General MeetingAugust 30, 2009
| CHAIRMAN | K. HAGAN |
| VICE-CHAIRMAN | E. RENTERIA |
| SECRETARY/TREASURER | D. LEAVITT |
| OUTSIDE COORDINATOR | J. LANGNESE |
MEMBERS AT LARGE
| NORTH BLOCK | C. SCHUHMACHER |
| H-UNIT | A. PARKER |
Chairman Mr. Hagan called the meeting to order at 8:00 hrs. Roll was called, 34 members were present, a quorum. 2 members were excused and 1 member was absent. Designated sponsor Debra Sheldon was present.
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 troops deployed around the world.
All members were asked if they received their minutes of the last months meeting. Mr. Baer made a motion and there was a second to accept the minutes with two changes noted, from the July 2009 meeting. The vote taken passed the motion to accept the minutes.
TREASURER'S REPORT: D. Leavitt:
We are in the process of sending the food sale to the trust office. We have a total salews of over $16,000.00 for this food sale. This is before the NSF’s (Non Sufficient Funds or broke dudes orders) are taken out of the amount before we order the food from the vendors. We still need to send $21.00 back to the Squires Group that was placed in our account by mistake. This brings a balance of $151.68 of usable fund.
OUTSIDE COORDINATOR: J. Langnese:
received the below listed correspondence during the month of August:
| ”VVA Chapter 563 Newsletter, Petaluma, Calif. | |
| ”VVA Chapter 20, ”Between the Lines”<.u> Newsletter, Rochester, NY. | |
| Ron Trovato, 2 letters. Ron writes the incarcerated section for the ”Between the Lines”. Congratulations on the best Newsletter at the National VVA Convention. | |
| VVA Chapter 371 letter from Roberto D’Avanzo & Michigan VVA News.. | |
| VVA Chapter 201 ”Observation Post” with Vet news and monthly activitiews, San Jose, Calif.< td> | |
| VVA Chapter 190 President Craig McLaren, Atmore, Alabama. | |
| Col. J. Ross Franklin, (USA Ret.), letters, Pensacola, Florida.< TD> | |
| Kyle Terzian letter from H.V.E.H.F., Palo Alto, Calif. | V. Milo 4th Div. Art. 2 letters. Hillsboro Beach, Florida. |
| Jesus Wept Ministries, Sister Vicki, Richardson, Texas.< td> | |
| N.I.V.N. Bill Anderson letter, Ephrata, Washington | |
| N.I.V.N. Rev. Dugdale letter, Ridgefield, Washington.< TD> | |
| Disabled American Veteran Magazine | Joseph Noblit, our last scholarship recipient. A very nice thank you card and letter with what’s going on in his life. |
COMMITTEE REPORTS: (continued) It is important that on September 27, the day of our food delivery, we take time to remember that this day id GOLD STAR MOTHER’S DAY. Our thoughts will also go out to Mysty Rigue Stumbo, a fantastic lady and the GOLD STAR MOM that honored us at our 7th Operation Mom’s packing day. Let’s kepp this day one of honor and remembrance as we bust our !?!$%!, handing out $16,000.00 worth of food.
COMMITTEE REPORTS:
BY-LAWS:
Vacant and awaiting a chairman.
FOOD SALE:
Mr. Leavitt: The food sale has been completed. We are dropping the Trust Office Package off with Mr. Renteria Thursday, September 3rd for delivery to the Trust Office via Lt. Cramer on September 8th.
The members and the positions that they will be working at the September 27th Food Delivery is as follows:
Area 1
GATE - PARKER, and WARREN
PULLING ORDERS - PORTUNE, BUTLER, and BAER
Area 2
FILLING ORDERS - LEMUS, HAGAN, LANGNESE, LEAVITT, NAVAERETTE, SCHUHMACHER and SANDERS
Area 3
DOUBLE CHECK TABLE - NORTHROP, FAISON, BOTHA, VICK, or BASILE
Area 4
DELIVERY TABLE - RENTERIA, BLAIR, LOT, and POLLEY
There are no stand by positions since we have plenty of members working this sale to pull from should someone get transferred or neglect to show up.
SOCIAL:
Mr. Leavitt: there is nothing new to report at this time.
COLOR GUARD:
Mr. Caffale: Our next Color Guard Events are the November 7th RUN to the PEN and the November 21st Operation MOM’s Packing Day.
SCHOLARSHIP:
Vacant and awaiting a chairman.
STAMPS FOR SOLDIERS:
Mr. Rooke: A box full of stamps awaits postage and mailing.
(We would like to clarify that the stamps for Soldiers Program is used stamps still on the ripped off corners of envelops. These stamps are peeled off the envelops, then used as therapy for wounded Marines, Sailors, and Soldiers.)
