Photos from SGT Eric Morris' memorial

Thursday February 9th, 2006, BSM's Marge, Paula, Leslie and Barbara attended the Blue-to-Gold Memorial Service for Sgt. Eric W. Morris, Army (DOD 4/28/05).Marge and Paula did a glorious job of reading the Blue-to-Gold letters of condolence along with the presentation of the Blue-to-Gold Flag.In attendance were Mrs. Jolene Morris, the young widow and mother of 7 year old twin daughter; Mrs. Dolores Morris, the grandmother; Eric’s Aunt; Chaplain Bill Chrystal; numerous family members and friends; channel 4 news; and visiting Gold Star mom from Las Vegas Chapter #1, along with her son and intended daughter-in-law.It was a beautiful clear and calm day at the Mt. View Cemetery in Reno. After the presentations, Paula handed out balloons to the family and after a round of “Happy Birthday Dear Eric” the balloons were released.Following the ceremonies the group met for lunch and we continued to bond with our new friends.

January 17th Meeting Notes

· MEMBERS Present: Mary Abbott, Jeanne Bishop-Parise, Barbara Clark, Joyce Howell, Leslie Evans, Paula Fleming, Cheryl Gray, Marge Greenfield, Sally Wiley
· DIRECTORY Updates given. Revised listing to be emailed monthly to membership.
· NOTES from meetings to be posted as Blogger Update for review / subsequent approval.
· TREAS. REPORT: given by Marge Greenfield. Will fax to Secty./Pres. as attachment.
· UPDATES ON SONS/DAUGHTERS:
o Paula Fleming’s son Josh to deploy 1/31to Afghanistan. She asks to keep him & his family in prayers.
o Marge Greenfield’s son Stuart is listed in the book No True Glory within author Bing West’s section In Appreciation.
o The Price Is Right airing 2/1 will feature a Navy contestant who is Barbara Clark’s son Patrick’s barracks friend.

· NEW BUSINESS:
o Hearts for Heroes: the group signed the valentines hand-decorated by Paula Fleming to be sent to troops in Iraq. Additional emails can be sent to hearts_4_heroes@yahoo.com by Jan. 28th.
o Sparks Heritage Museum open 11-4 is displaying 5 x 7 photos with info for their Military Wall of Honor. Blue Star Moms are encouraged to submit theirs.
o Pres. Barbara Clark has compiled a BSM Scrapbook dating back to the chapter’s recent inception. It will be brought to meetings monthly. Members are encouraged to add any pictures/news articles retroactively and then keep current.
o Mission Statement: Members were instructed to go to other BSM websites as well as nationals to review mission statements so that all are prepared in Feb. to discuss adopting our own in keeping with nationals.
o Calendar 2006: Next meetings will be Wed., Feb. 15th , Wed., Mar. 15th , and Thurs. Apr. 13th at 6pm. Members were asked to consider whether to suspend meetings during the summer and do a fun family bbq instead.
o Committees: The following were voted in as Standing Comm.: Blue to Gold (required), Deployment Support, Welcome/Goodwill, and Operation Post-Card to include 4th of July & Christmas cards shipped to troops in combat areas. Areas voted down as standing committees were Other Troop Support, Memorial Day, and Veterans Day. Needs in these areas will be relayed at meetings with actions taken case by case. Members will each be required to be on one standing committee and may email secty. a preference or sign up at next meeting. Those with Administrative talents are encouraged to step forward as we will be compiling a manual with descriptions, timelines, and sample tasks.
o Feb. Agenda: Mission, Standing Committee Chairs/Members, Update P.J. Dahling’s Web of Support

· COMMITTEE REPORTS:
o Blue to Gold Star will be co-chaired by Marge Greenfield & Paula Fleming. A considerable amount of work has been done by these two women to bring our Chapter current. Up until now, the Las Vegas Chapter has been the primary one responsible for presenting the Gold Star Service Flag / materials to those mothers/families that have lost a loved one in military service. Marge read the sample letter that will go out as well as shared her vision for the presentation/packaging of the flag/materials. There are 4-5 fallen Northern Nevadan’s that we are “catching up” with a system in place now to handle new losses. Our first Gold Star presentation will be to the family of Eric Morris at a personal ceremony Feb. 9th 11:30 am at his Mountainview grave site. Marge will give exact location as members are encouraged to attend. Prayers are being requested for this hero’s twin daughters. Joshua Morburg’s family is in contact with Marge who will provide details following their return from Ft. Hood, TX memorial for several lost concurrently in Joshua’s battalion.

· OLD BUSINESS:
o Summary of 2005 tabled in the interest of time.

There being no further business, Sally Wiley led the group in its closing prayer and the meeting was adjourned.

THESE NOTES WERE FORMULATED BY Jeanne, IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, CONTACT her at: jeanne1bp@aol.com