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BY BRUCE W. WHITAKER, DIRECTOR
Our 19th annual regional conference was held May 8-11 in
Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, hosted by the Tennessee State
Council. Attendance was one of the largest in recent years
with 187 registered members and guests.
During the two days
of the conference, the following seminars were presented:
Veterans Affairs (Don Samuels), Fund-raising (Tony Catapano),
Parliamentary Procedures (Mike Swift), At-Large Membership
(Len Ignatowski), and Administrative Management of Chapters
and State Councils (Bruce Whitaker). Two seminars were
presented by AVVA for AVVA attendees: Spousal Benefits
(Don Ashenbramer) and Leadership at the Local Level (Elaine
Simmons).
A method of updating membership on current VVA issues
and concerns was accomplished though the process of an Open
Forum. Front and center for the open forum were VVA President
John Rowan, VVA Secretary Barry Hagge, Region 3 Director
Bruce Whitaker, At-Large Director Tony Catapano, Region 4
Director Carol Schetrompf, and CSCP Chair Charlie Montgomery.
The
forum allowed leadership to bring forth matters to the membership
and, most importantly, allowed for membership to present
their issues and concerns to the leadership.
During the Awards
Luncheon, the annual Lingwood Lang Award was presented to
Mitch Carte of West Virginia. AVVA’s
Heart and Soul Award went to Blanche Duggins of Virgina.
Region
3 has five chapters in the top thirty of membership in VVA.
They were acknowledged for their continuous recruitment and
retention efforts: Chapter 172 (largest membership, 881),
Chapter 451 (second largest membership, 726), Chapter 203
(third largest membership, 635), Chapter 227 (twenty-second
largest, 214) and Chapter 628 (twenty-fifth largest membership,
203).
The following Chapters were acknowledged for VVA milestones:
Five years, Chapter 925; Ten Years, Chapters 196, 308, 628,
812 and 813; Fifteen Years, Chapters 580, 599, 644, and 654;
Twenty Years, Chapter 451; Twenty-Five Years, Chapters 78,
81, and 88.
Before adjourning, the following action was endorsed
by the State Presidents and soundly endorsed by applause
and a standing ovation from the membership: “Effective
with Region 3’s 20th Annual Regional Conference in
2009, the Conferences are renamed The George C. Duggins Region
3 Conference.”
The George C. Duggins 20th Annual Region 3 Conference 2009
will be hosted by the West Virginia State Council in Charleston,
April 16-18. Everyone is welcome.
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2011, Vietnam Veterans of America. All Rights Reserved. 8719 Colesville Road, Suite 100, Silver Spring, MD 20910