Sunday, March 21, 2010

Yard Sale Success!

We had a gorgeous sunny day and lots of visitors to the VFW Yard Sale yesterday! Shoppers took home a bunch of really great deals. Several asked if we were going to make this a regular event. (Um...give us a chance to recover from this one, and we'll think about it!) Our Hot Dog Sale was a great success - at least until we ran out of onions and mustard. We promise that won't happen against next week. We also began selling these great magnets for just $3 each:We'll soon have t-shirts available, too!

Thank you to everyone who joined us yesterday. We made nearly $800 for the Memorial Fund!

Come back next week for more delicious hot dogs, and keep an eye on our calendar for upcoming events!

Friday, March 19, 2010

7 Years Ago

It's been seven years since the beginning of the Iraq War.

Nearly 4,400 American soldiers have died.

Please keep soldiers and their families in your hearts.

Friday, March 12, 2010

GREAT NEWS and not-so-great-news

The great news first: On Tues. March 9, the Summerfield Town Council unanimously approved the newly selected site for our monument. We're very happy to have that behind us, and more determined than ever to make our projected dedication date of July 4, 2010. We anticipate signing the contract to begin the pre-construction prep within two weeks or so. Still no word on whether or not Guilford County will assist us with the additional costs we'll incur from stepping aside to accommodate the school system's request.

Now for the not-so-great-news: Our yard sale, which was planned for tomorrow at Golden Antiques & Treasures in Summerfield has been postponed due to foreboding weather forecasts.

The yard sale will be held on Mar. 20 at the same location, starting at 9:00 a.m. Be sure to come check out all the great deals!

We will be having our Saturday Hot Dog Sale at Golden Antiques tomorrow from 10:30 a.m. until...we run out of dogs. Hope to see you there!

Saturday, March 6, 2010

One Saturday, two fund-raisers

Fortunately for us, Mother Nature decided to give us a lovely, sunny Saturday on which to hold two fund-raisers. Post members descended upon Golden Antiques & Treasures in Summerfield to hold our weekly hot dog sale. Senior Vice-Commander Bob White, decked out in a very appropriate apron, manned the grill:Post member Phil Belton manned the tank:Then he lost it to his grandson and Noah, grandson of post member Danny Nelson:
Noah also watched over his nephew, Rylan (age 6 weeks):
Later in the day, post members gathered at the Brassfield Chik-fil-A in Greensboro, where diners were encouraged to drop their receipts into a donation box. The restaurant will donate 15% of sales from 4:00-8:00 p.m. to our Memorial Fund. Here, post member Lyle Baker waits to greet diners:
Lyle can smile. We see him do it all the time. He just doesn't do it for photos. ;-)


Many, many thanks to area residents who supported our fund-raising events today, and to our hosts: Golden Antiques & Treasures and Brassfield Chik-fil-A!

Friday, March 5, 2010

What the heck have we been up to?

Yes, we have been busy. During the months after our groundbreaking, we set about obtaining estimates for materials, construction, grading and labor in regards to getting our monument built. We've traveled to different monuments around the state for ideas and inspiration, and come home to put our heads together and figure out how to raise building funds in a precarious economy.

Our projected budgets have ranged from $50,000 for pre-cast concrete to $150,000 for solid granite. After determining that pre-cast concrete would be both affordable and more easily formed to suit our design, we launched our fund-raising endeavors and set our hearts on a dedication date of July 4, 2010.

And just when we were within days of signing a binding contract to begin preparation for construction, we received news that Guilford County Schools wanted to dig a test well on our site.

Yes, really.

The school system's other two test wells turned up positive for radon. Without a viable well, Summerfield Elementary School (which is literally a stone's throw from our dedicated site in the Summerfield Town Park) cannot be expanded. Aware of the school's desperate need for space, we made a tough decision.

In this clip, post member Danny Nelson speaks before the Summerfield Town Council and members of the news media, explaining our decision to sacrifice the site we've spent well over a year planning as the permanent home for our monument.

Here is a portion of the speech Danny presented:

"

...Our veterans are certainly accustomed to making sacrifices. After much consideration and discussion we are once again willing to make another sacrifice. These are our children, grandchildren, great grandchildren and perhaps great great grandchildren that each of us has fought and died for to afford them the freedoms and the right for education. It is in this case our duty to stand up and make this decision.


We are willing to surrender our site in the grove of trees to allow the Guilford County Schools to proceed with their project on the condition that we are granted the alternate site on the East side of the Summerfield Community Center parking lot. We request this council approve this site with no delay so we can continue with our project and meet our projected July 4th Our post lost five members last year. We simply do not want to bury another comrade without them seeing this monument completed. Therefore we need a solid commitment from this council and Guilford County today. dedication. We cannot afford to waste time again haggling over sites.


It is our understanding that the town of Summerfield fully supports and is committed to this memorial for the good of the community we therefore request a public confirmation that we will be granted this alternate site that was discussed as an option between the town manager and myself last week.


From Guilford County we need a solid commitment from Mr. LaRowe (Andrew LaRowe, Executive Director of Construction and Facilities Management for Guilford County Schools) that he will work on our behalf to get the county to offset the added expenses incurred by our accommodation of their needs"



Given the short notice regarding the county’s need to test on our dedicated site in the grove of trees we have not had the time or opportunity to obtain estimates for preparing and building on the alternate site. Because of the physical issues involved by changing sites there will be additional expenses that will well exceed our projected budget."


The site that was granted to us by the Summerfield Town Council in a unanimous - but non-binding resolution - is a short distance from the grove of trees we incorporated into our original design. It is closer to the parking lot that the original site. This aspect is very important to us, as we are thinking of visitors who have limited mobility. Whether they are elderly veterans slowed by age or youthful veterans whose mobility was sacrificed in a war zone, whether they are mothers with babies in strollers, we want this monument to be easily accessible. We're having to tweak our design just a bit to accommodate the new site as well as the additional ground work that will be required, but we are determined to get this monument done.

On Tuesday evening, March 16, at 6:30, the Summerfield Town Council will meet. We fully expect that the non-binding resolution will be made binding. Meanwhile, we've spent this week planning more fund-raising events.

Please check back frequently to follow our progress.

Thank you for supporting veterans!