Post Dispatch: August 2018
From the Commander:
As I’m sure everyone has heard by now, our Post lost a treasured member of our family; Terry Niyork. Terry was the unofficial “face” of our Post and was well known and well respected throughout the community. Terry may not have been a Veteran, but his love and respect for all Veterans, especially “his” Veterans at Post 2801 was immeasurable. His loss will be felt for a very long time. Please keep his family in your thoughts and prayers.
Thank you to everyone who helped make the July 4th Parade a success. Without all of our volunteers, we would not be able to continue this great tradition of providing our community with a memorable day.
I am happy to announce that the fundraiser for the daughter of our Comrade and life member Bob Bachner, as well as the other three teens who were burned in a tragic bonfire explosion in April was very successful. Thank you to everyone who came out to support the survivors.
The current Officers and Trustees have now been in office for about two months and I would like to take a moment to thank everyone who showed up for elections and put your trust in myself as well as all the rest of the Officers and Trustees. Everyone is settling into their new roles and we are in the process of working with employees and members to generate a plan to keep moving our Post forward, bring in new members and continue to support our community.
Please watch our website, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for information on upcoming events as well as lots of other information regarding Post 2801.
Have you heard about our VFW Give Back Thursdays? The Special Event Committee will be picking different community organizations, causes that our Post supports as well as any other causes that may come to our attention and $1 from selected menu items on Thursdays will be donated to the selected cause. June donations are going to be donated to the Veterans in residence on the Spinal Ward at Hines VA. Please consider stopping in at the Post for dinner on Thursdays. What could be better than a great meal, no dishes and supporting our Veterans?
The VFW special event committee is hard at work planning a variety of entertaining events, community support events and much more! Check out the VFW Event Calendar located on our website for details as they become available.
WANTED: A variety of band, DJ’s, entertainers, children activity coordinators and anyone willing to donate time to provide entertainment for any of the upcoming events and fundraisers. Please contact the Special Events Committee at VFWpost2801Events@gmail.com.
Are you a FOTP (Friend of the Post)? If so, we have many opportunities for you to fulfil your volunteer hours required with your membership. Do you like to grill? Are you good with your hands? Do you prefer creating flyers or selling raffle tickets? We have something for everyone no matter what your skill set or talent. Please contact us at friendsofpost2801@gmail.com and let us know how and when you can help out.
Thank you to everyone for your support of Post 2801, we look forward seeing all of you at one of the many upcoming special events, celebrations or the weekly fish fry.
Respectfully,
Mel Heddon, Commander, Post 2801
From the Auxiliary:
We have started our new 2018-2019 Auxiliary year as of July 1st with all our newly elected officers in place. Congratulation to all!
Fred Roder has agreed to be an assistance secretary, he will be emailing communication to all the members.
We also will be emailing the minutes and treasurer report, so you can review them before the meeting. This will enable us to concentrate on the other matter at hand. Extra copies will be available at the meetings.
The 4th of July Parade was the main event for the post. Post commander Mel Heddon, Auxiliary President Jan Bakes, Mary Ciszek and her nieces rode in the parade and passed out candy and neon items. Jan Bakes and Marilyn Connelly were among the parade Marshalls Many other auxiliary members cooked, wrapped hot dogs and passed them out with water to parade participates. Thank you everyone!
The Annual Golf outing was held on August 4th, Arnold Olson and his committee worked Very hard to collecting raffle prizes large and small, signing up golfers, and hole sponsors to make the day another success. Everyone enjoyed the day which ended with a great meal!
School year is about to start, Marilyn Pirano and Mary Ciszek will be visiting them to Get the Voice of Democracy and Patriot Pen programs under way.
Everyone has been busy these passed two months from working at Bingo, Fish Fry, Burger night and many other post events.
I hope you have noticed the front of our Post Home. The entrance was in need of a facelift. Thank you to everyone who help make that happen!
No matter what event you worked at this past month or how long you could stay, together we can all make a big difference in our veterans lives and the community!
Thank you.
Loyally,
Jan Bakes
Auxiliary President
From the Quartermaster:
BINGO:
Bingo is held every Tuesday, rain or shine. Doors open at 4:30 and sales start at 5:30. Early Bird Bingo is at 6:45 and Regular Bingo starts at 7:00. We have over $2,000 in prizes for Bingo weekly, plus four Raffles now worth over $19,000 total. For Post Members: Bingo needs workers. In the last year several long-term workers have died, entered long-term care or just moved away. We need people willing to commit to Bingo on a regular, long-term basis. Bingo workers essentially sell things – Pull Tabs, Raffle tickets and Bingo cards. These three incomes are vital to the Post’s revenues. So, if you can spend some time on a Tuesday, come on down and help the Post.
Range News:
The past 2 weeks have been hard for many of us here at the VFW. We here at the Post lost Terry Niyork, (known by many as “Cowboy Terry, Ponytail Terry or just Mr. Terry”) he was a valuable key figure to the fabric we call Post 2801. Terry was friend to everyone and everyone was his friend. Or myself and my family we have known Terry my oldest son was in band and 6th grade, long before he was hired at the Post or the fire. He knew many of the same people in the circle we called “school”. His loss is great for his sons and his family, and his lack of presence will be felt by all who knew him. He was instrumental in many things here at the Post and would always be there for anyone and hobble to complete the task. For myself I will miss the conversations and for my family it is his passion towards friends that will be missed the most.
