* *Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States * *

  The Trumpet

January - February 2012                         (Volume 65, No. 4)

A Bi-Monthly Publication of Post No. 2562, Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States, Incorporated
11316 Fern Street, Wheaton, MD 20902

From The POST COMMANDER

As we begin the New Year at our Post Home, we should take some time to reflect on the mission of the Post and its members – and keep that mission in mind throughout the year.

The purposes of Silver Spring Memorial Post 2562 include service to its members and guests, to the community, and to the Nation.

A primary purpose is to serve veterans and active duty military personnel by providing a gathering place for social events for members, their families and their guests.

The Post provides information to members about government benefits to which they are entitled and assists them in obtaining those benefits.

Post 2562 provides programs that favorably affect Veterans with their everyday living and serves as a center for community service where its members, Ladies Auxiliary members and Men’s Auxiliary members raise funds for local charities and deliver services to local citizens in need.  The Post is affiliated with the Maryland Department of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the National VFW organization and its members participate in the programs of these organizations.

VFW Post 2562 helps sponsor events several times a year that remind the public of the service and sacrifices by Veterans in our country’s times of need.  The Post also provides a meeting place and a social gathering place for weddings, receptions and parties.

We have had several very successful events at the Post Home recently.  Please come out and support the Ladies Auxiliary this spring at their Cancer Aid and Research Brunch.  We never know when this terrible disease will affect any of us or our families.  All profits go to fighting cancer.

Our Toys for Tots campaign was a huge success.  We collected 397 toys for the Marine Corps Reserve to distribute to area children.

The Ladies Auxiliary will be hosting a Shrimp Feed in March to benefit the Post.  Please help them help the Post so that we can keep moving forward.

Remember that the lifeblood of our organization is participation and volunteerism.  Get off the sidelines and into the game to keep our Post a viable part of our community.

John Hoffman, Post Commander

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Representing Post 2562 in the Teacher of the Year Contest for 2011-12 is Robin Jones of Alexandria, Virginia.

Mr. Jones teaches science to grades 6 through 12 at the Fairfax County Juvenile Detention Center in Fairfax.

He is also the Teacher of the Year for District 2 (sponsored by all the Posts in District 2).

The Fairfax County Public Schools operate a 5.5 hour per day school program at the Juvenile Detention Center.  The curriculum offers levels of instruction emphasizing acquisition, fluency, and maintenance of academic & life skills. The curriculum includes all levels of math, history, science, and English. Other areas of instruction include psychology, sociology, art, music, technology, current events, drug education, and health & physical education. In addition, a G.E.D. preparation program is available.

PATRIOT PEN CONTEST  There were 25 contestants from St. Michael the Archangel Catholic School at 824 Wayne Avenue in Silver Spring.  The winners were as follows:

1st place: Brenda Rosas - 8th grade

2nd place: Tori M. Epps - 8th grade

3rd place: Dennis Andia - 8th grade

VOICE OF DEMOCRACY CONTEST  The two contestants in the VOD contest were Mary C. Beller, a senior at Mother of Divine Grace School, and Leah I. Kraft, a senior at Walter Johnson High School.

Ms. Beller took first place in the contest.

We are proud to announce that the first place winners of both contests won the District 2 contests and will be representing District 2 in the State competition, which will be held January 29 at Charles Evering Post #6506.

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Chaplain's Corner

A very Happy and prosperous New Year to all full of Joy and Happiness!

Today I offer this prayer:

Lord of the Universe, you have given most of mankind a strong desire to do good, to be honest, to serve others, and to faithfully fulfill their obligations to their neighbors:

Help us, as veterans and humans, to do good;

Help us, as veterans and humans, to be honest and ethical in all our dealings;

Help us, as veterans and humans, to serve others; and

 Help us, as veterans and humans, to faithfully fulfill our obligations as neighbors to our community, our nation and the world.  Amen.

Sick call:  We remember and wish all those who are sick or afflicted a hearty “Get Well!”

Deceased member:  Russell L. Toms

Tomas F. Bunting, Chaplain  301 384-6562

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MEN’S AUXILIARY

Members,

Glad to see a new year has started.  Let's kick 2012 off with a bang!

We are keeping Pub Nights for another year.  They will continue to be on Mondays, from 5:30 to 7:30 PM - the 2nd and 4th Monday of every month, to be exact.  We'll try to switch things up from burgers a couple times so that you all don't get bored.

January 9 Notable Games:

NCAA Hoops – WV @ UConn at 7 PM

Cincy @ Georgetown at 9 PM

NHL - Capitals @ Kings at 10:30 PM

January 23 Notable Games:

NCAA Hoops - Syracuse @ Cincy at 7 PM

Nothing else that I see, but we'll have the TV on stand-by if something comes up. . .

February 14 Notable Games:

NCAA Hoops - Syracuse @ Louisville at 7 PM

NHL - Sharks @ Capitals at 7:30 PM

February 28 Notable Games:

NCAA Hoops - Notre Dame @ Georgetown at 7 PM

Please remember to bring in your old, used cell phones so we can help our troops.  Right before the holidays, we sent roughly 25 phones to Cell Phones for Soldiers to be exchanged for international calling cards.  Hopefully, those who weren't sent back to the States were able to get their hands on these and call home.  Thank you to the Women's Auxiliary (especially Pat Hogue) for helping us out with getting these phones sent.  I am looking forward to making further contributions to this organization.

Check the next newsletter for a possible 100 Club dinner, golf outing(s), March Madness parties, and other special events.

Of course, if you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to reach me at msmithhisl@gmail.com.

Sincerely,

Michael Smithhisler, Men’s Auxiliary President

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From the Editor’s Desk

My apologies for not getting this issue to you sooner.  There was Christmas planning, then Christmas shopping, then Christmas partying, then post-Christmas cleanup.  In between and amongst all of those things were the usual chores that “have” to be done.  Somehow, everything got done, but not necessarily when it should have been done.  There was also the wait for the missing article – which, unfortunately, never did appear.

I hope everyone had a great holiday season and wish everyone a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year!

I have really enjoyed bringing this newsletter to you and hope that you have enjoyed reading it.  Please let me know if there is anything I can do to make it better.  If you have anything you would like to share with the other members of the Post 2562 family, let me know and I will see if I can find room for it in The Trumpet.

BTW – If you want to ensure that you get each issue of The Trumpet in a timely manner (that is, no later than the first day of the first month of that issue) sign up to get it electronically.  I can email you either an Adobe pdf version (which is what I send to the printer) or an MS Word version (which is how I put it together) or both.  Just send me an email (jmark47@gmail.com) with your request.  I will not share your email address with anyone.

J. ‘Mark’ Stilwell, Editor

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