Bernie's Last meeting as he
stepped down as President April 11, 2024 |
|
These are the condensed highlights of meetings from 2010 to 2024.
It covers the 14 year span of time that Bernie Bingham served as the President of VVA Chapter 131.
2010 -
June 2010
Joe Boccagno reported our Membership to be:
63 Individual + 77 Life = 140 plus 9 Associate Members.
July 2010
Attendance – 12 members – 2 guests – 1 Associate
August 2010
Bernie introduced Dale Derr as the new Director of the Berks County Office of Veterans Affairs.
October 2010
Estimated a profit of a little over $3500 at the 2nd Annual Golf Tournament.
November 2010
Diane Simmons organized an Agent Orange Balloon release prior to the meeting. Pam Cunningham from WFMZ Channel 69 news was present and filmed the event
and it aired that evening.
Dave Varone suggested we purchase Chapter Challenge Coins for guests, lay in Coffins or as needed. He will check into the cost.
December 2010
Holiday Dinner at the Muhlenberg Rec Center. Fried Chicken and the fixings
2011 -
January 2011
Dave Ciscon brought Pork & Sauerkraut for us to enjoy the pork was left over from the golf outing.
February 2011
Dave Varone reported that the gun for the Red - White and Blue Dinner Dance was purchased at Cabella’s. The winner goes there to pick it up and register it in their name.
Officers elected:
Bernie Bingham – President
Dave Varone – 1st Vice President
John Lewis – 2nd Vice President
Barry Hoover – Secretary
Dave Ciscon – Treasurer
Joe Boccacno – Membership Secretary
May 2011
A Combat Vet that Bernie knows requested if we wanted to buy a brick at their Memorial in Picture Rocks, PA it cost $50
It was requested that Diane create an “Event Calendar” for all of our upcoming dates and events.
Rich Troop reported he collected over $807 in the donation Truck Fund cans.
August 2011
Gary Walter created and set up the website for us.
VietnamVeterans131.com
September 2011
There was no official meeting because River Road was flooded. We called as many as possible to move the location to the Rt. 61 Diner. Bruce had some things
to go over for the Golf Outing.
November 2011
Marine Corps Birthday we cut the cake with a sword.
We purchased 3 bricks at the Womelsdorf VFW at $75 each on for each of our POW/MIA’s.
Bruce Shuman handed out Happy Hands. They were made by his Granddaughters Sunday School Class for Veterans Day.
December 2011
Christmas Dinner at the Rec Center, Fried Chicken and the fixings.
Bernie reported that the Army Truck is done and running. It still needs some cosmetic work. “It sounds like a Dodge but runs like an Army Truck
2012 -
February 2012
Lynn Redcay presented and showed us pictures of the Chapter 131 decals
on his stock car.
March 2012
Dave Varone suggested that we have a Birthday Cake each month for its
Branches Birthday.
Chuck Hemmig brought a sample Chapter 131 license Plate for us to see.
We liked the silk screen style so he will order 24 of them.
June 2012
Army Birthday Cake cut with a Bayonet
Truck chewed up the fan belt; found that the pulley on the crank shaft was bent.
October 2012
Plans for the 25th Anniversary Celebration of the Memorial began looking at a definite date. (Sept 24 is a Tuesday)
Bernie will contact the Memorial Commission to get a deep cleaning and repair so it will look like new.
November 2012
Nov 11th at 11:00 City Park Ceremony then Reading Motorcycle Club for a Flag Dedication and luncheon.
December 2012
With the passing of Joe Boccagno, Joe Willard was appointed to be the new Membership Secretary.
2013
October 2013
Bruce reported that the golf outing was a success we had
21 team and 77 hole sponsors. We made $7389 in profits.
The 25th Anniversary of the Vietnam Memorial was a very memorable day.
We pulled it off!! Very touching ceremony and a large crowd.
December 2013
Christmas Party – Muhlenberg Rec Center
Sal Raccuglia brought the Pizza
2014
January 2014
It was suggested that we form a Phone Chain to inform others of members who passed and any other information that needs to be shared. Marie Morton will organize the Phone Call list
March 2014
Bernie stated “Well as you can see we out grew the other room, so this larger room will be our new meeting room. It is great to see our numbers growing. Keep inviting other Vietnam Veterans to join us, also invite their family to join as Associate Members, they are our future.”
April 2014
Bernie Bingham opened the meeting with a big thank you to everyone for a very successful Dinner Dance. Everyone had a great time. He also brought it to our attention that he was wearing Bruce’s Marine Corps hat during tonight’s meeting.
