Letter from Your Editor

In addition to the Veteran Organizations that I belong to (VFW, American Legion, VVA, and the 11th Armored Cavalry Veterans of Vietnam and Cambodia), I also belong to Rotary. In days past, attendance of weekly Rotary meetings was mandatory and missing more than a few was grounds for termination. That requirement is long gone, but I recall one older Rotarian, Babe Buckland who some of you may have known, who had perfect attendance for decades, how many I don’t recall. One day he was fishing out of Port Angeles and in the middle of a tremendous bite, he pulled up and left to attend the local Rotary meeting. As he told it, the salmon were chewing the keel off his boat. Upon hearing that, I made it a point to miss one meeting a year to make sure I didn’t get addicted to a perfect attendance record knowing I’d never leave a hot bite.

I find myself somewhat in the same dilemma that Babe was in as I changed the number of years and issues on the header page of this newsletter. I have put this newsletter out for 12 years without missing an issue although I will be a day late this month. Since 13 is an unlucky number when it comes to newsletters (I just made that up), I’d like to step aside and let someone else put something together so I’m looking for volunteers (a bad thing when dealing with wily veterans). I began this newsletter because I think keeping all your members informed, particularly those who can’t make meetings or have moved out of the area, is critical to having a cohesive Post. As District Commander, I was able to implement a District newsletter as well as having several Posts begin their own newsletter. I can still be involved in the formatting but I would appreciate a few reporters doing the hard work. A good newsletter is done by committee anyway. You know where to find me.