THE WILD WESTER

THE WILD WESTER
V F W
OFFICIAL
PUBLICATION OF
M/A WILD WEST
VFW POST 91 &
AUXILIARY
INSIDE THIS
ISSUE:
Hail &
2
Farewell
Events
2
Calendar
ADA Walk
2
Auxiliary
3
News
Auxiliary
3
Events
Summer
4
Event
Photos
2000 SOUTH UNION AVE
TACOMA, WA 98405-1024
P O S T
9 1
S E P T E M B E R
&
O C T O B E R
2 0 1 4
Commander’s Comments
Comrades and Sisters,
Happy Labor
Day! I hope
everyone is
enjoying a
very well
deserved
three-day
weekend.
This summer has been an
exceptionally busy one for
me, so I welcomed the long
weekend to take a few days
of R&R before the busy
holiday season kicks in.
On June 21st, several post
members participated in the
Veterans Resource Fair
held at the Tacoma Dome.
This event served as a
venue to showcase multiple
organizations that offer free
services to veterans in the
Puget Sound area. A special thanks goes out to
Comrades Bobby
Clements, Ross Walker,
Sister Sara Walker and Junior Girl Rose Walker for
taking the time from their
very busy schedules to man
the booth at this event.
From July 19th until the
23rd, Comrades Corky
Berthiaume, Elmer Clark,
Antwaine Dowdy, Joe Leister, and myself all made the
trek to St Louis, MO to attend the 115th VFW National Convention along
with over 10,000 other veterans and auxiliary members from around the world.
This was a very informative
event, with dozens of
booths to visit and seminars
to attend. We had the
honor to witness Vice
President Joe Biden address
the attendees at the joint
session as well as listen to
speeches given by acting
VA Secretary Sloan Gibson
and Senators Roy Blunt and
Claire McCaskill. The
highlight of the entire event
was a Military Salute Parade held on the 22nd followed by a Patriotic Celebration hosted by Budweiser at Soldiers Memorial Park. The next National Convention will be
held in Pittsburg, PA from
18 to 22 July 2015. All
post and auxiliary members, whether you hold a
position or not, are welcome to attend.
credited Service Officers/
Claims Consultants employed by the Department
of Washington Veterans of
Foreign Wars are members
of VFW Post 91? Well,
four out of five of us were
flown to Annapolis, MD to
attend mandatory training
put on by the National Veterans Service department
from August 17th until the
22nd. This course was very
intense, utilizing CFR 38, a
manual with over 2,200
pages, as our text book.
Sara Walker and I were in
the Phase I course while
Comrades Bobby Clements
and Ross Walker were in
the advance courses. The
focus of these courses was
to learn the federal laws,
rules and regulations as
they pertain to veteran’s
benefits in order to help us
better serve our clients.
On August 27th, Chaplain
Teresa Faulconer and I
manned a booth at the
Boots2Work Job Fair at
Cheney Stadium. This is
the second year this event
has taken place at this locaDid you know that approxi- tion and the second time
mately a third of the acPost 91 has participated.
Continued on page 2...
PAGE
THE
2
...Continued from page 1
Seeing that the VFW is not hiring,
our booth was strictly informational and we took the opportunity to explain what benefits the
VFW had to offer to our newly
retiring service members, to include claims assistance, scholarships, and financial assistance via
grants through the Unmet Needs
program. During this event, we
managed to recruit several members to our post and take three
claims for VA compensation.
Our next post meeting will be
held on Monday, September 8th at
7:00 p.m. Don’t forget to join us
at 6:00 p.m. for a potluck dinner
served by the Ladies Auxiliary.
Yours in Service,
Michelle Love
Post Commander
(253)759-6995
msmichellelove@comcast.net
WILD
WESTER
Hail & Farewell
Welcome to Elmer Bechtold, who transferred in from Post 3617; Penny
Easterling, who transferred from Post 8220; Melandro Gile, a former
Member at Large; and Odan Penilton, our newest Life Member. Also,
congratulations to Robert and Linda Dunn who got married on 12 July
2014!
If you know of any Comrade, Sister or family member that has passed
away or is sick or in distress, please contact the Post Chaplain, Comrade
Teresa Faulconer at (253) 961-9640.
This is a reminder about the 2014 American Diabetes Walk at Point Defiance Park. The date of the
Walk is Saturday, Oct. 11th. Starting time is 9
A.M.
As of this writing our post has 2 team members, and has raised only a
small amount for the Diabetes Association. We have done a lot better in
previous years. Let's get signed up, and raise money in the name of our
post team.
On line go to www.diabetes.org/stepout click on South Sound WA-Step
out Walk to stop Diabetes, click on Join a Team. Our Team name is
VFWPost91 (no spaces). If you have any problems call me, Dave Adams, or my wife Nancy, at 253-858-3940.
Calendar of Events
Event
Event
Date
Date
Location
Location
Time
Time
Post/Auxiliary Meeting
Jr Girls Meeting
08-Sep-14
14-Sep-14
VFW Post 91
VFW Post 91
1900 hrs
1400 hrs
Women Veterans Summit
Massing of the Colors
2014 Step Out Walk to Stop Diabetes
Jr Girls Meeting
20-Sep-14
09-Oct-14
11-Oct-14
12-Oct-14
Spokane Convention Center
JBLM, Watkins Field
Point Defiance Park
VFW Post 91
0830 hrs
1300 hrs
0900 hrs
1400 hrs
Columbus Day
13-Oct-14
Post/Auxiliary Meeting
Daylight Savings Time
49th Veterans Day Parade
Jr Girls Meeting
Post/Auxiliary Meeting
Veterans's Day
13-Oct-14
02-Nov-14
08-Nov-14
09-Nov-14
10-Nov-14
11-Nov-14
VFW Post 91
1900 hrs
Auburn, WA
VFW Post 91
VFW Post 91
1100 hrs
1400 hrs
1900 hrs
PAGE
From the Auxiliary President
Hello Auxiliary Sisters,
We have started the 2014-2015 program year and it is time to begin
working on support our local veterans, community members, and programs. Robin Piatt and I attended
Treasurer Training in July. Sara
Walker and I attended School of
Instruction in August. We learned
quite a bit of information to share
with the auxiliary which will help
us throughout the year.