He made a bet with Bruce about the number of people we would have at the dance. Bernie lost the bet and had to wear the hat! It was all in fun and was impressed at
the turnout.
May 2014
Bernie reported that they picked up the truck and took it to Christals garage. They recharged the batteries and found that the head gaskets are blown; it is the second one in 25 miles. Another one of Bernie’s buddies checked out the head and found it was warped, so they are working on it. There will be a bill from the garage.
There was a short discussion about the possibility of getting rid of the truck,
but it was decided at this point we need to drive it and display it.
We had the third and final reading of the proposed by-law changes. The change states “The Purpose of the Annual Meeting is to elect Officers, each for a two (2) year term.” A vote was taken there were 16 in favor and no one opposed.
So the by-law change has been accepted
June 2014
Agent Orange - Steve Bennett reported that he has 2 notebooks for us filled with lots of valuable information. One is for the Chapter the other for us to take home, look at, bring back and continue to rotate around to all members who are interested
July 2014 Dave Varone opened by informing us that at the PA State Council Meeting we received recognition for having a 10% growth in our Chapters membership.
John Heberling reported that the pictures from the Fourth of July Parade in Pottstown show that everyone was in step. We really looked good as a unit.
September 2014
Bernie welcomed everyone to the meeting and introduced Nadine Venzke; she is Colonel Thomas Dugan’s sister.
The weekend of August 22-23-24 was a very meaningful tribute to Dugan and his Family. On Friday, Reading Motorcycle Club escorted his crash site remains home from the Philadelphia Airport to Stone Cliff Park, during a ceremony the park was dedicated in his Honor. On Saturday was a Private Burial of the Cash Site remains. Then on Sunday was the Ride for Freedom, his family was our guests of honor
Bernie was named the POW/MIA chair for the VVA State Council
October 2014
Bruce Shuman reported that we had 15 teams plus 1 man for a total of 61 golfers. There were 2 hole sponsors that paid $300 to be at every hole. There were 46 other hole sponsors. At total of 67 door prizes were collected. The new signs at each golf hole worked out great!
A question was brought to the floor about selling our shirts and hats to everyone. After a brief discussion it was made into a motion by Chuck Hemmig and second by Gary Letterhouse that they would be sold to members only. The reasoning is that our name is on that shirt, if someone does something or acts in a bad way it represents us and we have no control over that situation. If it is a member we have a chance to talk to them about it.
December 2014
This was our Holiday Gathering/Meeting. Our member Sal Raccuglia invited us to his Restaurant, the Pizza Como in Temple. As we entered the room we were totally impressed with our surroundings. What a wonderful place for our gathering.
Sal and his staff went a step farther and created a video presentation that walked us through the opening of the meeting. It included the Pledge, Taps and Bag Piper playing Amazing Grace. Then the theme song from each branch of the Armed Forces was played. Members were asked to stand when their song was played. We honored our Army – Navy - Marine Corps - Air Force & Coast Guard.
2015
April 2015
Mission BBQ has opened in the old Hooters location. They support Veterans. There are lots of patches and pictures on display, and the food is good!!!!!!
Dave Varone would like to create a shadow box of the members of Chapter 131 to hang at the Mission BBQ. He has already given them one of our 2013 Memorial Book
May 2015
Secretary Report: - Barry Hoover reported from the Board Of Directors meeting the following recommendation is made: Next year the Patriotism Awards will be issued in the amount of $250 each. A motion was made by Gary Letterhouse and second by Joe Gentile to increase the amount of the Patriotism Awards from $100 to $250 each. This will go into effect for the school year 2015-2016. All those in favor responded, there were none opposed. So the motion carried
September 2015
Veterans Issues –September 16 is the Grand Opening of the new VA Clinic at 2762 Century Boulevard, Wyomissing, PA 19610. There will be a Veterans Service Officer there every day. September 21 they will start to make appointments
October 2015
The Moving Wall is coming to Reading. It will be at the Jim Dietrich Park in Muhlenberg Township in June of 2016.
November 2015
Bernie shared some info from State Council meeting. There are 28 VVA Chapters in Pennsylvania, we are number 2.
We started The “Guess who the Veteran is” this Month was Bernie. Each Month bring in a picture of you and we will guess who you are.
December 2015 Thursday, December 10th at the Pizza Como on the 5th Street Highway. It will be our Christmas Dinner.
