A Letter from the Commander
August 2014
Comrades:
I have been your Commander for two months, and it seems like I have a full-time job. We have had a lot to deal with these first two months and I hope it slows down a little for hunting season this fall.
The City has passed the new ordinance regarding our Liquor License. We can now be licensed as a “Restaurant/Bar”, instead of a “Club”, or we can remain licensed as a “Club”. We will vote on these issues at our October, 2014, meeting. I will permit two people to talk for a “Club License”, and two people to talk for a “Restaurant/Bar License,” at our September, 2014, meeting. Each will be allowed two (2) minutes of time to speak. I have to be fair to both sides of the issue at the meeting.
Last month in my Commanders letter, I spelled out problems the canteen has been having financially. With that letter I presented a list of programs and projects within the canteen where we can save money and gain income to balance our financial picture. Our “House Committee”, met on these issues on July 21, 2014, and approved most of my proposals. All of these issues were presented to the floor at our monthly meeting and most of the issues were approved by the “Members Present”.
We have been trying to find a new Gambling Manager and I have decided on a candidate for the job, but we are working out some logistics for the position. I proposed to the “House Committee” and the “Membership Floor”, that we make the position a full-time position. When the individual is not working on “Gambling” administrative work, he/she will be working with a “Planning Team”, to increase and improve activities within the club for Gambling and the canteen.
In addition to the changes with the Gambling Manager, I am forming an in-house “Planning Team”, to plan, organize, evaluate, and implement activities within the club. The purpose is to implement a variety of activities to expand our draw from the public to increase our foot traffic through the door. The “Planning Team” will be made up of the Commander, House Committee Chairman, Club Manager, Gambling Manager, and the cook. These people should be able to work together to organize these activities within the club and function in harmony.
I would like to finish by expressing my gratitude for the understanding and encouragement that I have received from my fellow Comrades in working with these issues. I feel we are moving into a new operation direction with VFW Clubs. We have to change our scope of operations to meet the challenges of our time. My first Technical College Instructor used to tell us: “If you are going to succeed in life; you have to Role with the Punches”. His way of saying that you have to change with the times and events, to succeed. In years to come I hope that we can look each other in the eye and say: “Well, we tried and we succeeded!”
Respectfully submitted:
Gabe Pipo, Commander