VETERANS COMMITTEE NEWS Greetings everyone from your Woodson Terrace Veterans Committee! The WT Veterans Committee continues to keep busy not only in our individual pursuits, endeavors, involvements, etc., but in all the undertakings & missions we do together as a Committee … our ultimate goal on the projects we undertake is to successfully carry out to fulfillment & completion … that always happens. What an awesome Team this Committee is! Caroline Martin & Bill Holcomb again this year, spent an abundance of hours orchestrating the Committee’s involvement & participation in the Marine Corps annual “Toys for Tots Program” … this year’s program included several “challenging” changes but Caroline & Bill were on top of everything from start to finish. Several families were identified in Woodson Terrace & reaped a much brighter holiday season with toys for their children. Thank you Caroline & Bill … you do so very much & you both have such a busy slate of activities, etc. but still find time to “make it happen”! John Conlon (WT Veterans Committee Chaplain, Commander & Honor Guard Member of American Legion Post #143) continues to participate in & represent American Legion Post #143 at funeral home visitation & funeral services, as well as a variety of other related duties & activities. Even with the very short notice necessitated with these duties, John always manages to find the time to participate in the visitation and/or funeral service when called upon. Mayor Besmer’s membership & involvement with American Legion Post #143 & Overland-St. Ann VFW Post #3944 continues with meetings, programs, etc., as well as Rick Rutledge with the Overland-St. Ann VFW Post #3944. Thank you gentlemen for all you do with & for these organizations! The 2011 Veterans Day Ceremony was on Saturday, November 12th. The weather was awesome but weather doesn’t interfere with Veterans, their families, & others who come to pay homage by attending the ceremony. We were honored to have STL County Executive Charlie Dooley with us as one of the two guest speakers. Our County Executive has attended all but one Memorial Day & Veterans Day ceremony in Woodson Terrace since the Committees inception in 2004. We were also very honored to have Senior Master Sergeant Steven Counts a member of the 131st Bomb Wing located at Whiteman Air Force Base with us as guest speaker. SMS Counts had just recently returned from a one year deployment in Afghanistan where he oversaw a very dangerous task. His addressing those in attendance was most informative & interesting. SMS Counts has participated in previous programs & we appreciate the time he took from his busy schedule & duties to be with us. Thank you Gentlemen! And we are always honored to have members of American Legion Post #143 & the Vietnam Veterans Motorcycle Club with us to conduct ascribed rituals including Posting of the flags, TAPS, gun salute, Penny Ceremony, etc. Kathy Lawton Brown also returned & lead in the “Salute to the Armed Forces” as well as other patriotic hymns. Mayor Besmer & Committee Member Bill Holcomb conducted the “Bell Ceremony”, & a reminder to WT residents, if you would like your loved one and/or spouse added to the list of names, be sure to call City Hall (314-427-2600). Ceremonies for 2012 are the Memorial Day Ceremony on May 28th, 2012 (Monday) & the Veterans Day Ceremony on November 10th, 2012 (Saturday). ATTENTION MARINES! November 10th, 2012 is the 237th birthday of the Marine Corps! I had to put that in considering Carl served in the Marine Corps. The WT Veterans Committee assembled 3 C.A.R.E. Packages on December 6th for ET3 Tyler Bollman who is stationed on the USS Carl Vinson (CVN70). I was told that he received 2 of the 3 packages when they were in port in Hong Kong & the 3rd one is in route but should be delivered when arriving at the next port. Thank you to all who donated to these C.A.R.E. Packages & also to Ward 2 Alderman Bob Blatt & WT resident Marilyn Flatly for the abundance of magazines. The magazines are excellent packing material plus we receive feedback from the C.A.R.E. Package recipients of their enjoyment of the reading. We appreciate & continue to collect a variety of items such as baby wipes, soap, toothbrushes, toothpaste, dental floss, shampoo, & deodorant. We try to collect a minimum of fifty (50) of each item so the recipient can share with others. Small and/or trial sizes are perfect as these sizes fit easily & conveniently in their back packs, etc. If you prefer to make a donation for purchase of C.A.R.E. Package items and/or postage, that’s great too & very much appreciated. The WT Veterans Committee is self funded & relies on donations to fill the C.A.R.E. Packages & cover the cost of mailing. All donations (cash and/or checks) should be brought to City Hall & one of the staff will be glad to receive your money, deposit it, & ledger it into the Veterans Committee account. On behalf of everyone on the Woodson Terrace Veterans Committee, we appreciate your support & the many kind words of gratitude we receive. Please feel free to contact me at rmartin@woodsonterrace.net if you have any questions or comments. We wish all a very healthy, happy, and safe winter season!
Rita and Carl Martin (Co-Chairmen)
|