Many thanks to all who volunteered at the Stand Down on Oct. 1 at the Clallam County fairgrounds.
We were blessed to have the active duty Coast Guard personnel on hand to help in the kitchen, the clothing room and to pack up.
It was a sunny day and about 250 veterans and their families came through. St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, the Sequim Lions Club, the ladies of the DAR, Dr. Ed and Phyllis and other medical personnel and Dave the piano man all contributed to making it a successful event.
I do have some advice for next year: Please focus on donating new underwear, full size personal hygiene products and new camping gear. We ended up with an overabundance of used clothing. The excess was sent to Eastern Washington designated for veterans who lost their homes in the fires.
240 and counting
The Mount Olympus detachment of the Marine Corps League invites veterans of all services to join them in celebrating the 240th Anniversary of the Marine Corps on Saturday, Nov. 14, at the Sequim Elks Lodge.
If you are interested in attending, contact the Commandant Sid Gerling at 417-3710 for more information.
DAR meets
Michael Trebert Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution will be hosting the State Regent, Carol Jean Gafney, at its meeting at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 21, at the Veterans Center on Francis Street in Port Angeles.
Regent Gafney will speak about the Brigadoon Dogs project. For more information, contact Joyce at n7jpw@juno.com.
Christmas here already?
The year has flown by and we are starting to plan for Christmas already!
The Mount Olympus detachment of the Marine Corps League will be the local sponsor for the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys For Tots program.
Toys For Tots supports more than 2,000 Clallam County children through 21 social service organizations.
The mission of Toys For Tots is to ensure that every child can experience Christmas happiness and hope by receiving a toy. This takes a lot of work, so the initial organizational meeting will be at 4 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 20, at the Veterans Center in Port Angeles. The coordinator is Steve Deutermann. He can be reached at 477-2913 or deutermann@juno.com.
It is not too early to set aside new gifts for children ages birth to 16. The American Legion Post 62 will be helping to collect toys and cash donations in front of the Sequim Walmart. I will announce the schedule in next month’s column.
Help out at Retsil
For the older veterans, the American Legion Auxiliary of Sequim Post 62 will be going to the Washington State Veteran’s Home at Retsil Nov. 30-Dec. 3 to offer the residents an opportunity to select gifts for their families.
Christmas cards, gifts, wrapping and mailing are all free of charge to the residents.
We are collecting cash donations to pay for mailing the packages and new gifts for the residents to choose from. Men’s gifts and something for teenagers are needed.
Family gift sets are most welcome.
You can call me at 683-6419 if you have questions or need me to pick up a donation.
Contributors: DAR, Joyce Stroeher,n7jpw@juno.com; American Legion and MOAA, Lorri Gilchrist, cdrlgilchrist@gmail.com; Marine Corps League, Sid Gerling, sidjean6@gmail.com; Korean War Veterans, Jerry Rettela, eletteor@msn.com; Fleet Reserve Association, Marty Arnold, martinarnold2001@yahoo.com.
