General MeetingSeptember 28, 2008
EXECUTIVE OFFICERS PRESENT
CHAIRMAN M. NORTHROP
VICE-CHAIRMAN R. SINGLER
SECRETARY/TREASURER R. PORTUNE
OUTSIDE COORDINATOR F. LEMUS
MEMBERS AT LARGE
NORTH BLOCK S. BAER
H-UNIT A. PARKER
Chairman Mr. Northrop called the meeting to order at 8:10 hrs. Roll was called, 43 members were present; a quorum. Two member were excused and one member were absent and an appropiate sponsorship was present, Debra Sheldon SAI and Gloria Godchaux from Operation MOM.
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.
Members were asked to indicate if they received their minutes of the last months meeting. A motion was made and seconded to accept the minutes from the September (August) meeting. A vote was taken and passed to accept the minutes.
TREASURER'S REPORT: (R. Portune) the expenditures were explained. We have a balance of $72.25. This money will be used to buy bottled water for our next three events.
OUTSIDE COORDINATOR: (F. Lemus)
| Tony Thompson N.I.V.N. | Hays State Prison, Trion, GA | |
| Col. Ross Franklin (USA-Ret.) | Pensacola, FL | |
| Sgt. James Smith (USA-Ret.) | 4th INf. Div., Hickory Valley, TN | |
| Col. W. E. Weber (US Ret.) | American Airborne Assoc., New Windsor, MD | |
| PhD Karen Stanley | Fisher, WV | |
| Prison Ministry & Missions | News Letter, Richerson, TX | |
| VVA Chap. 20 | Between the Line, New York | |
| Derek Wills 505th Airborne England | Static Line NEWS FROM THE UNITED KINGDOM | |
| Harvest Vision Church | KY | |
| Hope & Help Prison Ministries | Colorado | |
| Frank Schoch | Veterans Corner, Florida | |
| Robert W. Hayes | 508th Airborne & N.I.V.N. | |
| Colonel William E. Weber | MD | |
| Richard Becker, Director, 82nd Airborne Assoc. | New York | |
| Mr. & Mrs. Cutting | 82nd Golden Gate Chapter | |
| Richard J. O'Donnell | Chairman, F&F 508th PIR Association, Florida | |
| Millard Ball Sergeant Major | 11th & 187th Airborne, Fort Campbell, TN | |
| Luis Gutierrez. Command Sergeant Major Special Forces | Fort Bragg, North Carolina | |
| Airborne Static Line | Annette,Georgia | |
| CSM Merritt (Rock) | Airborne Association, NC | |
| Jeff Brodeur | KWVA National Director, MA | |
| The Graybeards | Korean War Veterans Association | |
| James Weber | Veterans Workforce Specialist, CA | |
| The Rakkasan Shimbun | 187th Airborne ASsociation, OH | |
| Doc. Karen Stanley | Some Not SO Lucky American Airborne Association | |
| American Airborne Association | Airborne Quarterly, MD | |
| Barney McClendon | N.I.V.N. | |
| Veterans Of the Vietnam War | VVnW, National, PA | |
| Sergeant First Class Branes Jeffrey L. | For Bragg, NC | |
| VVA Chapter 205 | Auburn, NY | |
| Darren & Janice, Operation MOM | Thank you card for the boxes |
COMMITTEE REPORTS:
BY-LAWS: Mr. Hagan: New By-Laws were passed out to each member.
FOOD SALE: Mr. Portune: The narrative was approved and the order lists have been passed out. The group thanks Mr. Lemus for the printing of the order forms. There was a discussion about the workers for the food sale and the unloading of the truck on Saturday the 25th of October. The workers will be notified. Debra Sheldon discussed the 200 dollar limit per Warders memo; this is a one time shot.
SOCIAL: The Operation Mom's narrative has not been approved as yet. The group thanked Mr. Hagan and Mr. Barton for volunteering to be the Operation MOM drop off point for donations from the main line Inmates. Mr. Northrop explained the rules for Operation Mom's packing day. Reminder! Please bring two sodas to this event, one for you and one for a guest.
COLOR GUARD: Mr. Baer gave a report and read a list of the members of the color guard.
STAMPS FOR SOLDIERS: Mr. Schuhmacher: We have collected quiet a few stamps. They will be mailed out as soon as the trust office is back open for business. So far we have over 15,000 ready to go. We would like to clarify that the stamps for soldiers program is used stamps still on envelopes. These stamps are peeled off envelopes and are used as therapy for wounded soldiers.
REAL CHOICES: Mr. Renteria: Nothing to report.
GRANTS: Mr. Singler: Gave a report.
TAB'S FOR TOT'S: Mr. Sanders: We are collecting quite a few tabs and every thing is moving along fine.
TOY PROGAM: Mr. Renteria: A report was given and he showed the group the posters for this year's program.
PRESENTATION BOXES: Mr. Roberts: A list of boxes sent out was given.
| Leo Hobson | Gate Way Chapter 187th, St. Louis, MO |
| David Deatherage | Ripcord Chapter 187th, Independence, MO |
| Fran Lafferty | Niagara Frontier Chapter 82nd Assn., West Seneca, NY |
| James Hoeh, President | RAKKASAN Association, Cincinnati, OH |
| Fred Forsyth | Buffalo Niagara Chapter 187th, Buffalo, NY |
| Mara L. Taylor | Daughter of the 4th Division |
| Deryk Wills | 505th Airborne, England |
We have donated five presentation boxes and one display case to Millard R. Ball, Sergeant Major, U.S. Army (Ret.) 11th and 187th Airborne Association, Fort Campbell. The chapter made a donation on our behalf. We also made a donation of five presentation boxes for CSM Merritt and Richard O'Donnell of the 508th Association, to be presented at the 66th reunion at Fort Bragg this October.
Donation of presentation boxes to B.R. Cohn Charity: the V.V.G.S.Q. would like to donate handmade presentatons boxes for your organization to use to accomplish national outreach to Veterans Organizations. These boxes are hand made by Honorably Discharged Veterans.
OLD BUSINESS:
Camaraderie Night will take place on October 25th in the library at 5:30. You will receive a ducat. Please bring snacks. The movie to be shown will be "Eagles attack at Dawn". Camaraderie Night will take place from now on on Sunday night before our monthly meeting. The movie will be voted on by the group at the privacies monthly meeting from a list of three movies. Reminder - camaraderie night is not a mandatory event.
Gloria from Operation Mom asked for the logistics of the November 1st Operation Mom's packing day event. This was explained and a copy of the narrative will be sent to her. Operation Mom's had a retreat. A discussion of their new 501-C-3 status took place. Gloria explained some of the problems they are encountering and how they are dealing with them.
The November the 8th Motorcycle Poker Run presented by the Iron Pigs Motorcycle club (Run for the Pen). Mr. Northrop explained the logistics of this event. Northrop showed a picture of the pin that will be presented to the participants, commemorate this event. The proceeds from this event will be donated to Operation MOM.
NEW BUSINESS
Mr. Leavitt asked if group envelopes could be printed for the groups use. Something like our logo and flag on them. This will be looked into and is tabled for now.
A motion was made to adjourn the meeting and seconded. The motion passed. Meeting adjourned at 9:00 AM.
NEXT MEETING
October 26, 2008. Ducats will be sent. As this meeting will take place before the food sale delivery it is not a mandatory meeting.
Robert Portune 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