CAMARADERIE NIGHT:
Mr. Portune: The next camaraderie night will be on Saturday, September 26th. We will have Costco muffins to munch on as we watch the movie. A Special Thank You given on behalf of the group goes out to Debra Sheldon for continuing to sponsor our camaraderie nights.
R.E.A.L. CHOICES:
Mr. Renteria: Sacramento has stood down this program until further notice. We hope to hear from Mr. Crittenden with good news real soon.
TAB'S FOR TOT'S:
Mr. Rooke: Still collecting the tabs, and checking into a post office prepaid mailing box.
TOY PROGRAM:
Mr. Renteria: The narrative has been submitted to Lt. Cramer, with the changes he requested. There are only going to be five days for handing toys out this year since by order of Sacramento, the Friday visiting program has been canceled.
GRANTS:
Vacant and awaiting a chairman.
PRESENTATION BOXES:
Mr. Portune is the new committee chairman and will continue where Singler and Roberts left off.
OLD BUSINESS:
Run to the Pen: This was tabled from last month. Mr. Pennington gave Saturday November 7th as the date, and he stated that he will need 200 pins. After a slow start, a very welcome discussion with lots of ideas to generate the funds needed for the pins took place. Group members will donate their personal funds and Mr. Portune will type up a memo requesting we be allowed to solicit funds for Operation Mom’s from the mainline population. Mr. Parker will be in charge of handling the trust withdrawals for H Unit and Mr. Diggs will do the same for North Block inmates. Sponsor Sheldon will do a TV shoot with Mrs. Godchaux from Operation Mom’s, that will kick off the collection. We will set up a special accounting for handling the funds collected for this event.
Operation Mom’s packing day: Mrs. Godchaux came with two dates in mind for our next packing day. The group chose Saturday, November 21 for the 8th Operation Mom’s packing day here at San Quentin Prison. This packing day will be for a unit in Afghanistan. This unit received a package addressed to someone that had rotated back to the states. They would not oen the box without permission. During the communication process, it was learned that this unit is in dire need of many things that we take for granted. It was decided that this unit, the 82nd Airborne Special Operations Division, will be the unit we will pack for on November 21, 2009.
NEW BUSINESS
We acknowledge bill Roberts, our Vice Chairman, who died on August 18th 2009. He was found unresponsive in his cell at around the 4PM count. Mr. Snyder will do a memorial on SQTV to honor Bill.
Nominations were held for the vacant position of Vice Chairman. Mr. Renteria was the sole member to be nominated. A vote of confidence was then held and passed unanimously. Congratulations Eddie Boy!
Access to the group archives was discussed. The group members agreed that only the current executive body and anyone they designate for a special mission would have access to the archives from now on.
A discussion was help about gathering the necessary supplies for our food sale delivery.
A discussion was held concerning mutual respect for one another as a band of veteran brothers.
A new member’s application was signed off and returned to us from our Chief sponsor, Lt. Cramer. Mr. Billy Garcia is now a probationary member. His 90 day probation ends at the November 30th meeting.
Chairman Mr. Hagan gave a special thank you to our Co-Sponsor Debra Sheldon for arriving at 7:30 hrs. opening the room, and making it possible, once again, to have this months meeting.
A special Thank You goes out to Mrs. Gloria Godchauz for her most welcome presence, as well as her wealth of information at our meeting.
There was a motion made to adjourn the meeting and seconded. The motion passed. The meeting adjourned at 0904 hrs.
NEXT MEETING: NEXT CAMARADERIE NIGHT Will be on September 27, 2009. will be on September 26, 2009.
David Leavitt M.W. Cramer
Secretary/Tresurer CORRECTIONAL LIEUTENANT
V.V.G.S.Q. CHIEF-SPONSOR
VIETNAM VETERANS GROUP OF SAN QUENTIN
WEB SITE http://vvgsq.tripod.com
Telephone (415) 454-1460, EXT. 5309 or 5757
FAX Telephone (415) 455-5049 ATTN: D. Sheldon SIA
Brothers Helping Brothers
| September 26th, 2009 | Camaraderie Night |
| September 27th, 2009 | Semi Annual Fund Raiser Food Delivery | September 27th, 2009 | Monthly Meeting before Food Delivery | October 24th, 2009 | Camaraderie Night | October 25th, 2009 | Monthly Meeting @ 0800 hr. | November 7th, 2009 | 2nd Annual Run to the Pen | November 21st, 2009 | 8th Annual Operation:Mom Packing Day | November 28th, 2009 | Camaraderie Night | November 29th, 2009 | Monthly Meeting @ 0800 hr | December 12th, and 13th, 2009 | Toy Program | December 19th, and 20th , 2009 | Toy Program | December 25th, 2009 | Toy Program | December 26th, 2009 | Camaraderie Night | December 27th, 2009 | Monthly Meeting @ 0800 hr |