February 28th Meeting Notes

· MEMBERS Present (at Carson Plaza Retirement): Carol Birchill, Jeanne Bishop-Parise, Barbara Clark, Joyce Howell, Leslie Evans, Paula Fleming, Cheryl Gray, Marge Greenfield
· DIRECTORY Updates given. Revised listing to be emailed monthly to membership.
· MINUTES: NOTES from meetings to be posted as Blogger Update for review. January approved as posted.
· TREAS. REPORT: given by Marge Greenfield. Balance 2/11/06 $856.35. Detail attached.
· UPDATES ON SONS/DAUGHTERS:
o Joy Howell’s son Christopher was home for two weeks from Hawaii.
o Leslie Evan’s son Henry’s hand is recovering and being evaluated following a Ranger training injury.
o Cheryl Gray’s son Matt in Germany received preliminary orders to deploy to Iraq in 2-3 months for one year tour.
o Carol Birchill’s son Joe arrived in the Persian Gulf – ship address on directory. Deployment Support Committee will be sending donations from the group in care package to carry him through personal challenges on the homefront.
o Marge Greenfield’s son Stuart will finish out in May with plans to attend UNR in fall.
o Paula Fleming’s son Josh is working nights in Afghanistan in urgent care setting receiving his first wounded to work on. His birthday is in March and birthday box will be sent by DS Committee.
o Barbara Clark’s son Patrick met someone special on the Price is Right and continues to excel in his sonar training.

· NEW BUSINESS:
o Length of Meetings voted to run from 6:00 pm – no later than 8:15 pm.
o Operation-Quiet-Comfort: it was decided to focus on existing committee projects and not take on anything new when evaluating participation in new ones such as this. However, one of the components of this operation is sending notes to wounded soldiers and so we will do this as a part of Operation Postcard each Christmas and July 4th.
o Committee Formulation: Blue to Gold as is with Marge/Paula co-chairs; Deployment Support will be chaired by Leslie with members Cheryl and Carol – duties will include return parties for sons and daughters, checking in on Mom’s of deployed, care packages/notes to deployed, TLC situations, and remembering Birthdays when in combat areas; Welcome/Goodwill as is with Joy as chair to focus on prospects for membership, member orientation (A Parents Guide info from Paula attached), TLC when hospitalizations or new babies, and send birthday cards.Op Postcard will have Leslie/Barb chair the administrative and hopefully Sally other. Xmas TBA.

· COMMITTEE REPORTS:
o Op Postcard needs everyone to bring stickers, cards and supplies to the March meeting so we can divide up and take instruction kits out to schools and community organizations to do up for the troops. Cheryl will place order with Oriental Trading, Joy will bring existing supplies and Paula’s instruction kit to the schools from last time will be used going forward. Jeanne to do up Thank You letter for newspapers and prior supporters.
o Blue to Gold: Co-chairs Marge and Paula brought us up to date with services thus far. Siekert was our first. Channel 4 covered Morris graveside birthday memorial with balloon launch. Photos posted to www.bluestarmoms.blogspot.com. We have 5 remaining to “catch up” with 3 of those scheduled prior to our next meeting. One additional casualty was receiving media attention. BSM’s voted to continue support to fallen soldier moms/families with a quarterly note for the first year. There is no distinction being made when a casualty results from training exercises versus combat maneuvers.

· OLD BUSINESS:
o BSM Scrapbook – meetings now listed in online calendars for RGJ, Record Courier and Nv. Appeal.
o Calendar 2006: Next meetings will be Wed., Mar. 15th , and Thurs. Apr. 13th at 6pm. Members tentatively scheduled the first Saturday in May to do a social brunch at Marge’s in Reno.
o March Agenda: Update P.J. Dahling’s Web of Support
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned following our closing prayer.

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