Even more getting ready...

In case you were wondering how all the stuff the Veterans get on departure day gets there, I took a couple of pictures of my house a few days before the trip -- just to show you what goes on behind the scenes.  These were shot in one of our guest rooms.  Fortunately we were not having guests over at the time.

Pam is in the background helping me work through the "assembly line."  The packets on the far wall are finished and ready to go.  The others are still being checked for completeness.

It gets to be quite a busy place for a short time, but it all works out and is really worth it.

By the way, this "assembly line" wasn't confined to just this room.  It went around the room, on the beds, and down the hall.  Had 46 Vet packets at one time.  We did, however, have some drop out of the trip, and we save the packet just in case they come back for the next trip.  That way, we only have to update a few things and they are ready to go.

It may look hectic, but it really isn't.  The key is organization, and having done it several times before.

Hooah

Getting ready for the trip...

We have had about 40 wheel chairs on hand which we use for the last 5-6 trips courtesy of Apria Home Health Care who donated them for our use on these trips to DC.  They have come in real handy on many of the trips.  It seems everyone starts out on Saturday morning full of vim and vigor, but during the ceremony at The Wall, some of them start to fade and they think the wheel chairs will allow them to get through the day.  Lots of replaced knees, bad hips, bad lungs, and so on.  And sometimes, these come in handy just so they will have a place to sit -- lots of tourists there in the same areas and the benches get taken.

Well this year, we were able to offer three of the Vets who were in the most need of them the use of a motorized scooter for the day.  They sure took advantage of them, zooming here and there.  We had one scooter last year, but were able to come up with three this year due to the generosity of the Dayton VA and Mr. Jim Fortune who donated two of them, and the Winner family, who donated one that their mother had before she passed.  These scooters are ours now to be used on future trips.  They really helped the day go much smoother for the guys.

We had these chairs stored for about a month and needed to keep them charged and in working order.  Well, part of that includes taking them out for a spin every once in a while to put a load on the battery and then recharge them.  In order to do this, I would take each chair out for about a 25 minute spin around the Shelby County Fairgrounds.  Oh, and by the way, in the last sentence I didn't really mean "put a load on them".  I am still in my fighting weight!!  And I am sure some of the folks in the Ag. Center building got a kick out of seeing me zipping around the grounds in these chairs.

It's kinda hard taking a selfie while driving.  Probably some sort of law against this, even if it is shot while test driving a scooter chair.

I managed to get all three of them exercised 4 times each in the two weeks just before the trip.  In fact, Pam even helped me one day.  At least all of them worked and the batteries held up just fine for the whole trip.

Thanks go out to Jim Fortune and to the Winner Family.  Thank you for your support of this trip for our Veterans.

Hooah

Trip #10 now in the books...

The tenth trip to Washington DC for Shelby County and area Veterans has now been completed.  In all, 102 people (3 Korean War Veterans, 40 Vietnam/Vietnam-Era Veterans, 27 caregivers, and  2 drivers, 1 SDN representative, and 29 volunteers) made the trip to DC September 19-21.

The weather was great, the food was fantastic and plentiful, and the Monuments -- well, they were outstanding and the Vets who were seeing them for the first time were humbled and honored at the same time.

There were many stories that were shared -- some made us laugh and some made us cry.  But the Vets went there and conquered their fears, gave up some baggage and made a few new friends who knew what it was that they had gone thru.

There will be lots of pictures to see when we get them processed.  Look for the link to enjoy them.  You can also read the stories written by Patti Speelman of the Sidney Daily News by clicking on this link to their web site.News article on Vet Trip.

All those who took the trip are reminded to plan for the Post-trip Dinner scheduled for Monday, October    27.  The social time will begin at 5:30 with dinner to follow at 6:00.

Applications for the 2015 trip (September 18-20, 2015), Trip #11, will be posted on this web site around the first of the year, and will be available at various locations throughout the county about that time too.

Hooah