participate, so please step up and volunteer your time on Fridays for this extremely worthwhile program. Next month, we will have kids on March 12th, and 19th.



TAB'S FOR TOT'S:

Mr. Pete Rooke: We have an awful lot of tabs to send out. Committee Chairman Rooke will box them up adn get them to Mr. Renteria, who will forward them to the post office via our Chief Sponsor, Lt. Evans.



PRESENTATION BOXES:

Mr. Chris Schuhmacher: We currently have a dozen very special boxes to present at the Scholarship Banquet.





OLD BUSINESS:

Chairman Ed Renteria opened the floor for any old business. Though the roon was full of "old vets", no one spoke up with any old business.



NEW BUSINESS

A discussion took place concerning the confidentiality of V.V.G.S.Q. business. It seems there was a problem. It has not been resolved. 3 probationary members stood up and had a few very nice words to say about our group and the reasons that they want badly to be a part of us. Sgt. At ARms Mr. Giovanni Caffale escorted them out, a vote was taken, and all three were voted in by unanimous vote. Welcome to the V.V.G.S.Q. man!! We gained two more army fellas with Mr. Capell, and Mr. Beavers. Mr. Beavers is also a Korean War Veteran. We also gained another Marine with the addition of Mr. Elmore.

Sgt. Moore has previous family engagements to attend to. Lt. Evans will be with us at least until July 2010, and took a few moments to inform us of necessary business. Thank you Lt. Evans for showing up and even being on time. Now that's gittin our!?$#! Together! Another of our sponsors, Jake Graham left last week for a job at CSP Solano. You will be greatly missed Jake. Thank you for all that you have done for us over the years. Our H-Unit Member-at-Large, Mr. Anthony Parker will be going home soon and we will need to replace him.







A motion was made by Mr. Lemus to adjourn the meeting at 0910 hr. Mr. Diggs seconded the motion. A vote was taken and the motion passed. The meeting adjourned at 0914 hrs.




NEXT MEETING:                                          NEXT CAMARADERIE NIGHT 
Will be on Sunday, March 28, 2010.                   will be on Saturday, March 27, 2010.





David Leavitt                                          K. Evans
Secretary/Tresurer                                     CORRECTIONAL LIEUTENANT
                                                       V.V.G.S.Q. CO-SPONSOR









VIETNAM VETERANS GROUP OF SAN QUENTIN
WEB SITE http://vvgsq.tripod.com
Lt. J. Evans, Chief Sponsor Sgt. D. Moore, Co Sponsor Telephone (415) 454-1460, EXT. 5309 or 5757
FAX Telephone (415) 455-5049 ATTN: D. Sheldon SIA

Brothers Helping Brothers




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

V.V.G.S.Q. SCHEDULE OF EVENTS


March 27, 2010 Camaraderie Night @ 1730 hr.
March 28, 2010 Monthly Meeting @ 0800 hr
April 1, 2010 Food Sale Forms Go Out
April 24, 2010 Camaraderie Night @ 1730 hr
April 25, 2010 Monthlly Meeting @ 0800 hr.
April 30, 2010 Last Call for Picking up Food Sale Forms
May 22, 2010 Non-perishable Foods delivered and stored
May 23, 2010 Food Delivery to Mainline Population And Monthly Meeting with all supporters present.
May 29, 2010 Camaraderie Night @ 1730 hr.
June 12, 2010 Scholarship Banquet and Presentations
June 26, 2010 Camaraderie Night @ 1730 hr.
June 27, 2010 Monthly Meeting @ 0800 hr. and Annual Nominations for Executive Body members.