Benson VFW Post 2503

POST & AUXILIARY MEETINGS 3RD Thursday both 7 p.m. Benson VFW Post 2503 MARCH 2018 www.vfwpost2503.org Honor Guard Meeting 2nd Thursday every month 7:00 pm POST 2503 OFFICERS 2017-2018 Commander: Ricky Johnson Sr. Vice Commander: Duke Humphrey Jr. Vice Commander: Ross Winn Quartermaster: Ryan Sudbeck Chaplain: Dennis Kerr Surgeon: Terrence White Judge Advocate: Tom Penke Officer of the Day: Bill Fead Adjutant: Tom Penke Guard: Ron Karm Service Officer: Robert Brown From the Commander Greetings! Thanks to new VFW Post 2503 member Larry Quillian for volunteering to urge our members to renew their memberships. Because of Larry s work, the Post numbers are way up. And another month of BIG thanks goes to Linda Humphrey and her crew of volunteers to make the Post 2503 kitchen successful every week. Still, more volunteers are needed. However, the Post is in need of a new Kitchen Manager. Call Tom Penke at 402-330-6860 for more information if you are interested. Hours and pay are negotiable. Volunteers are needed for the Post Visitation Team. Hospitalized Vets appreciate the visits. Contact Tim Ross at 402-391-2292. Additionally, please report your volunteer hours from church or community service to Tim Ross at the phone number above. Everyone be sure to mail in your Maintenance Fund entries for the St. Patrick s Day drawings for prizes: $200, $100, $75, and more. Calling all Post 2503 Members: April is Post clean-up month. Information regarding Date and Time will be forthcoming. Finally, it is my wish that all of you have a very Happy St. Patrick s Day by attending all the activities here at VFW Post 2503! Ricky L. Johnson, Post Commander AUXILIARY OFFICERS 2017-2018 President: Lynn Krause Sr. Vice President: Pat Dembowski Jr. Vice President: Judy Erb Treasurer: Sue Stark Secretary: Pat Dembowski Chaplain: Nora Van Cleave Conductress: Jan Brown Guard: Linda Humphrey Patriotic Instructor: Geri Brown From the Auxiliary President Hello Auxiliary Members The weatherman says Spring is just around the corner; boy I sure hope so. I don t know about you but I am ready for it. With that thought in mind, elections of Officers are also just around the corner. The Auxiliary has elections of Officers in April. Currently our membership is at 97.34 %. That means that the majority of members have paid their dues. With that information, we need members to come not only to meetings, but also to step up and take an office. If we do not have officers for the ensuing year, the Auxiliary will have to fold. That means 97.34% will no longer have an Auxiliary, but those members who have paid their dues will lose their memberships in Auxiliary 2503 and possibly have to transfer to another Auxiliary or become Members at Large. Our Auxiliary is the largest in Nebraska and eighth in the Nation. continued on page 3

SEWING LADIES The VFW Post 2503 Sewing Ladies always welcome new members to create items to be distributed to the Eastern Nebraska Veterans Home, the VA Hospital, Lutheran Family Service, and other nursing homes and hospitals. Assistance is welcomed for various sewing projects: Lap Robes, Bibs, Fleece Cancer Hats, and Neck pillows. Donations of cotton cloth materials are appreciated as well as financial assistance to support the purchase of needed sewing materials. Please contact Nora Van Cleve at 402-571-5213 to join in on the fun. It really is! TACO THURSDAY is March 8th 5:30 PM STILL ONLY $2.50 PER TACO What a steal for a meal! ANNOUNCEMENT: Please place any paper suggestions or articles for the Post Newsletter in the Post Newsletter Box on the south wall on the canteen bar-top or in the Suggestion Box by the front door. For those with email access, please email suggestions or ideas to the Newsletter Editor at leighf@cox.net PIES and CAKES and BARS ARE NEEDED TO BE CUT UP AND SOLD BY THE PIECE for the Auxiliary s St. Patrick s Day Bake Sale at the Post. Please drop off your baked goods at the Post either on Friday, March 16, from 4 to 6 pm, or on Saturday, March 17, from 9 to 11 am. If baking is not your specialty, please support the Auxiliary with your cash donations. Your past and present generosity has been and continues to be greatly appreciated. ADDRESS or EMAIL CHANGE LATELY? If so, please send the new information to VFW by letter to Post 2503 or by email to editor at leighf@cox.net Titled Attn: Post Membership or Attn: Auxiliary Membership. Please provide full name and new address and new email. ANNOUNCEMENT from the PICKLE COMMITTEE: Whenever you re at the Post, please support the Post by dropping a dollar into the PICKLE MACHINE. NOT ONLY can you win $500, BUT more importantly, you can provide income for the Post s maintenance and projects. AMVETS is looking for new members. To join, please contact Commander Beverly Butcher at 402-250-2159 TAKE THE NEXT STEP UP YOUR LADDER OF COMMITMENT JOIN THE HONOR GUARD Call Tom Penke at 402-330-6860 HONOR GUARD Thank you to all the dedicated Honor Guard members for their participation. We are still looking for more members for the Honor Guard. All Post members should be signed up with the VA. This is a benefit we have all earned. If you need information on how to sign up, ask one of the Honor Guard members. We will help you. Thank You for your service. Ricky Johnson Honor Guard Captain Remember VFW Post 2503 In your will WANTED Dark colored (black or blue) stocking caps for the homeless and veterans in need. If you crochet, get those fingers working! Goal? 100 stocking caps! Call Connie for information at 402-391-2292