2016
January 2016
Golf – Bruce Shuman reported that the 8th Annual Golf Outing will be on Sunday, September 18th at the Rich Maiden Golf Course in Fleetwood
March 2016
Membership Report: Joe Willard reported that we have:
110 Life Members - 55 Individual Members - 17 Associate Members and our 4 Honorary Members
October 2016
Mission BBQ has a new Community Ambassador, her name is Jenny. She informed us that Veterans will get a free meal and a slice of cake if they stop in on November 11th. It is in the works that we might get some BBQ for our next meeting.
November 2016
Bernie wants us to give some consideration to the following topic and then we will follow up with future discussions in the upcoming months. When they were in State College at the State Council Meeting they were asked to go back to their chapters and begin a conversation about the future of the Vietnam Veterans of America. There are two ways to go:
1) Last Man Standing - Our members are getting older and if we don’t start to make some changes soon the VVA will no longer exist when the last member passes.
2) Open the Charter to other Organizations – Yes we do have the AVVA, but they are mainly wives of the VVA so their ages are about the same. We need young blood.
December 2016
Thursday, December 8, 2016 it will be our Christmas Dinner Meeting and will be at the Pizza Como on the 5th Street Highway in Temple, Pa. They will be serving a buffet of Salad, Pizza, Sandwiches and our request of Cannolli’s
2017
January 2017
POW/MIA – Diane reported that as of January 5, 2017 there are still 82,608 missing from all Wars. From WWII there are still 73,095 - from Korea 7764 – Cold War – 126, Vietnam 1617 – Iraq and other conflicts – 6.
February 2017
No Meeting due to snow
March 2017
Bernie talked about finding a bigger place for our meeting and one where we could display our memoranda.
April 2017
Fred Heckman suggested that we should have a Business Card that states our chapters name, time and location of our meetings and a contact number. It will be a simple way to have someone who is interested to have the information they need and easy for us to carry in our pocket or wallet. Everyone though it was a great idea.
June 2017
Bernie opened the meeting by introducing us to Col. Don Kline. He is the instructor for the brand new Air Force JROTC at Muhlenberg High School. To date they have 173 students signed up.
July 2017
Truck – Bernie talked to Bill Cain of VVA Chapter 565, he belongs to the Greater Pennsylvania Military Vehicle Historical Society they would be interested in our Truck. So we will have to start to think about what we want to do with truck.
October 2017
Golf – Bruce Shuman reported that the on Sunday, September 17th was our Golf Tournament at the Rich Maiden Golf Course in Fleetwood. He announced that “We did really well this year!”. We made over $7800 just in hole sponsors. There were 96 golfers, our limit was 100. He was touched to hear his son sing the Star Spangled Banner. The food was great, Pizza Como was the caterer. There were lots of door prizes. He heard of no complaints. We are booked for next year on September 16, 2018.
New Business – Mission BBQ will be the caterer for our Christmas meeting on December 14th. It will be here in our meeting room. VVA members only will be free but spouses and guest will be charged.
November 2017
Truck – Bernie has been trying to get the truck started, he is charging the batteries and needs to add brake fluid. He has been in touch with Bill Kain of Pottstown and he offered to buy the truck for $5500. He was impressed how complete it is. (Pick – Shovel –ect…). A motion was made to sell him the truck as is with no warranty by Owen Gehris and second by Tommy Dunston. It is also noted that the money from the sale of the truck will go to the ROTC Programs and Scholarships. All present were in favor there was none opposed
2018
January 2018
Membership Report - Joe Willard reported that we have: 153 Life Members, 33 Individual Members and our 4 Honorary Members.
Truck – The truck has been sold! It is in good hands and will be on display and used many times instead of just sitting in a garage.
The final selling price was $5000; we subtracted $500 since we could not get it started. His mechanic found it to be old fuel in the lines and had to drain everything. It is now running and he loves it.
The Birdsboro American Legion is bringing “The Wall That Heals” to Birdsboro on July 5-6-7-8. It will be set up at the Daniel Boone High School
June 2018
Presidents Comments – Bernie welcomed everyone to the meeting. He stated that we arrive at 5:30 and start to set up. He then announced that from now on when you arrive “Grab a Chair” put it any where you want. When the meeting is over you put that chair away. “You are in charge of your own chair!”
Bernie was going through some old paperwork and came across the article about Nick Matoroto, he was a Chapter Member who was murdered in Reading while driving his Taxi. It has now been a Cold Case for over 20 years. There was a $5000 reward for information leading to an arrest. With the Chapters Blessing Bernie would like to do some research and write a letter to see if we can reopen the case. Everyone was in favor of opening the case.
