Minutes of DAV Chapter 200 meeting held September 17, 2009 at the Oneonta Veterans Club.
Several members met outside the club at 6:00PM for a flag burning ceremony. John Donnelly and Joe Betts served as
an Honor Guard with Ivan Winner as Guard Commander.
Grant Coates and Lou Palombo had the (hot) duty of placing the flags in the fire. Ernest Thompson read a short
message honoring the flags, stating that burning was the accepted way to destroy worn out flags.
Approximately 50 flags were burnt.
A thank you should go out to all that served and to all that attended.
After the flags were burnt, we assembled inside for the regular monthly meeting.
Lou Palombo had arranged for pizza to be delivered to the club and that was a special treat.
Commander Keidel opened the meeting at 7:10pm
Officers present:
Cdr. Keidel, Jr. Vice Palombo, Chaplain Coats and Service Officer Donnelly. Sr. Vice Hopper was absent and Treasurer
Henriksen was excused for illness.
13 members were present.
Minutes
of the August 20th meeting were read and accepted on a motion by Lou, 2nd by Roger. The motion passed.
No Treasurer’s report.
A motion by Joe Betts, 2nd by Roger De-Chiara to have Michael Alvin act as treasurer was approved.
We thank Michael for volunteering to do this. Adjutant Thompson will assist him in getting accustom to the system.
This was necessary do to the absence for illness of our elected Treasurer Walter Henriksen. A motion by John, 2nd by
Jerry to have the latest bank statements read at the October meeting was Passed.
Adjutant Thompson will check with Department to see how to proceed in replacing an elected officer.
Bills against the Chapter:
A bill of $14.98 for donut was presented by Laura Thompson. Adjutant Thompson submitted a bill for $343.88 to cover
the cost of postage and material to produce the newsletter mailed in September.
Lou Palombo submitted a bill for pizza $59.00 and one for the Declaration of Independence booklets $25.00. Lou
Palombo’s bills were paid in cash.
These bills were approved on a motion by Joe, 2nd by Roger.
Sickness & Distress:
Grant Coates reported that Gary Lord had been injured in a motorcycle accident. He is home but banged up.
Membership:
Beth Akulin is now on the roster as a member of 200.
The transfer of Dean Tice from Norwich was approved.
Timothy Pierce of Unadilla and Herbert Kay of Ilion are both off the roster. Their mail is returned. Elmer Fenstermacher
of Utica has requested to have his membership cancelled so I removed him from our mailing list.
No new members were present.
All Communications were read and placed out for all to see.
Committee reports:
Two hundred ninety six newsletters were mailed with an enclosed form to send back with your phone number and e-
mail address.
Some forms have already been returned.
Unfinished business:
The Declaration of Independence booklets have been received and were handed out to all members present.
Allen Hobson did not attend from The Oxford Veterans Home. Perhaps because of Gary Lords injuries. We are hoping
for another time.
New business:
Skip Beijen sent an e-mail to the chapter asking us to help with the cost of a new refrigerator for the kitchen at the club.
The membership voted to donate One hundred thirty five dollars on a motion by Grant, 2nd by John. Passed.
John Donnelly will investigate the cost and possibility of putting a moveable wall between the bar room and the small
game room. The thought behind this is to cut down the noise if a meeting is held in the small room.
It could be a project in memory of Norman Payne.
Grant Coates reported on some e-mail activity we should be doing ..
DAV National office is trying to get our membership more involved in contacting your legislators and expressing your
thoughts on upcoming bills. One is the Disabled Care Givers H.R. 3155 research it on www. dav.org
Senate Companion bill should be S.801
The DAV is conducting a virtual million march on Washington.
On a computer, go to the DAV web site: www.dav.org
Take the Action Page and on the left side look for First ever virtual march on Washington. Register and this will tell
your elected officials that you care about Veterans issues.
Joe Betts told us volunteers at the Oxford Vet’s Home were interviewing and recording Veterans stories to be put in a
National Registry. Perhaps we need to do this with our own membership.
The most important point is to get involved and let your feelings be known.
Your opinion does count.
National Service Officer William Gibney will be at the Oneonta Vet’s Club on Monday, October 5, 2009. From 10:00am
– 6:00pm File your claims and ask your questions then.
Your next Forget-Me-Not fund raiser will be November 6 & 7, 10:00AM at Oneonta Wal-Mart and Oneonta Southside
Mall. Get signed up for your times and place. We need all the help we can get. 607-764-8134
Your local chapter web-site is dav200.org
Good of the Order donations $36.00
Memorial service to departed comrades was at 8:00pm
Adjournment was at 8:50pm
Submitted by Ernest Thompson, Adjutant