November Meeting Notes

BLUE STAR MOM MEETING NOTES November 13, 2007

•MEMBERS Present (at Mi Casa Too Restaurant, Carson City, NV): Mary A., Ana A., Jeanne BP., Yvonne C., Barbara C., Leslie E., Deborah E., Paula F., Marge G., Jennifer H., Joy H., Shelley I., Amy FJ., Gwen J., Lori M., Jo S., Suzzie W., Linda W., Debra Y., Guests: P.J., Uncle Mike and Susan

MINUTES: NOTES from previous meeting circulated and accepted as written.

•CALENDAR: Monthly Meetings (2nd Tues. 6pm, next meeting to be held at the home of Carol B. address, directions and number to come in separate e-mail. The next two meeting dates:
Jan. 8th and Feb. 12th.

•TREAS. REPORT: given by Amy. Current balance of $2239. (If you would like further information, please contact Amy.)

•UPDATES ON SONS/DAUGHTERS:
oMary tells us that Chris spent a couple of weeks at Ft. Eustis but is returning home to Ft. Bragg in plenty of time for the holidays. Word is that he will deploy back to Iraq in late winter.
oAna says that Gieorag is doing a lot of “in & out” runs from home port in Wa. Andrew finally got word….he’s off to Ft Bragg after the holidays and is to be “boots on the ground” in Iraq by late winter.
oJeanne’s son is very consistent of late….he’s still doing well at UNR! -- In other related family news….her cousin is home safe from his year in Iraq; her brother in law’s Guard unit is set to deploy after the first of the year; and her sister in law who is working at the VA just had her first baby! What a blessing baby Luke is I’m sure!
oYvonne related that Francesca is awaiting orders for her new duty station…looks like it will be Japan or Guam. Tony is at his Captain’s Career Course and will graduate next month! He’s looking forward to trying out for Special Forces after the first of the year….HOOAH! Yvonne is looking forward to having both of her wonderful children home for Thanksgiving! We’re all happy for you and John to have them home!
oBarbara says that Patrick is doing well following a tonsillectomy. Wedding plans are progressing towards a June wedding.
oLeslie tells us that Henry is thrilled to back in Iraq. He’s loving it….and Mom doesn’t get it! (We’re with ya Leslie!) Will is working at Bethesda as a corpman. It’s a great training opportunity.
oDeborah says that Eric is doing fine and trying to get into Airborne.
oPaula reported that Josh is attending college to further his Army career. Speaking of reported, Josh e-mailed Mom his college report card!!! Mom mailed back $$$ for the “A’s”. Awesome!
oMarge happily tells us than newlywed Stuart is loving life. He’s happy being married and happy that he’s not been called back up!
oJennifer let us know that son Justin is at DLI (Defense Language Institute in Monterey, CA) until February. He was just picked up for special forces (HOOAH!) and is eventually headed to N. Africa. (By the way….Nice to finally meet you…come back soon!)
oJoy joyfully reported that Chris is back from Iraq and at Ft. Hauchuca. The plan is to train in communications with the eventual goal of joining the CIA.
oShelley is very happy to have Sean home! However, it is bittersweet as he will soon deploy to Iraq. Thank you so much for sharing some of your time with us tonight….and for introducing us to Sean. Our thoughts prayers and even some tears are going out to you all. Remember, we’re here if you need us.
oAmy tells us that Nick is still up at Whidby Island where she will be going for Thanksgiving. He’s looking at going to Qatar next year.
oGwen’s son is in the Army…but working for the Air Force and will soon be a major! Congrats! He recently deployed, unexpectedly, to Afghanistan. Fortunately he did get to meet his new baby son just before leaving. -- Let us know if we can do anything to help….collectively, we have strong shoulders!
oLori says that son Ryan is at Camp Lejeune, NC., with an amphibious attack unit.
oJo was on hand before heading off to Vegas for Thanksgiving to tell us that Mark is busy working for Senator Ensign in Las Vegas. All is good.
oSuzzie shared that all is well with Jacquie and Tawofik. Both are still busy as company commanders of their own commands. It still looks like a deployment is on the horizon for Tawofik late next spring. Jacquie has a few things “in the works” and I’ll let you know when there is news!
oLinda let us know that she went to babysit so that Eric’s wife could go over and visit him in Germany…..and now another grandchild is on the way!!! Congratulations Grandma….and all.
oDebra shared that Nathaniel is a Lance Cpl. currently in Fallujah.
oCarol sent word that she’s sorry to have missed the meeting but she’s had a busy time of late. She shared the sad news that Joe and his girl called off the wedding. We send you wishes of peace and comfort to get through this trying time.
oNorma also sent word that Jared is doing well “over there”. He got the chance to meet his idol….Chuck Norris! It was a really big deal for Jared when Chuck Norris visited his camp and spent the day with them. Autographs, pictures and great conversation rounded out a wonderful experience!
oGayle sent word that Jesse is testing for Harbor Master up in Everett, WA. Good luck! She sends a “hello to all the ladies”. Her husband is having surgery and she is busy with that. Best wishes for a safe and speedy recovery for your husband.

•OLD BUSINESS:
- Barbara announced that the Christmas Social will be held on Dec. 2nd at her home in Gardnerville. Although some will have conflict with the date, it was decided that this date was the best. We shall be sorting, boxing and preparing for shipping the postcards for Operation Postcard at the social in addition to the other festivities. Look for a separate e-mail invitation with information.

•NEW BUSINESS:
- The floor was opened up for nominations for officers for the upcoming year. The following is a list of the positions and nominations resulting from this meeting:

Recording Secretary:
Correspondence Secretary: Jeanne BP.
Treasurer: Amy FJ.
Vice President: Barbara C.
President: Suzzie W.