September 2018
Red-White-Blue Dinner Dance – It was decided to have the Dance at the Lincoln Park Fire Company this year. It is Handicap accessible and the parking is great. Owen Gerhis made the recommendation and arrangements for us and there will be no rental fee. We chose the date of Saturday, April 6, 2019
October 2018
On Saturday, November 3, 2018 at 7:00 p.m. during the VVA State Council Meeting in Penn State Bernie will be hosting a POW/MIA Candle Light Vigil. There will be 90 candles with the faces of the POW/MIA’s from Pennsylvania on them.
December 2018
Thursday, December 13, 2018 it will be our Christmas Dinner Meeting. It will not be a regular meeting just a gathering and a time of fellowship. It will begin at 7:00. Mission BBQ will be the Caterer.
2019
January 2019
AVVA They will be sponsoring a Spousal & Survivor Benefits Seminar on Saturday, May 4th from 3:00 till 5:00 at the Muhlenberg Township Office Building.
February 2019
In December when we were at the Reading Airport for the Banner Dedication, Tommy Dunston had an idea that the room we were in would be a great meeting location. He made some inquires and found out that we could be granted permission to use the facility for our meetings. Several questions were asked and answered and it was decided to continue with the process. According to the By-Laws the Board of Directors can decide where we have our meetings. We gave them the facts and had a question and answer session, I did not want a vote that night as to whether they were in favor of the move or not. I had them think about it for a month. Tonight before we started this meeting they each cast their vote and it was a “YES” to move to the Airport.
So starting with next months meeting on March 14th we will meet there in the Terminal Conference Room. It has plenty of parking and it is handicapped accessible. The Airport Manager Terry Sroka and his wife will supply the coffee, cups and creamer ect.. as their donation to the Veterans. They will set up the room for us; we may need too help occasionally. They will be giving us a display case to show off our memorabilia and items of interest. We will also have a small storage area for our meeting items. We will be getting the room at no charge but please don’t brag about that since they can’t do it for everyone.
March 2019
Presidents Comments – Bernie welcomed everyone and was glad to see such a nice turn out. He asked “What do you think of the new place?” Everyone responded with a round of applause. He introduced Terry Sroka the Airport Manager who was instrumental in getting this place for us. We gave him a round of applause as well.
April 2019
Dale announced that he will be retiring on July 26. His wife is also retiring from teaching so they will be able to enjoy their retirement together. He is leaving the Veterans Affairs Office of Berks County in good shape.
He has made an endorsement to have Ken Labrone who is an Iraq War Veteran and the current Deputy Director be his replacement. The final decision is made by the Berks County Commissioners.
2020
April 2020 – Covid shut everything down we had no meetings at the airport. Once things started to open again we had meetings outside at the Jim Dietrich Park in Muhlenberg Township at 2:00 in the afternoon.
(We finally went back to the airport in October of 2021)
2021
July 2021
A big thank you to Marie Gift, she went above and beyond to get us new business cards for the meeting today. These cards are generic, they have no place or time of meeting. We will use these until we vote on the time and get back to the airport in October
Membership Secretary – Joe Willard reported that we have 211 members and our 4 Honorary members.
Bernie had talked about the change of time for our meetings and this meeting we are going to vote on it. When we go back to the Airport in October do we want to have the meeting at 2:00 in the Afternoon vs. 7:00. It was put into a motion by Jim Schlegel and second by Bob Simpson to move the time to 2:00. There was a question of concern then a vote was taken all present were in favor of the change in time there were none opposed.
Roy Bates informed us that he submitted 10 photos into the VVA National Calendar Contest for 2022
Shirts & Hats – Tommy had the unveiling of the t-shirts with the additional wording of “I SUPPORT”. The words can be printed on any of our existing inventory of shirts and sweatshirts
Upcoming Events – Ken Wunder gave the details of the upcoming trip to Washington DC. It will be on Sunday, June 5, 2022 there are 54 seats available.
December 2021
Christmas Dinner meeting. It will be on December 9th at 2:00 at Klinger’s at the Airport for $20 per person;
2022 -
November 2022
“Team We Support” shared their information about the Members Directory being put together for the Chapter. They received about 30 questionnaires back so far and that is exciting for them to see the great response.
December 2022
The Christmas Dinner will be on Thursday, December 8, at 2:00 at Klinger’s at the Airport.
2023
2024
March 2024 - Membership Secretary - Joe Willard reported we have -
234 Life Members and 4 Honorary Members
There are 42 Associate Members
Sincerely,
Diane
It covers the 14 year span of time that Bernie Bingham served as the President of VVA Chapter 131.
2010 -
June 2010
Joe Boccagno reported our Membership to be:
63 Individual + 77 Life = 140 plus 9 Associate Members.
July 2010
Attendance – 12 members – 2 guests – 1 Associate
August 2010
Bernie introduced Dale Derr as the new Director of the Berks County Office of Veterans Affairs.
October 2010
Estimated a profit of a little over $3500 at the 2nd Annual Golf Tournament.
November 2010
Diane Simmons organized an Agent Orange Balloon release prior to the meeting. Pam Cunningham from WFMZ Channel 69 news was present and filmed the event
and it aired that evening.
Dave Varone suggested we purchase Chapter Challenge Coins for guests, lay in Coffins or as needed. He will check into the cost.
December 2010
Holiday Dinner at the Muhlenberg Rec Center. Fried Chicken and the fixings
2011 -
January 2011
Dave Ciscon brought Pork & Sauerkraut for us to enjoy the pork was left over from the golf outing.
February 2011
Dave Varone reported that the gun for the Red - White and Blue Dinner Dance was purchased at Cabella’s. The winner goes there to pick it up and register it in their name.
Officers elected:
Bernie Bingham – President
Dave Varone – 1st Vice President
John Lewis – 2nd Vice President
Barry Hoover – Secretary
Dave Ciscon – Treasurer
Joe Boccacno – Membership Secretary
May 2011
A Combat Vet that Bernie knows requested if we wanted to buy a brick at their Memorial in Picture Rocks, PA it cost $50
It was requested that Diane create an “Event Calendar” for all of our upcoming dates and events.
Rich Troop reported he collected over $807 in the donation Truck Fund cans.
August 2011
Gary Walter created and set up the website for us.
VietnamVeterans131.com
September 2011
There was no official meeting because River Road was flooded. We called as many as possible to move the location to the Rt. 61 Diner. Bruce had some things
to go over for the Golf Outing.
November 2011
Marine Corps Birthday we cut the cake with a sword.
We purchased 3 bricks at the Womelsdorf VFW at $75 each on for each of our POW/MIA’s.
Bruce Shuman handed out Happy Hands. They were made by his Granddaughters Sunday School Class for Veterans Day.
December 2011
Christmas Dinner at the Rec Center, Fried Chicken and the fixings.
Bernie reported that the Army Truck is done and running. It still needs some cosmetic work. “It sounds like a Dodge but runs like an Army Truck
2012 -
February 2012
Lynn Redcay presented and showed us pictures of the Chapter 131 decals
on his stock car.
March 2012
Dave Varone suggested that we have a Birthday Cake each month for its
Branches Birthday.
Chuck Hemmig brought a sample Chapter 131 license Plate for us to see.
We liked the silk screen style so he will order 24 of them.
June 2012
Army Birthday Cake cut with a Bayonet
Truck chewed up the fan belt; found that the pulley on the crank shaft was bent.
October 2012
Plans for the 25th Anniversary Celebration of the Memorial began looking at a definite date. (Sept 24 is a Tuesday)
Bernie will contact the Memorial Commission to get a deep cleaning and repair so it will look like new.
November 2012
Nov 11th at 11:00 City Park Ceremony then Reading Motorcycle Club for a Flag Dedication and luncheon.
December 2012
With the passing of Joe Boccagno, Joe Willard was appointed to be the new Membership Secretary.
2013
October 2013
Bruce reported that the golf outing was a success we had
21 team and 77 hole sponsors. We made $7389 in profits.
The 25th Anniversary of the Vietnam Memorial was a very memorable day.
We pulled it off!! Very touching ceremony and a large crowd.
December 2013
Christmas Party – Muhlenberg Rec Center
Sal Raccuglia brought the Pizza
2014
January 2014
It was suggested that we form a Phone Chain to inform others of members who passed and any other information that needs to be shared. Marie Morton will organize the Phone Call list
March 2014
Bernie stated “Well as you can see we out grew the other room, so this larger room will be our new meeting room. It is great to see our numbers growing. Keep inviting other Vietnam Veterans to join us, also invite their family to join as Associate Members, they are our future.”
April 2014
Bernie Bingham opened the meeting with a big thank you to everyone for a very successful Dinner Dance. Everyone had a great time. He also brought it to our attention that he was wearing Bruce’s Marine Corps hat during tonight’s meeting.
He made a bet with Bruce about the number of people we would have at the dance. Bernie lost the bet and had to wear the hat! It was all in fun and was impressed at
the turnout.
May 2014
Bernie reported that they picked up the truck and took it to Christals garage. They recharged the batteries and found that the head gaskets are blown; it is the second one in 25 miles. Another one of Bernie’s buddies checked out the head and found it was warped, so they are working on it. There will be a bill from the garage.
There was a short discussion about the possibility of getting rid of the truck,
but it was decided at this point we need to drive it and display it.
We had the third and final reading of the proposed by-law changes. The change states “The Purpose of the Annual Meeting is to elect Officers, each for a two (2) year term.” A vote was taken there were 16 in favor and no one opposed.
So the by-law change has been accepted
June 2014
Agent Orange - Steve Bennett reported that he has 2 notebooks for us filled with lots of valuable information. One is for the Chapter the other for us to take home, look at, bring back and continue to rotate around to all members who are interested
July 2014 Dave Varone opened by informing us that at the PA State Council Meeting we received recognition for having a 10% growth in our Chapters membership.
John Heberling reported that the pictures from the Fourth of July Parade in Pottstown show that everyone was in step. We really looked good as a unit.
September 2014
Bernie welcomed everyone to the meeting and introduced Nadine Venzke; she is Colonel Thomas Dugan’s sister.
The weekend of August 22-23-24 was a very meaningful tribute to Dugan and his Family. On Friday, Reading Motorcycle Club escorted his crash site remains home from the Philadelphia Airport to Stone Cliff Park, during a ceremony the park was dedicated in his Honor. On Saturday was a Private Burial of the Cash Site remains. Then on Sunday was the Ride for Freedom, his family was our guests of honor
Bernie was named the POW/MIA chair for the VVA State Council
October 2014
Bruce Shuman reported that we had 15 teams plus 1 man for a total of 61 golfers. There were 2 hole sponsors that paid $300 to be at every hole. There were 46 other hole sponsors. At total of 67 door prizes were collected. The new signs at each golf hole worked out great!
A question was brought to the floor about selling our shirts and hats to everyone. After a brief discussion it was made into a motion by Chuck Hemmig and second by Gary Letterhouse that they would be sold to members only. The reasoning is that our name is on that shirt, if someone does something or acts in a bad way it represents us and we have no control over that situation. If it is a member we have a chance to talk to them about it.
December 2014
This was our Holiday Gathering/Meeting. Our member Sal Raccuglia invited us to his Restaurant, the Pizza Como in Temple. As we entered the room we were totally impressed with our surroundings. What a wonderful place for our gathering.
Sal and his staff went a step farther and created a video presentation that walked us through the opening of the meeting. It included the Pledge, Taps and Bag Piper playing Amazing Grace. Then the theme song from each branch of the Armed Forces was played. Members were asked to stand when their song was played. We honored our Army – Navy - Marine Corps - Air Force & Coast Guard.
2015
April 2015
Mission BBQ has opened in the old Hooters location. They support Veterans. There are lots of patches and pictures on display, and the food is good!!!!!!
Dave Varone would like to create a shadow box of the members of Chapter 131 to hang at the Mission BBQ. He has already given them one of our 2013 Memorial Book
May 2015
Secretary Report: - Barry Hoover reported from the Board Of Directors meeting the following recommendation is made: Next year the Patriotism Awards will be issued in the amount of $250 each. A motion was made by Gary Letterhouse and second by Joe Gentile to increase the amount of the Patriotism Awards from $100 to $250 each. This will go into effect for the school year 2015-2016. All those in favor responded, there were none opposed. So the motion carried
September 2015
Veterans Issues –September 16 is the Grand Opening of the new VA Clinic at 2762 Century Boulevard, Wyomissing, PA 19610. There will be a Veterans Service Officer there every day. September 21 they will start to make appointments
October 2015
The Moving Wall is coming to Reading. It will be at the Jim Dietrich Park in Muhlenberg Township in June of 2016.
November 2015
Bernie shared some info from State Council meeting. There are 28 VVA Chapters in Pennsylvania, we are number 2.
We started The “Guess who the Veteran is” this Month was Bernie. Each Month bring in a picture of you and we will guess who you are.
December 2015 Thursday, December 10th at the Pizza Como on the 5th Street Highway. It will be our Christmas Dinner.
2016
January 2016
Golf – Bruce Shuman reported that the 8th Annual Golf Outing will be on Sunday, September 18th at the Rich Maiden Golf Course in Fleetwood
March 2016
Membership Report: Joe Willard reported that we have:
110 Life Members - 55 Individual Members - 17 Associate Members and our 4 Honorary Members
October 2016
Mission BBQ has a new Community Ambassador, her name is Jenny. She informed us that Veterans will get a free meal and a slice of cake if they stop in on November 11th. It is in the works that we might get some BBQ for our next meeting.
November 2016
Bernie wants us to give some consideration to the following topic and then we will follow up with future discussions in the upcoming months. When they were in State College at the State Council Meeting they were asked to go back to their chapters and begin a conversation about the future of the Vietnam Veterans of America. There are two ways to go:
1) Last Man Standing - Our members are getting older and if we don’t start to make some changes soon the VVA will no longer exist when the last member passes.
2) Open the Charter to other Organizations – Yes we do have the AVVA, but they are mainly wives of the VVA so their ages are about the same. We need young blood.
December 2016
Thursday, December 8, 2016 it will be our Christmas Dinner Meeting and will be at the Pizza Como on the 5th Street Highway in Temple, Pa. They will be serving a buffet of Salad, Pizza, Sandwiches and our request of Cannolli’s
2017
January 2017
POW/MIA – Diane reported that as of January 5, 2017 there are still 82,608 missing from all Wars. From WWII there are still 73,095 - from Korea 7764 – Cold War – 126, Vietnam 1617 – Iraq and other conflicts – 6.
February 2017
No Meeting due to snow
March 2017
Bernie talked about finding a bigger place for our meeting and one where we could display our memoranda.
April 2017
Fred Heckman suggested that we should have a Business Card that states our chapters name, time and location of our meetings and a contact number. It will be a simple way to have someone who is interested to have the information they need and easy for us to carry in our pocket or wallet. Everyone though it was a great idea.
June 2017
Bernie opened the meeting by introducing us to Col. Don Kline. He is the instructor for the brand new Air Force JROTC at Muhlenberg High School. To date they have 173 students signed up.
July 2017
Truck – Bernie talked to Bill Cain of VVA Chapter 565, he belongs to the Greater Pennsylvania Military Vehicle Historical Society they would be interested in our Truck. So we will have to start to think about what we want to do with truck.
October 2017
Golf – Bruce Shuman reported that the on Sunday, September 17th was our Golf Tournament at the Rich Maiden Golf Course in Fleetwood. He announced that “We did really well this year!”. We made over $7800 just in hole sponsors. There were 96 golfers, our limit was 100. He was touched to hear his son sing the Star Spangled Banner. The food was great, Pizza Como was the caterer. There were lots of door prizes. He heard of no complaints. We are booked for next year on September 16, 2018.
New Business – Mission BBQ will be the caterer for our Christmas meeting on December 14th. It will be here in our meeting room. VVA members only will be free but spouses and guest will be charged.
November 2017
Truck – Bernie has been trying to get the truck started, he is charging the batteries and needs to add brake fluid. He has been in touch with Bill Kain of Pottstown and he offered to buy the truck for $5500. He was impressed how complete it is. (Pick – Shovel –ect…). A motion was made to sell him the truck as is with no warranty by Owen Gehris and second by Tommy Dunston. It is also noted that the money from the sale of the truck will go to the ROTC Programs and Scholarships. All present were in favor there was none opposed
2018
January 2018
Membership Report - Joe Willard reported that we have: 153 Life Members, 33 Individual Members and our 4 Honorary Members.
Truck – The truck has been sold! It is in good hands and will be on display and used many times instead of just sitting in a garage.
The final selling price was $5000; we subtracted $500 since we could not get it started. His mechanic found it to be old fuel in the lines and had to drain everything. It is now running and he loves it.
The Birdsboro American Legion is bringing “The Wall That Heals” to Birdsboro on July 5-6-7-8. It will be set up at the Daniel Boone High School
June 2018
Presidents Comments – Bernie welcomed everyone to the meeting. He stated that we arrive at 5:30 and start to set up. He then announced that from now on when you arrive “Grab a Chair” put it any where you want. When the meeting is over you put that chair away. “You are in charge of your own chair!”
Bernie was going through some old paperwork and came across the article about Nick Matoroto, he was a Chapter Member who was murdered in Reading while driving his Taxi. It has now been a Cold Case for over 20 years. There was a $5000 reward for information leading to an arrest. With the Chapters Blessing Bernie would like to do some research and write a letter to see if we can reopen the case. Everyone was in favor of opening the case.
September 2018
Red-White-Blue Dinner Dance – It was decided to have the Dance at the Lincoln Park Fire Company this year. It is Handicap accessible and the parking is great. Owen Gerhis made the recommendation and arrangements for us and there will be no rental fee. We chose the date of Saturday, April 6, 2019
October 2018
On Saturday, November 3, 2018 at 7:00 p.m. during the VVA State Council Meeting in Penn State Bernie will be hosting a POW/MIA Candle Light Vigil. There will be 90 candles with the faces of the POW/MIA’s from Pennsylvania on them.
December 2018
Thursday, December 13, 2018 it will be our Christmas Dinner Meeting. It will not be a regular meeting just a gathering and a time of fellowship. It will begin at 7:00. Mission BBQ will be the Caterer.
2019
January 2019
AVVA They will be sponsoring a Spousal & Survivor Benefits Seminar on Saturday, May 4th from 3:00 till 5:00 at the Muhlenberg Township Office Building.
February 2019
In December when we were at the Reading Airport for the Banner Dedication, Tommy Dunston had an idea that the room we were in would be a great meeting location. He made some inquires and found out that we could be granted permission to use the facility for our meetings. Several questions were asked and answered and it was decided to continue with the process. According to the By-Laws the Board of Directors can decide where we have our meetings. We gave them the facts and had a question and answer session, I did not want a vote that night as to whether they were in favor of the move or not. I had them think about it for a month. Tonight before we started this meeting they each cast their vote and it was a “YES” to move to the Airport.
So starting with next months meeting on March 14th we will meet there in the Terminal Conference Room. It has plenty of parking and it is handicapped accessible. The Airport Manager Terry Sroka and his wife will supply the coffee, cups and creamer ect.. as their donation to the Veterans. They will set up the room for us; we may need too help occasionally. They will be giving us a display case to show off our memorabilia and items of interest. We will also have a small storage area for our meeting items. We will be getting the room at no charge but please don’t brag about that since they can’t do it for everyone.
March 2019
Presidents Comments – Bernie welcomed everyone and was glad to see such a nice turn out. He asked “What do you think of the new place?” Everyone responded with a round of applause. He introduced Terry Sroka the Airport Manager who was instrumental in getting this place for us. We gave him a round of applause as well.
April 2019
Dale announced that he will be retiring on July 26. His wife is also retiring from teaching so they will be able to enjoy their retirement together. He is leaving the Veterans Affairs Office of Berks County in good shape.
He has made an endorsement to have Ken Labrone who is an Iraq War Veteran and the current Deputy Director be his replacement. The final decision is made by the Berks County Commissioners.
2020
April 2020 – Covid shut everything down we had no meetings at the airport. Once things started to open again we had meetings outside at the Jim Dietrich Park in Muhlenberg Township at 2:00 in the afternoon.
(We finally went back to the airport in October of 2021)
2021
July 2021
A big thank you to Marie Gift, she went above and beyond to get us new business cards for the meeting today. These cards are generic, they have no place or time of meeting. We will use these until we vote on the time and get back to the airport in October
Membership Secretary – Joe Willard reported that we have 211 members and our 4 Honorary members.
Bernie had talked about the change of time for our meetings and this meeting we are going to vote on it. When we go back to the Airport in October do we want to have the meeting at 2:00 in the Afternoon vs. 7:00. It was put into a motion by Jim Schlegel and second by Bob Simpson to move the time to 2:00. There was a question of concern then a vote was taken all present were in favor of the change in time there were none opposed.
Roy Bates informed us that he submitted 10 photos into the VVA National Calendar Contest for 2022
Shirts & Hats – Tommy had the unveiling of the t-shirts with the additional wording of “I SUPPORT”. The words can be printed on any of our existing inventory of shirts and sweatshirts
Upcoming Events – Ken Wunder gave the details of the upcoming trip to Washington DC. It will be on Sunday, June 5, 2022 there are 54 seats available.
December 2021
Christmas Dinner meeting. It will be on December 9th at 2:00 at Klinger’s at the Airport for $20 per person;
2022 -
November 2022
“Team We Support” shared their information about the Members Directory being put together for the Chapter. They received about 30 questionnaires back so far and that is exciting for them to see the great response.
December 2022
The Christmas Dinner will be on Thursday, December 8, at 2:00 at Klinger’s at the Airport.
2023
2024
March 2024 - Membership Secretary - Joe Willard reported we have -
234 Life Members and 4 Honorary Members
There are 42 Associate Members
Sincerely,
Diane