From the Auxiliary President continued from page 1 We as members of Zeta Anderson have worked so hard throughout the years fighting for Our Veterans rights and supporting them. As I have said before, these Veterans when called upon to fight for us and our country did so. Just as we took an oath when we became members, they took an oath to defend our country and us, so we may live free. So now it is our turn to fight for them, let s not let them down now. Again I would like to remind Auxiliary chairmen that April 1 st is fast approaching, so send in your reports to your Department chairmen. Please make sure your reports are sent in; let the Department chairmen know what you have accomplished this year. In closing please think about elections and what I have said. Lynn Krause President Zeta Anderson Auxiliary BUTTS BUTTS BUTTS BUTTS BUTTS PLEASE help keep the Post grounds clean! Put your cigarette butts in the cans, not on the sidewalk or parking lot. Thank You CHAMPIONSHIPS AREN T WON WITHOUT TEAM EFFORT Since 1899, the VFW has been serving members and the community with an outstanding team of unselfish people. Many of you are aware that VFW Post 2503 needs more members. The best place to look for new members is among our current members. Maybe you have a family member, a neighbor, a friend, a fellow church member, or co-worker you should ask to visit VFW Post 2503 and see what we do. Or at least direct him or her to our website to see all we do. Team work wins championships. The beauty of our roster is not limited to how many can join our team. The job ahead has not diminished in spite of our many success stories. Please take the time to call upon someone to join VFW Post 2503. submitted by new member Larry Quillian The Post will be serving a corned beef dinner with cabbage, buttered parslied potatoes, carrots and rye bread. Also, a corned-beef sandwich with pickles and chips is available. Food service begins at 11 am and ends at 7 pm. VOLUNTEERS ARE NEEDED TO COOK, SERVE, AND CLEAN UP: A sign-up sheet is at the canteen or call Linda at 402-571-4178. Any amount of time to volunteer will be helpful. YOU CAN HELP MAKE THIS ST. PATRICK S DAY AT THE POST A SUCCESS! AUXILIARY NEWS Your Auxiliary has been very busy over the past few months. We put together 25 bags filled with a variety of items for the Stand Down. We gave money to Javelan towards buying a service dog for a Veteran. This is a wonderful project and a great benefit to Veterans in need with problems, such as PTSD. We adopted a Veteran at ENVH for Christmas, buying him Christmas presents from his list. Four auxiliary members and one post member took stuffed animals to the children at the Respite Center We gave the Post money to help with the painting of the airplane. A red, white, and blue quilt, donated by the Sewing Ladies, was given to Post member Bob Podany for his bed at Christmas. He now lives at New Cassel. Two Auxiliary members took stuffed animals to the children at the Respite Center. Geri donated Renuzit Bears to the ladies at ENVH. And Geri and Linda made up Valentine s Bags for the ladies at ENVH. With less than 15 members attending meetings, it is with THANKS to those few who do so much for our Veterans. Please attend a meeting and see just what you can do to help. One night a month is not asking much of you. And you ll sleep better at night just knowing you have helped a Veteran in need. ATTENTION! ST. PATRICK S DAY RAFFLE: TWO BEAUTIFUL AFGHANS FROM THE SEWING LADIES WILL BE RAFFLED BY THE AUXILIARY. AND PLEASE SUPPORT THE AUXILIARY BAKE SALE WHILE ENJOYING YOUR CORNED BEEF AND CABBAGE The Irish gave the bagpipes to the Scotts as a joke, but the Scotts haven't seen the joke yet. Oliver Herford

