Greetings Comrades,

I hope everyone enjoyed the summer of 2010.  We had a busy summer at our Post and I want to thank all the dedicated VFW and Lady Auxiliary members that helped with breakfast, bingo, supporting the canteen, parades, hospital visits, Post clean-up, 4th of July picnic, 3rd annual Post luau, and anything else I may have left off.  Without your unselfish contributions we could not survive.  Again, I challenge each of you to help us by volunteering a few hours a month.  Below are committees/events with some key dates and we desperately need membership participation.  If you see something below that you are passionate about let me know, as you can see some of our members are filling multiple committees…let’s share the love.  Thank you!   

During the 14 Sep 2010 membership meeting we will have the privilege of having the "new” Superintendent of District 3 Widefield Schools, Mr. Joe Royer visiting our Post during a joint opening session.  And, as you know our Post takes great pride in supporting our local schools and teachers throughout the year.  This should be a great opportunity to find out what is on the Superintendent's mind and to let him know how much we value citizenship and patriotism in our schools.  Veterans, this is the time to push our Scholarship programs to the Superintendent...we need his support!  On that note, we are entering a very busy time of the year.  We have several initiatives that have kicked off recently that are focused around our local schools.  Our Chairman for all 3 of the below programs are mentioned above.  We will aggressively be looking for volunteers to help rack and stack these essays/speeches so that we capture the best to go forward to District level.  Remember, last year our Post took State for VOD and I believe we can do it again but this time with all 3 programs! 

• Patriot's Pen, a youth-essay writing contest that gives students in grades 6, 7 and 8 the opportunity to write essays expressing their views on democracy.  The 2010-2011 theme is "Does Patriotism Still Matter?"
• Voice of Democracy, an audio-essay contest for high school students in grades 9-12 the opportunity to write essays expressing their views on democracy.  The 2010-2011 theme is "Does My Generation Have a Role in America’s Future?"
• Teacher of the Year recognizes one outstanding teacher in each of the following categories: grades K-5, 6-8 and 9-12.  The award should be focused around a teacher that encourages citizenship and patriotism.

 Comrades, we will be starting a membership drive soon that will be led by our Sr Vice Commander, Lance Wilson.  In the very near future we will be sending out reminders to those "Annual" members that have not yet paid up for the year.  Please help keep our numbers up, as the membership has been steadily declining for the past 3 years.  I am asking that everyone help out by recruiting at least one new member in 2010-2011…nuff’ said.   

 NOTE:  Don't forget we have breakfast every Sunday, Bingo every Wednesday & Saturday and our canteen is almost always open for business....we need your support!  And, as always take a look at our monthly calendar for Sep and Oct for upcoming events.  Our next bi-monthly newsletter will be in Nov 2010.

Yours in Service,

JOE BARBOSA
Commander
Cheyenne Mountain VFW Post 3917
Security, Colorado
Phone:  719-502-1167