Veteran's Club Meeting Minutes from March 12, 2015
Meeting opened at 1600 with 47 members in attendance.
An informal "Meet and Greet" with refreshments was held from 1600 to 1620. Photos from our recent car show were screened during the "Meet and Greet".
Formal business commenced at 1620 with the Pledge of Allegiance.
The Secretary's Report was presented and the minutes of our last meeting were voted on and accepted by the membership.
The Treasurer's Report was presented. A cash balance of $3,888 is on account in our treasury. It was noted that over the past two years our club has donated over twenty-three thousand dollars to the Wounded Warriors of South Florida.
The President's Report was presented. It was noted that the CPR/AED class that was held on January 27 graduated 29 Valencia Reserve residents. The tennis club has requested that we arrange for another CPR/AED class and this is being scheduled. Two additional AED units are on order and these will be located in the clubhouse and in the pool area to complement the AED units now on hand in the gym and at the tennis courts.
it was noted that PAP has requested that any of our club members who plan to participate in the "walk" on March 22 wear our club blue shirts at the event.
Our car show raised approximately $2,500 on behalf of the Wounded Warriors of South Florida. A letter of thanks is being sent to the Car Club in recognition of their support of the event, and Car Club members will be invited to our next breakfast meeting on Sunday April 26.
Board Member and Blood Drive Chairman Marty Merluzzi briefed on preparations for our March 13, 2015 Blood Drive. Blood donations will commence on 0900 that day. Three bus donation units will be on hand to accommodate the anticipated volume of donors. Our last two Blood Drive events were very successful with 48 and 55 pints collected respectively. We hope to exceed these amounts at the March donation event. Additional volunteers were solicited to help with the event.
Our canned food drive will be this Thursday, March 19th. Those of you who are working with your pod captains will be picking up food between 11:00 AM and 2:00 PM. We will be taking pictures for the "VR Reflections" at 1230 PM at the clubhouse on the big, military truck that some of us saw at the car show. If you are available that day please come to the clubhouse dressed in your blue shirts and kaki pants (Shorts are fine). After the photo shoot we will do a short drive around the VR in the truck.
Vice President Goody Morrison provided an update on the May Fort Lauderdale Fleet Week shipboard visit preparations. The ship visits were opened up to spouses and member guests as well as members. All participants must complete a shipboard visit security clearance form in advance. New forms may be dropped off at the Box Office. Our ship visit trip will occur during the week of 4 to 10 May, 2015, with the exact dates to be determined by the Navy based on developing ship visit schedules. Cost for the bus trip to the event is anticipated to be $30.00 per person. Additional information will be provided as soon as it becomes available.
50/50 drawing was held.
Guest presenters Barbara Masi and Chuck Bisel from the Hounds for Heros and the Awesome Greyhound Adoptions organization were introduced by Vice President Goody Morrison and made a presentation about their program of acquiring and training greyhounds to serve as therapy dogs or fully trained service dogs for veterans. There is no cost to veteran's receiving dogs through this program. The dogs are specially trained to meet the specific needs of the veterans that they will be working with. A veteran who has received a dog through the program along with his greyhound were on hand to demonstrate the bond that develops between the veteran and their companion dog. A total of three of their trained greyhounds were on hand to demonstrate what they have learned. it was noted that it costs between $15,000 and $30,000 to fully train one animal, and that their program is funded entirely by donations. The presentation was well received and was followed by a lively question and answer period. Our club made a donation to Hounds for Heros after the presentation.
Scheduled events for 2015 include the following:
--Blood Drive: March 13; Chairman Marty Merluzzi
--Canned Food Drive: March 19; Chairman Steve Osterman
--Fleet Week in Fort Lauderdale: May 4-10 (exact visit date TBD); Chairman Goody Morrison
--Pool Party with HOA: May 25; Chairman Goody Morrison
--Heat Wave Dance Party: August 1; Chairman Goody Morrison
--Veteran's Day Dance: November 11; Chairman Goody Morrison
Scheduled Sunday breakfast meeting dates for 2015 are indicated below:
--Sunday April 26, 9-11:30
--Sunday June 14, 9-11:30
--Sunday September 13, 9-11:30
--Sunday December 13, 9-11:30
All meetings will be held in the Social Hall
Scheduled Second Thursday of the month meetings for 2015 are as indicated below:
--Thursday May 14, 4-6 PM
--Thursday October 8, 4-6 PM
--Thursday November 12, 4-6 PM
All meetings will be held in the Social Hall.
The President noted in his concluding remarks that our next meeting would be a breakfast meeting on Sunday April 26 in the Social Hall.
The meeting concluded at 1715.
Minutes Submitted by Tom Nowak, Club Secretary