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By Marc Leepson
You see them pop up every year after Thanksgiving along highways
all across the nation: Christmas trees for sale on temporary
lots, often by a local service club. Many Lions Clubs run
Christmas tree sales operations and many of them are excellent
fundraisers. If your chapter is thinking about a Christmas
tree fundraiser, here are some tips from a very successful
one run by the Suburban Lions Club in Prince George’s
County, Maryland, a suburb of Washington, D.C.
The club has been
selling Christmas trees and wreathes on a donated lot along
a state highway for eighteen years. Last year the Club netted
about $13,000, selling about 600 trees, many to customers
who come back year after year.
“The quality
of the trees is important,” said Jim Cocchiaro, the
club’s treasurer who has worked on the operation since
it began. “We sell two types of trees, Fraser firs
and white pines. The Fraser fir we call the ‘Cadillac
of Christmas trees’; the white firs are less expensive.” Cocchiaro,
a Vietnam veteran who served with the 199th Light Infantry
Brigade in 1969, said the prices range from $20-90. “The
Fraser firs sell the most. We get many repeat customers,
including folks who have moved away from the area but come
back just for our trees.”
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BY AMBER CHANEY
On a cold Wednesday in February, veterans from the PTSD Unit
at the VA Medical Center in Lyons, New Jersey, traveled
more than five hours by bus to honor those whose names
are inscribed on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington,
D.C. Some members of the group were as young as 18. Though
from different generations—some served in Iraq or
Afghanistan and some in Vietnam—the veterans were
united in common purpose. They carried a plaque with their
names inscribed on it, as well as the date they visited The
Wall.
In the freezing
wind and rain, the men marched in formation. At the apex
of The Wall they began their ceremony with a prayer,
giving thanks to those “who have paid the ultimate
price.” On the ribbon of the wreath they placed at
the base of The Wall were the words: “From
Your Brothers of Lyons VA Combat PTSD Unit.” Every
45 days, rain or shine, they come to pay tribute to the fallen,
confronting The Wall as well as their own pasts.
The men interact with their supporters and friends, sharing
their stories.
Brian Whetstone, a member of the
group, spoke of the challenge of “facing The Wall.” While
some had been to The Wall many times, for most,
it was their first trip. At the Lyons PTSD Unit, the veterans
are learning to cope with the physical and emotional pain
they have seen and experienced. Though it is a difficult
task to come to the Memorial, the veterans are proud to be
there.
Today, AVVA life
member Linda West is a successful real estate broker
in Tucson. But years ago, little Tran Thi Bach Yen Oanh watched
from behind her grandmother’s skirts as American troops
marched through her small village in Bien Hoa, listened at
night to the Viet Cong gunfire or ducked for cover in the
dugout beneath her bed, and tried to comprehend the historic
events that surrounded and threatened her.
Her self-published
book, Beyond the Rice Paddies, in which she expresses
special gratitude to Herbert Robert West, her stepfather,
describes her life in war-torn Vietnam from a child’s
perspective. It is excerpted below.
In January, Linda
West spoke to the Arizona State Council. She is available
for other speaking engagements and can be reached at lindafwest@msn.com
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By Michael Keating
A“Goodwill Valentine’s
Day Caravan” is what they called it. And that pretty
much summed it up. But to describe more fully: It was a garrulous,
rowdy, fun-loving circus of disparate groups crammed into
a donated bus and U-Haul vans, all loaded down with unlikely
and precious gifts intended with enormous affection and respect
for the toughest yet the most vulnerable of America’s
youth: its wounded men and women at Walter Reed. Oh, and
did I say they were all from New York?
The entire production
was put together and coordinated by VVA members from New
York City under the direction of the United War Veterans
Council and its impresario, Pat Gualtieri. The group involved
as many organizations as possible. VVA Manhattan Chapter
126 and VVA Brooklyn Chapter 72 took leading roles. They
were joined by the Metropolitan Transit Authority Veterans
Association, the Samaritan Village Veterans Programs of Manhattan,
the Ed Thompson Facility of Queens, the Brooklyn chapter
of Nam Knights, the Never Forget Foundation, U-Haul International,
HBO, Estee Lauder, Coach USA, the History Channel, the Greater
New York Chamber of Commerce, and the New York City Council.
Did I mention Miss USA Long Island, Alyse Zwick?
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