Annual members - it is that time
to pay your dues for the 20142015 membership year. The
dues are $25.00. You can send
payment to VFW - Ladies Auxiliary #91, Attn: Treasurer,
2000 South Union, Tacoma WA
98405. We have a new treasurer, Robin Piatt, and we are
working to get her trained on
her new role.

Scholarships- are you aware
of all the scholarship opportunities for youth(grades 3rd12th) and adults? Voice of
Democracy, Patriots Pen,
Youth Essay, Junior Girls
Scholarship, Continuing Education Scholarship, etc.....if
you would like to learn about
these opportunities please let
us know and we will get you
the information.

NEW PROGRAM - National
Veterans Service (NVS) - The
VFW National Commander and
Ladies Auxiliary VFW National
President are working together
to raise $1 million dollars to
help our veterans, military, and
families. If you would like to
make a contribution to this program, please feel free to send it
to the auxiliary earmarked for
"Operation Changing Lives."
3
Thank you all for everything you
do. Remember to keep track of your
community service hours and send
this information to us so we can
report all the great
things going on.
Robbin Seeberger
Auxiliary President
Email - MR62599@aol.com
Phone / Text - 253-209-2205
SAVE THE DATE - Auxiliary Events
27 September Junior Girls & Auxiliary Program Kick Off
Come learn what the Junior Girls do, learn about how to be a member,
enjoy some good food, and have fun.
9 -11 October National Presidents Visit, Tacoma WA
The National President of the Ladies Auxiliary VFW will be coming to Washington and
her visit will mainly take place in the Tacoma area. This 3 day of activities will include a
banquet at Narrows Bridge Auxiliary #10018. If you would like more information on this
event, please contact Robbin. The Cancer Aid & Research fundraiser planned for this
weekend has been postponed.
1- 2 November Auxiliary Bazaar
**Tentative - Vendors, crafts, & food. We are still seeking a team to work on this event.
If we dont find anyone, event maybe canceled / postponed. Contact Robbin for more
info.
WILD WEST POST No. 91 VFW
2000 SOUTH UNION AVENUE
TACOMA, WA 98405-1024
253-759-6995
www.vfwpost91.com
RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED
Join Us! Next meetings are 8 September and 13 October.
THE WILD WESTER is an official publication of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 91, published bi-monthly by M/A Wild West
VFW Post and Auxiliary #91, 2000 South Union Avenue, Tacoma, WA 98405-1024. To submit an article for publication, email
Comrade Stephanie Melendez at Stephanie_b_design@yahoo.com. The deadline for the next publication is 15 October 2014.