October 2019 Meeting Recap

We started off the October meeting with Tolling the Boats lost in October, followed by birthday wishes for our members, introductions, and then the officer reports.

Seattle Base October meeting

Old and New Business
Float Storage – After the Veterans Day parade in Auburn we will transfer the flags, bunting, and other items that need indoor storage to Sr. Vice Commander Larry for storage in his basement for the winter.

The float can remain at Al’s neighbor’s property for the next season. Because of this kind gesture, we decided to invite to our holiday luncheon and a provide a certificate of thanks.

Veterans Day Parade – The Auburn Veterans Day Parade will be held on Saturday, November 9. The float will stage at K Street around 9:30 AM, giving us plenty of time to set it up. The parade starts at 11:00. Parking is available in the neighborhood if you arrive early and at the downtown transit garage. We will send out a reminder the week before the parade.

Salmon for Solders – We got a report on the Salmon for Soldiers salmon derby event in mid-September. Over the past few years several Seattle Base members have been involved with this event and Seattle Base has donated to it. This year we voted to continue our support with another $100 donation.

Holiday Luncheon – Our annual Holiday Luncheon will be Saturday, December 14 at the Nile Shrine Center. The prices are expected to be the same as last year - $25 per person. We will registration forms out in November.

Seattle Base Elections – We will have our base elections at the January meeting. We will be looking for a new Base Commander. Many of our member have done multiple terms as officers and we need fresh faces to step up too. We hope everyone will consider becoming an officer or committee chairman. Please talk with one of the current or former officers about

Member Spotlight Video – We attempted to show the video spotlight by KING 5 news of Ralph and the Tolling Ceremony, but the sound failed. If you haven’t seen it yet, check it out in the September meeting blog post.

Watching the Ervin Schmidt interviews at the October meeting

October Program – This month we continued to show interview recordings Base Commander Ric did with Ervin Schmidt. The recordings covered Ervin’s service in World War II.

Good of the Order
Welcome aboard William (Bill) Heppner ET1 (SS) as a new Life Member. Bill qualified aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln in 1970 and served until 1980.

Jim DeMott, Western Region Dist. 4 Commander was at our October meeting. Jim had several things to discuss with us tonight. He gave a summary of the last convention in Austin which was really fun and that the next had been set to take place in Tucson, 2020 in Orlando and 2021 and Buffalo in 2022.
He also provided a run-down about his own journey of USSVI leadership starting with the Bremerton Base several years ago. He was asked to run for Vice Commander at a time when there was a chance that the Base would close if members would not step forward. He did so, then moved up to be the Base Commander for the next round. After serving as Base Commander for two years, he was asked to run for Western Region District 4 Commander. He urged any member who has not served in leadership to seriously consider running for office; first, because it was fulfilling and rewarding and second, because the base needs others to step up right now. He would be here to assist and provide help. "None of these positions were hard to do", he said.