The nominations are not closed and, as you can see, we still have a need for a recording secretary. Please contact any of the current officers if you are interested in a position or in nominating someone.

Voting will take place at our January 8th meeting and the new/returning officers will assume their duties at that time.

PJ joined us again and was full of wonderful news! She was asked to organize a Welcome Home Dining Out and is turning it into a ball. She has once again managed to garner donations galore to help with the estimated $25000 cost. -- She also related that she was contacted by the “Extreme Makeover Home Edition” as a winner for all the volunteer work she has done. Though honored, in true PJ form, she asked for it to go to one the Northern NV soldiers. Now she gets to choose the lucky recipient. -- She also informed us that Wells Fargo is to host a military appreciation event that among other things will include a holiday card drive….and they will pay the shipping! -- Thanks for all the info and KUDOS to you PJ for your success and hard work for our troops.

We were also joined by Uncle Mike and his wife Susan. Mike is the uncle of one of our fallen heros, Joshua Rodgers. He has undertaken a wonderful “mission” to help safeguard our soldiers and shared that information with us. Please see the addendum following the body of the minutes.

Jeanne reported on USAtogether.org and extolled the virtues of the program. Please take a look at their website and see if it’s for you! -- She also let us know that there are some BSM’s who live in the Reno/Sparks area that just can’t make it to our evening meetings in Carson but still like to get together occasionally for lunch up in Reno. Please contact Jeanne if you are interested in joining the Reno “lunch bunch”!


•COMMITTEE REPORTS:
oDeployment Support: A major focus tonight is on packing deployment boxes for the holidays! A wonderful array of items were on hand from BSM members, Carson Tahoe HOG (Harely Owners Group), and a great number of donations. The decision was made to send boxes to our own children even if not deployed as we have an abundance of items and it is a nice sentiment to show our support to all of our heroes! Many of us took boxes to mail on our own to help distribute the post office time! A better accounting of how many boxes are going out will be available at our January meeting. A very nice 81/2 by 11 Christmas greeting signed by a majority of BSM’s present was included in the boxes! -- Thank you Ana for all the hard work and time you put into preparing this show of support!!

oBSM to BSM Support: No report givenoBlue to Gold: Paula let us know that on Dec. 8th there will be a Defending Freedom Memorial Dedication Ceremony in Red Rock Canyon, Las Vegas.oWelcome Committee: New membership forms are available.

oOperation Postcard: Sally Wiley collected approx. $170 and 332 signed Christmas cards at the NV Federation of Republican Women Convention and Conservative Leadership Conference at the Nugget in Sparks. Thanks for your time and efforts Sally! -- PJ contributed about 270 names for post card distribution – thanks! -- A nice article appeared in the Record Courier regarding our efforts…it was passed around and submitted for the our scrap book.

•COMMENTS/SUBMISSIONS FOR JANUARY AGENDA:

- Find a more suitable location for monthly meetings
-Rotate Christmas parties between north and south locations
-We need someone to be in charge of the scrapbook.

Following the packing of the deployment boxes, the meeting was adjourned.THESE NOTES WERE FORMULATED BY Suzzie, IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, CONTACT her at: TweetySuz@aol.com




Addendum:

Save A Soldier’s Life

On the 30th of May 2007, an Army CH47 Chinook helicopter from the 82nd Airborne division was shot down by an RPG in Sangin Valley, Afghanistan killing my nephew CW2 Joshua R. Rodgers, of Carson City, NV along with six other brave men during a night mission.

These huge helicopters take on errant ground fire from terrorists on the ground, shooting into the dark sky at the sound of the helicopter; not the sight of it. Yet the gunners armed with M240 machine guns and night vision goggles cannot return fire. WHY? Because their weapon’s muzzle flash would give their exact position to the enemy. On the ground it’s the same story, muzzle flash gives away the soldiers position to the enemy.

Ask any soldier, active or retired, they will tell you the same thing.

Josh Rodgers was my nephew and is our family’s hero and I have decided that it’s time or rather past time that I do something about supporting our troops. My mission is to supply deployed troops directly with a “Vortex flash suppressor”. Upon contacting Smith Enterprise Inc (smithenterprise.com) to order these flash suppressors, Mr. Ron Smith donated 27 units from stock to be sent to the 82nd Airborne Division in Afghanistan. These have been sent along with a letter of gratitude and support to each soldier who receives one of these donated units. Mr. Smith has offered to supply “Uncle Mike” with these flash suppressors at the Army’s quantity price of $32.00, for the M16 family of weapons and $55.00, for the M240 machine guns found on the helicopters and humvees. “Uncle Mike” currently has one hundred units on order and will be sending them to our troops in July.

WE COULD CERTAINLY USE YOUR HELP!!!!

So, I ask you Fellow Americans to do the following:

1) Please view the videos included in this email and forward this email and video clip to
anyone who would like to help our soldiers defend themselves.

2) If you know of a soldier who is deployed and are in need of a flash suppressor have
Them contact me directly at unlcemikeccnv@sbcglobal.net as I need to know the type of weapon they are using and their military address.

3) Please contribute some of your hard earned American dollars to replenish our supply
for further donations. Contributions of any amount can be made payable and sent to the following address:

Unlce Mike
PO Box 21122
Carson City, NV 89721-1122

You are invited to send a letter of gratitude and support to the troops whether or not you are able to make a contribution. We will forward your message to a deployed soldier.

All funds sent to “Uncle Mike” will go directly toward the purchase of Vortex flash suppressors and the postage to a deployed soldier. Absolutely no administrative costs will be deducted from any contribution. On that you have my word as a survivor of such a GREAT AMERICAN HERO, Chief Warrant Officer, Joshua Robert Rodgers.

Thank you,Uncle Mike