NVAO Members,
We’ve got a lot of good stuff in this Update. Enjoy.
1. Wayne Worden checked in with some good news. As background, VFW Post 2003 Auxiliary in Colfax, CA has been decorating the overpass on I-80 that we ride under when we leave Auburn, CA and head to Reno on the NVAR. They asked Wayne if there were anything special they could do for the 2024 NVAR. Before Wayne could answer, they suggested that they could make some quilts to give away on the ride. Amazingly, the auxiliary is going to make 26 lap quilts and we will give away two of them at every VA Hospital and Home that we visit. Also, to help with expenses on the ride, they donated $200 to the ride. You’ve gotta love the ladies of the VFW Auxiliary.
2. Our Webmaster, Roger Granbois, is on the Board of Directors of the “Friends of Veterans Memorial Park”, a beautiful new park on 43 acres in downtown Davenport, Iowa right next to the Mississippi River. On November 2nd, a group of current and former participants on NVAR rides attended the ribbon cutting ceremony at this gorgeous new park. Attached is a photo of the group of riders and the Mayor of Davenport. Also attached is a photo of the ribbon cutting ceremony. Thanks to John Wilt for taking the photo of the ribbon cutting. Besides the ribbon cutting there was a helicopter fly-over and parachutists, one of whom streamed the American flag. All in all, a great day.
3. Dan Kelly forwarded to us a great video of the U.S. Marine Drum & Bugle Corps. Following is the link to the video. Thanks, Dan. Video Link: https://youtu.be/nOx-dqPyFfs?si=YSuZmpbXh1SjgULG
4. A good friend sent me the following story about the person who gets some of the credit for Veterans Day. Following is the link to that story. Story Link: https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/13043/kansas-shoe-salesman-responsible-veterans-day
5. Bob “Rainman” Fletcher not only produced the in memory of “Nugget” patches at no charge, he came up with a really important idea. I’ll let him tell it in his own words. If any of you volunteer at a VA Hospital or Home, please let me know your experience.
Jerry,
In one of your recent emails you wrote about the experience of a couple of vets that visited an assisted living facility and how the folks there appreciated their visit. I volunteer at McGuire VAMC here in Richmond. Most of my doctors are there so I am familiar with the facility. Prior to the pandemic we had about 400 volunteers.
During the pandemic we (volunteers) were not allowed to work and since the facility has opened back up many of the volunteers have not come back. We currently have about 100. McGuire relies on volunteers for everything from helping people find which clinic they need, to the location of the clinic, moving patients in wheelchairs from one clinic to another, writing letters or reading to the vets living there, the list goes on. We need more volunteers and are always looking for those that are interested in doing it. The point of this email is that I am guessing that a lot of the VAMC’s across the country need volunteers and it is a truly rewarding experience and the vets we assist are truly grateful. I urge anyone living near a VAMC, to see if their nearby VA facility needs or wants someone interested in volunteering.
Best regards, Bob
6. We have posted the 2024 NVAR Motel Schedule on the NVAO website, nvao.us. You may make your reservations now for the ride (always remember to tell the person at the motel that you are requesting a room from the NVAR block of rooms). The Rodeway Inn motel in Auburn has not yet set pricing for May 2024, so you can’t reserve a room at that motel till January, 2024. Thanks Sandy, for setting up all the motels except Auburn and Grand Island (Wayne Worden and Bill Luft do the motels in those cities).
We also posted the 2024 Ride Staff, State Coordinators and Board of Directors. You will notice that Libby Worden is going to be doing the Sit Reps in 2024, taking the reins from Mike Rinowski. Also, Eddie Shinn volunteered to take on the job of Ride Registration from Tony Jackson. Thanks to Mike and Tony for your excellent work in the past and to Libby and Eddie for stepping up to help the NVAR. You’ll also note that Kat and Mike Tipton will be driving the Chase Truck for part of the NVAR and Ed Kintzele (and I hope Sandy) will be driving for the other part of the ride.
We’ll be posting the 2024 NVAR daily Ride Schedule in December.
Thank you Roger Granbois for your help with the NVAO Website.
7. We have posted the 2024 NVAR Motel Schedule on the NVAO website, nvao.us. You may make your reservations now for the ride (always remember to tell the person at the motel that you are requesting a room from the NVAR block of rooms). The Rodeway Inn motel in Auburn has not yet set pricing for May 2024, so you can’t reserve a room at that motel till January 2024. Thanks Sandy, for setting up all the motels except Auburn and Grand Island (Wayne Worden and Bill Luft do the motels in those cities).
8. There was a wonderful morning on Veterans Day at Hooper Elementary School in Lindenhurst, IL. Nancy and Gary Croft and their daughter Kristi gave a presentation honoring 33 Vets who came to the school with their children or grandchildren. As a gift to the National Veterans Awareness Ride, the school presented over a hundred pieces of art for us to give to Veterans in VA facilities across the country during the 2024 NVAR. Thanks to Kristi for coordinating the morning’s activities.
9.Attached is an updated NVAO Contact Spreadsheet. Please, please, if your contact information changes, please let us know. A lot of us like to stay in contact with our NVAR friends. We’ll keep the spreadsheets updated but we need to know any changes that take place. (Please contact Jerry Conner for the latest Spreadsheet)
That’s it for now.
Be careful out there.
The NVAO Board of Directors