Telephone Number Your Name: Name to be displayed on Poppy Card: to help needy veterans and their families. Buddy Poppies, we are sure you would like to contribute to this worthy cause. Donations received from the sale of Buddy Poppies are used It is time again for the annual sale of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Buddy Poppies. Although you may not be able to help with the sale of From the Post Chaplain There is this one really great guy, Cork Jacobs, who attends church with me. He is a member of the honor guard at the American Legion. Along the way while he served in the 82nd Airborne, he gained a strong affinity for all our service members. Each Sunday, you can absolutely count on him to mention our troops, and those missing action during the open prayer section of our worship. Time passes, and we all get older. And while he was in a hospital, or recovering from a knee injury, he couldn't attend church. And whenever he wasn't there, it felt like there was something missing. Sometimes, someone in the church will bring him up in prayer, or simply repeat the same thing he says, but it doesn't quite satisfy. And then, it hit me. There is this thing we say in our VFW meeting! "Each evening the children of our comrades, at the VFW National Home, kneel at their bedsides in reverent prayer to almighty God. Let us join them in their prayers." So I just took it, like it was my own idea, and said, "Our friend Cork is home recovering from knee surgery, let us pray for the troops along with him." The reason it works so well is - we all know that is exactly what he would say. Because we know him. It reminds me of that line, from the theme song of a sitcom called, Cheers. The song says, "you wanna be where everybody knows your name". Our little VFW on the prairie is a little bit of both. It's that canteen we meet at, and the place we pray for each other, where everybody knows your name. And I don't know of any other place exactly quite like that. In faith Dennis Kerr The Post is in need of a new Kitchen Manager. See Tom Penke for more information if you are interested at 402-330-6860 AUXILIARY MEMBERS! If you have any news regarding an Auxiliary member s illness or death, please notify the Auxiliary Chaplain, Nora Van Cleave at 402-571-5213 OR Lynn Krause at 402-553-7562.

MARCH 2018 7 Chicken Fried Steak Turkey & Dressing Casserole Crew 172 Trans Broasted Chicken Crew Jerry Becker 21 Broasted Chicken Sweet Italian Sausage Sandwich w/ Peppers Crew S Schaefer 28 Broasted Chicken Meatloaf Crew Pat Petersen 17

From Your Honor Guard Captain Ricky Johnson MILITARY RITES: January, 2018 Military Members Deceased Cemetery # Hours 01/08/2018 Paul Stovral Omaha National 8 24 01/10/2018 Donald Nelson Mount Hope 10 30 01/12/2018 William Kendall Crosby 9 27 01/16/2018 Anthony Premo Omaha National 11 33 01/17/2018 David Jackson Mount Hope 7 21 01/19/2018 Jerry Jilek Forest Lawn 8 24 01/20/2018 Charles McDonnell Hillcrest 7 21 01/23/2018 Lewis Sutton Mount Hope 9 27 01/24/2018 James Grigsby Omaha National 8 24 01/26/2018 Darrell Phillips Omaha National 8 24 01/29/2018 Steven Applegate Forest Lawn 8 24 SEE INSIDE FOR: ST. PATRICK S DAY Bake Sale Afghan Raffle *Post Member Month Total: 11 Funerals, 89 Member Participation, 279 Hours V.F.W. Post 2503 8904 Military Road Omaha, NE 68134 Non-Profit Org U.S. Postage PAID Permit #610 ROOM RENTALS Please keep in mind that the Post is available for your meeting/party plans, Monday through Friday during the day. Contact Geri Brown at 402-943-9067 to reserve your date. Spread the word to your friends and family. The Post looks great decorated for weddings, birthdays, and graduation parties, too. NOTICE: All articles should be in the Newsletter Box, IN WRITING, at the Post no later than March 21st, for the April newsletter. If articles are not submitted by the deadline, they will have to wait for the next newsletter. Thank you. CANTEEN HOURS Monday Closed Tuesday thru Thursday 4:00 pm 10:00 pm Friday 4:00 pm 10:00 pm Saturday Noon 10:00 pm Sunday Noon 8:00 pm OCCP sponsored ALL YOU CAN EAT! CHILI FEED & HOT DOGS, TOO! at VFW POST 2503 MARCH 4th, 2018 11:00 am to 3:00 pm $7 for Adults Kids under 12 just $3 The Post is selling Memorial Bricks around the memorial walk and flag. Memorial Bricks are being sold by Post 2503 to be put around the outside of the Memorial flag pole. These bricks will cost $60.00 each. They will be for VFW, Auxiliary, AMVET & Auxiliary members, their families, and people they sponsor. They will be memorials for living or deceased people. They will be ordered once a year on April 1st, for installation by Memorial Day each year. Max 16 spaces per line, 3 lines, and cost $60.00 per brick. Name Phone # WORDS ON BRICK Line 1 _1 _1 _1 _1 _1 _1 _1 _1 _1 _1 _1 _1 _1 _1 _1 _1 Line 2 _1 _1 _1 _1 _1 _1 _1 _1 _1 _1 _1 _1 _1 _1 _1 _1

Please check the square above to confirm that you wish to enter your name in the for each donation. Suggested donation is $5. drawing but do not wish to make a donation at this time. Please complete the following to enter your name without a contribution. ADDRESS: NAME: ADDRESS: STATE/ZIP: PHONE: Please return this entire page to arrive at: for each donation. Suggested donation is $5. Benson VFW Post 2503 ATTN: Quartermaster 8904 Military Road ADDRESS: Omaha, NE, 68134 By March 14, 2018 Ryan Sudbeck Benson VFW Post 2503 for each donation. Suggested donation is $5. for each donation. Suggested donation is $5. ADDRESS: ADDRESS: