The Weekly Bulletin

June 5, 2017

Call to order: Ed Musterman, President at 12:05

Invocation: Charlie Langreder

Pledge: Gen. Richard Harding

Introduction of Guests   

None

Birthdays and Anniversaries

Mary Dewey celebrated her birthday last Monday

C.O. Scheffer celebrated his birthday Sunday

Mystery Person  –

Jake Jolley awarded the gift certificate to Harold Rowe for his work coordinating the club’s event at Art-in-the-Park.

Greeter   – Ed Musterman

Ed celebrated this past weekend with his daughter’s wedding. On Friday he baby sat his grandson and had a great time playing in the sandbox with his 2 year old grandson.  He still had energy to attend a dinner with the groom and his family that evening. The wedding was on Saturday at Stephen’s Chapel followed by a reception where Ed could show off some of his dance moves to keep pace with the 30ish something women in attendance. He displayed one of those moves at the luncheon. Watch out “Dance with the Stars”!

Announcements

• Sign In and badge on or Pay the Pig This week Carl Scott had his badge around his neck but failed to sign-in to pay the pig. Dave Murphy was spotted by Mary Dewey in the Conservation Magazine article and paid the pig for his notoriety.

•  A July 13^th date is set for a social at 6:00 pm at the clubhouse. Members, spouses and new recruits will attend. BBQ, corn on the cobb, and maybe hamburgers, brats, ice cream and black berry cobbler will be served in a picnic setting. Outdoor games that can be accommodated by the grounds (horseshoes) will be provided. As usual the charge is $10 per head (kids eat free).
• New Member recruitment event – C.O.  Mike Hatchet, Jessica and Travis Kempf) – The last event at Günter Hans on June 1 didn’t produce any new members. The next event will be in conjunction with the July 13 Social at the clubhouse.

• Soap Box Derby – (Rick, Chuck) Rick circulated sign-up sheet for drivers to this June 11 event. Rick hasn’t filled all the 16 2-hour diving slots for this event. Also, he purchased yard signs to advertise the event. Members were asked to place as many signs as they can on the berms of high traffic areas.
• Food Bank – (Larry Fick, Jim Murphy, Carl Scott) Jim reports the team packaged Panini breads.
• Bike Safety, June 8th – Mary Dewey has everything in place for this event in the Lange Middle School parking lot. The event starts for kids at 5:30 and runs until 8:00. Volunteers should be there at 5:00.
• Art in the Park – Harold Rowe reports all went well. There was considerable interest in the Soap Box Derby and Bike Safety but we still have a little more work on the membership recruitment. “Hats off to Harold for putting this event together.”
• Koeze Nut Steve Winters has the flyers approved and ready for the printer. He is in the process of reassigning Jim Beckett’s and Red Leighton’s customer to other members.
• 99^th Optimist International Meeting will be held in Albuquerque, July 6-8.

 

Today’s Speaker

Lt. General Richard Harding President of the Board, Welcome Home – Shelter & Assistance for homeless veterans and families.

Gen. Harding retired in 2014 after 34 years in the U.S Air Force. From 2010 until retirement he served as the Judge Advocate General of the Air Force with responsibility for 4,400 uniformed and civilian lawyers, paralegals and legal support staff. In addition, to work with The Professional Education Group, he assists universities and interest groups in eradicating campus sexual assaults with successful lessons learned from combating military sexual assaults. He serves on the Advisory Council of the National Crime Victims’ Legal Institute and is currently President of Welcome Home, Inc. He grew up as the son of a career military parent and remains part of the military family of veterans. He is currently president of the board for the only homeless shelter in Missouri for veterans and their families

 

General Harding gave a brief history of the way this country has evolved in its treatment of veterans. Starting with the Revolutionary War with a “thank you for your service,” to free swamp lands in Arkansas after the War of 1812, to a $25 month pension in 1820, to asylums and artificial limbs for vets after the Civil War, to medical aid to amputee and gassed vets after WW1, to hospital care after WW2 and only recently for mental health treatment for Post Traumatic Syndrome (PTSD) and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). And, the Welcome Home shelter has taken on the most recent gap in service to vets by identifying and referring back to the military those vets who were discharged without VA benefits because of behavioral issues when evidence war related injury such as PTSD or TBI was not considered.

 

Today’s modern military faces a different set of problems. Since the Draft was abolished in 1973, the country now has an all-volunteer military. With only 1% of those eligible to serve actually joining the military, there are problems of adverse selection (soldiers running away from a bad home environment) and adequate numbers to meet this country’s security interests. Generous reenlistment bonuses lead to three and four tours of duty. Soldiers adapt to life in the war zone with shelling at night, snipers and IED during the day and living with a constant fear of life or death situations. Civilian life after service is a difficult adjustment. And, many vets because of the accident of birth have no home to which they want to return. These soldiers need other soldiers to help with the adjustment back to civilian life.

 

The challenge of Welcome Home is to serve 700 homeless vets in Missouri with only 32 beds. Many are turned away, often directed to temporary shelters or to CHA housing but only those in the Welcome Home shelter get the benefit of the 90 day program to progress from homelessness to self-sufficiency with a job. Welcome Home provides the needed services to transition these homeless vets to a stable environment with a 90% success rate. They partner with the VA for diagnostic help, work with those who self-medicate or who were sexually abused in service. They work to get Vets in group homes where support from fellow soldiers is available.

 

The 32 bed facility allows the flexibility to be configured for all men, or for a separate section for women’s rooms, and/or quarters to accommodate families. The shelter partners with the VA, the Columbia Housing Authority and their neighbor, Patriot Place, but receives no funding from these other agencies. Welcome Home is supported entirely by private donation. Veteran’s United here in Columbia is one of their biggest donors with a gift of $1 million back in 2014’ but the board has to work to create sustainable operating funds.

 

 

UPCOMING SPEAKERS

June 12- Ashlee Smith, Director of Development, Ronald McDonald House

June 19 – Natalie Thornton, Site Director, Phoenix Family, Columbia Square & Claudell Homes

June 26 – Kelly Wallis, Director, Boone County Community Services

July 3 – Meeting with no speaker

July 10 – TBD

July 17 – Monique White, Pascals Pals

July 24 – Steve Winters, Koeze Nuts

July 31 – TBD

Aug 7 – TBD