Email GarySTATE COUNCIL NEWS Gary Estermyer, delegate Sunday, December 4, 2011
It was cold, rainy and beginning to feel like Christmas on my ride to Howell on Sunday, December 04, 2011. John Riling and Norma Demerly were already at the American Legion when I pulled up for the 10:00 AM meeting. All three officers were present and President Ken Diegel opened the meeting with the pledge and a prayer. Secretary Ray ‘Doc” Essenmacher called roll and announced a quorum was present. Doc then quickly reviewed the minutes from the September 25th meeting. Changing his hat Doc then reviewed his Treasurer report for the months of Sep., Oct. and November. Doc noted an error in one savings account that he is working on to correct. Doc also reported that the Chapters should begin preparing their IRS Forms 990 or 990N which are due after the end of February. I then gave the Constitution report. To my knowledge there were no changes to the State Bylaws due to the National VVA Convention, however I noted that the State Bylaws could be slimmed down if desired by using National’s template. A template is available for chapter use as well. Under our current language an amendment may be presented at any meeting and it would be addressed by the delegates after Constitution Committee review. I then reminded the delegates of the State Council election which would take place during our Annual Meeting in either April or June of 2012. Jack McManus offered a brief Finance Committee report. Our grant request from the state was again denied. Grant money from National is expected within the next few months which will keep the Service Office operational. Jack will schedule another Finance Committee meeting by mid January 2012. Phil Smith, Service Office Director, reported that some incarcerated veterans are submitting their own claims. Problems are expected such as travel to and from scheduled appointments. Gary Amerling, Homeless Veterans chair reported that a website, www.homeless.com has a wealth of information on many homeless issues. Phil Smith noted that during the Detroit Stand-down in October he was the ONLY veteran’s service officer to show up. Jack Devine, Legislative Affairs chair, reported there was no response to the letter he sent to the state regarding the grant request that we were denied, no surprise. He did learn there were two issues that our grant didn’t address that resulted in our denial; rural representation and assisting college veterans. The coalition; VFW, American Legion, Marine Corp League, DAV and Purple Heart naturally were all approved for the state funds. Jack reported there are approx. 700,000 veterans in Michigan with an average age of 64. Only about 15% of them join a veterans group. There are two bills about to be acted upon regarding veterans. SB 198 and SB 199 will change the makeup of the Michigan Veterans Trust Fund and the Board of Managers. VVA can still qualify to be seated on either of those boards. Ken reported he had received two $500 donations, one from Chapter 9 and one from Chapter 133. He also acknowledged Jack McManus who donated $1000 for the purchase of a car for Upper Peninsula service officer Vic Romback. Ken Diegel has taken over Membership Affairs until another suitable chair can be located. The MSC has approximately 4,000 members at this time. Tom Meinhardt reported there have been over 12,000 burials at Great Lakes National Cemetery. The program known as ‘Wreaths Across America’ will take place at GLNC at noon on December 10, 2011. Vice President John Riling reported that he and Bill Boudreau went to the John Dingell VA Hospital in Detroit and were allowed to sell some products. He would like to continue going there and he is interested in going to AAVA as well. John also announced that he is active with his retiree local and all public colleges are required to have an active veteran’s rep. who is knowledgeable about current VA regulations. Doc then gave his PTSD/TBI report. The US Army has reported over 70 suicide cases during the past 3 months. Some of these cases are pending further investigation and some include Reservists. We should all continue to watch out for our younger veteran brothers and sisters. A lot of them may be in denial and professional counseling would be advised. In Bob Erickson’s absence, Phil Smith reported there were still 1,679 POW/MIA from Vietnam. Phil Smith then gave his Service Office report. Current claims are backlogged one year and those on appeal are taking 1 ½ years to resolve. Phil said that many errors in cases have been occurring due to all the recent retirements of experienced VA adjusters. Terry from Roscommon Chapter 264 then offered to host the next State Council meeting on February 19, 2012. We then adjourned the meeting and headed to the basement where the AVVA members had set up our Christmas luncheon. To conclude our day in Howell the 50/50 State raffle was held. I didn’t get the names of the 3 winners but 1st place - $848.75 went to Alpena, 2nd place - $509.25 went to Newberry and 3rd place - $339.50 went to Grand Rapids. HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL!
