October is here and Fall is now in full swing. All of you sports enthusiasts out there will be overwhelmed with football at the high school, college and professional levels. Professional basketball even starts their preseason by the end of this month. Happy 248th birthday to the United States Navy on the 13th. For all of you who celebrate Halloween, make sure that your candy and costumes are ready by the 31st. I know that the candy is supposed to be for the kids, but tell me that you have never eaten the left overs.
I am so proud of you, the members of this chapter. Last month we presented 85 medallions to war veterans and their families at a senior fair in Grants Pass. I want to shout out to one of our members who isn’t even a veteran, but Jamie Callahan-Luckin put that fair together and over 1,000 people attended. She goes above and beyond to support veterans at veteran breakfasts all across southern Oregon and she even purchased the medallions that were awarded at the Fair. The highlight was the Medallion presentation which had well over a hundred in attendance. I want to thank the more than 20 Rogue Chapter member that attended the fair and manned booths and assisted with the Medallion presentation. Less than two weeks later more than 25 Rogue Chapter members showed up at the airport to welcome Honor Flight of Oregon home. I also want to point out that our Vice Chairman, Ken Wilson, personally took on the responsibility of presenting more that 25 medallions while on Honor Flight to Vietnam and Korean veterans at their National Memorial.
On September 30th, Rogue Chapter held our 7th annual VeteRun to raise money for veteran charities. In the first 6 years we have raised and donated more than $88,000 to a variety of veteran charities. This year we teamed up with a local group that wanted to support our efforts to address veteran suicide. A group came together to put on the first annual golf tournament that was named 22 a Day is 22 Too Many. They held a tournament on September 22nd and earned almost $14,800 toward VeteRun. This article is written prior to the actual VeteRun itself but this year we project earning in the neighborhood of $40,000 for the 3 veteran charities. This could not have happened without tremendous support from our volunteers and a grateful and supportive community. Mighty Oaks Foundation, David’s Chair and Operation Rambo are this year’s charities and all address issues around the mental health challenges of our veterans.
If you have any ideas or suggestions, either contact me at retiredveteran89@outlook.com and I can assure you that your leadership will take note.
Strength in Unity & Leadership By Example,
MCPO (SCW) Terry M. Haines, USNR Retired
Chairman, Rogue Chapter #1260