I have watched many who knew come through the doors of the Post lately either for gun classes or fish fry, that have crossed paths with Terry, become breathless and sorrowful for the loss of this wonderful man. Please take a moment the next time your around the VFW to stop and reflect on Terry and what he meant to not only our Post but to those of us who knew him.
We would like to finish our last 2 gun raffles. All tickets are available at the canteen bar. The first raffle is the last raffle for the “Blue Line” Glocks. It is a complete Glock 22 Police trade-in. Cost is $10 each and only 100 tickets will be sold. And the second gun raffle is a special for VFW POST 2801. It is a Special Edition Henry Golden Boy in 22 LR engraved specifically for our Post. LAST of the TICKETS are on sale and are going only a few more left. SO GRAB ONE OR TWO WHILE YOU CAN.
THANKS again to all our RSO’s who volunteer their time to staff our range on a weekly basis. We function almost 7 days a week. Watch for info on upcoming shoots.
Remember Shooters, we want your opinion. We here at the Range are trying everything we can to make our range more accommodating for our shooters. If our shooters have any suggestions please email us with your ideas.
I want to take a moment to thank Scott Lee, another FOTP member, for his amazing donation and terrific job on the new cabinet and statue stand in our main stair well. Another shout out to Ken Mount, and Anthony Roder who literally stood on the cabinet and got them hung; and to Vic Baluczynski and Christopher Roder for their help in heaving them up and holding those in place to get them hung. We here at the post look forward to its completion and the many items from members that will be on display. It is a work in progress. We hope to add a large wooden wall beneath it for the names of our members that have passed. Take a look it is great.
Are you remembering the F in VFW stands for FUN? Well the V is for Veterans and the W is for WOW! Come check us out and have some FUN, talk to a few VET’s and say WOW what a great place. We have had many who once they have come in to our VFW want to make it theirs too.
We recently had a class and qualification for our VPPD Explorer Post and sent them off to their National Meet and they look forward to returning for more instruction. The post also sponsors a youth shooting team that shoots NRA/Winchester Programs and meets every 1st and 3rd Sunday and we are considering expanding the shooting options. We have openings for more youth, if you know of anyone interested in becoming a team member please contact Fred Roder.
Check Range calendar on our web page www.villaparkvfw.org, hover over Range then click on membership to see all the new days and times when the range is staffed. Click on the name on any day and it will show the hours that an RSO is there. If on the calendar you do not see the range staffed at a time you would like to use or if you have any questions what so ever including membership or who can use our state of the art range please contact us at vfwpost2801range@gmail.com or 630-939-1278.
We of the Range Committee and our RSO’s are committed to giving our members a safe and fun place to shoot; as well as giving back to our post.
Fred Roder
To our Friends, Community and Neighbors:
Many of our Friends of the Post have found out that being a part of our Post is rewarding.
Friends of the Post have the honor of belonging to a very special Post. WE have things most other Posts do not. We have a relatively new members bar, rental halls, and of course a gun range that any member may use or rent. As an F.O.T.P. member all we ask is that you give back to the Post in ways of volunteering your time. It is our volunteers that make our Post so successful.
We have many opportunities to volunteer and we can always use ones help. WE have Bingo every Tuesday night where we can use help selling various games and cards. Thursday nights we can use help in our kitchen cooking or after wards cleaning up, We also need help on Fridays during lent with cooking, order taking, seating patrons, and of course cleanup afterwards. We even have ongoing projects around the building. DON’T let any of this stuff scare you off. We have many folks here who will be glad to show you how we here at the Post do things. SO come out and give us a hand, try something new, and remember you need not be Wolfgang Puck to cook, we welcome everyone. Our busy time of the year is fast approaching and that is Lent, where on Fish Fry Fridays we can use all the help we can get. So check out the many events on our web page www.villaparkvfw.org, or call the office and ask what you can do for your Post.
The Auxiliary has an email list of The F.O.T.P Members to keep them up to date of changes so if you want to get on the list email us at friendsofpost2801@gmail.com.
Remember all of us here are committed to giving our members a safe and fun place to come as well as giving back to our Post and our community.
The Auxiliary of VFW post 2801
MISCELLANEOUS
Do you have company coming to town? Do you need a stay-cation?
The VFW has a special rate set up with the Sonesta ES Suites in Lombard. The rate for a studio suite is $89 and a two bedroom loft suite is $119. Please book by calling 1-800-SONESTA (1-800-766-3782) and just request the VFW Villa Park rate.
FREE Financial Planning & Resume Writing Seminar
Welcome Home All Veterans is hosting a FREE seminar with a presentation by Auxiliary member John Ruggiero. John will be giving a presentation with tips on setting up everything from a day to day budget to long term financial planning. Presentation starts at 9 am followed by a Q&A session. The seminar is open to all, however as a bonus, John and his company, MAF Companies, has offered FREE financial planning services to all Veterans. For more information on John and his company click here.
There will also be HR Professionals present to review resumes, provide tips on how to create or improve your resume as well as interview tips to help you nail that job interview and land the job. Bring your resume to be reviewed or a list of your work history and qualifications for our professionals to review and help you create an eye catching resume. Questions? Email WelcomeHomeAllVeterans@gmail.com or visit www.WHAV.info