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Sharon Woods Tis the season to be jolly! Yes ladies, it’s that time of the year again, and I’m sending out greetings to all and I hope you have a wonderful holiday season. I am looking forward to watching my three year old grandson Wesley, open up his Christmas presents. His facial expressions are so endearing, the ooh’s and the aah’s. And now for WN business, the membership contest is off to a good start, and per the information being gathered by Gloria Galati, we have 33 new members that have filled out applications and joined our ranks as of October 30, 2003. This is great news, so let’s keep up the good work ladies and keep promoting our group. We need to continue to grow and keep our organization going. I also want to encourage you ladies to step up and hold an office, whether it be local, state, or national; no officer position is that hard to handle, and you get to meet and develop some good friendships with a great group of ladies. While I was your Ships Store Officer, I looked forward to the conventions, so I could match up some of your faces that I talked to over the phone or Internet. I state again, hold an office, step up to the challenge; I know you’ll enjoy it. From Sharon here in Apache Junction, Arizona, have a wonderful holiday season and a Happy New Year.
The one thing that I keep hearing from ladies who are joining, or have just recently joined WN is that they had never heard about our organization. I think that you know what I am getting at. ADVERTISE,
ADVERTISE, AND
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attention.
It is a lot easier than you think. Please do not sit back and wait for
the ladies to come to you. I have seen that happen more than once. If they
are not aware, let’s make them aware.
This
is for the UNIT PRESIDENTS,
Remember
that not all of our members have E-Mail.
By the time you read this column, I will have met with the Journalism students and their instructor for their input on the issues of newsletters they have already studied. Also, I will be delivering about 50 more newsletters for judging. Please continue sending your entries for the contest. On May 15, I will take the FINAL group to the class in order that they may be acted upon before school is out. In fact, if I find out that the number of school days is being cut, we may have to adjust the final date. New entries are arriving weekly. If the contest has been a catalyst toward a Unit starting a newsletter, it is a plus. I enjoy reading all of them, and feel that I have learned quite a bit about the other units. Thanks for being so faithful in sending me your copies and for the notes that accompany many of them.
Well here we are at the holidays – I certainly hope that each of you have a wonderful holiday filled with friends, family and a healthy and prosperous New Year! I have just returned from the annual luncheon celebrating ‘The Women Veterans Historical Project’ at the Jackson Library of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (website: http://www.wvhp.org).
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The
guest speaker; Kay Walton,
Senior Director of Armed Forces Emergency Services at the American Red Cross National Headquarters gave an upto-the-minute briefing of Red Cross activities around the world in support of our troops. Guests included; Francis Hobbins, NC State Director, Grace Alexander, President of Unit #44, Gladys Dimmick, President of Unit #144 along with members of both units. November 11, 2003 was the 50th anniversary of Veterans Day; I participated in Veteran’s Day ceremonies at the VAMC here in Fayetteville. I also hope to travel to Washington, DC to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Viet Nam Women’s Memorial. I will be thinking of all of the men and women who have sacrificed for the freedoms we now enjoy, especially our sea service women who paved the way for my naval career. There have been several donations in recent months; Congressman Howard L. Berman (CA) made a generous donation to the WAVES National Scholarship Fund, in memory of Laura Rapaport Borsten. Other generous donations were recently made to the Stained Glass Window Fund by: Gertrude Woolsey (MAL) in memory of Laura Jacks (Unit #131), Mr. Harold F. Ordway, Jr. in memory of his wife Dorothy Brown Ordway, and Piedmont Tarheels Unit #44. The WN Scholarship Fund and Stained Glass Window Fund are excellent ways to honor shipmates and to continue to educate the public that women also served in defense of this country! I have received several inquiries recently about Life Membership; LM of WAVES National is based on your current age. The following schedule is provided to assist you in determining if this is the type of commitment you would like to make to our organization. Life Membership funds are placed in Certificates of Deposit; annually national dues are transferred; however the member still has an obligation to pay the local unit dues. The Life Membership program is an excellent way to support WAVES National and decrease the annual dues paid since you |
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December |
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