VFW Auxiliary Senior Vice President Training

 I had the opportunity to spend several days in Kansas City with my counterpart on the Auxiliary side of the house, Jean Hamil.  Jean's from the great state of Florida and will be the National President when I am [hopefully!] going to be at the helm of the VFW as the National Commander in Chief.

Due to Covid-19 restrictions, only a small portion of the Senior Vice Presidents from around the country were able to attend in person, with the remainder joining on Zoom along with their State Secretaries.  Even though it was a split meeting, there was an enthusiasm that you could feel.  Everyone is ready to come out of the Covid fog and hit the ground running for the future.  As Jean's slogan proclaims, they are going to be Soaring Above and Beyond!

When I say Covid restrictions were in place, they were serious about it!  We sat individually at six foot tables, with at least 6 feet between each table.  It was a huge room and there was a lot of space in between. Masks were required even when sitting at the tables for the business sessions.  Meals were interesting too as you had to sit with the same people at every meal [six of us at an eight person table] for easier tracking purposes.  I was really pleased to see everyone taking this seriously, whether they had been vaccinated or not.

I'm looking forward to a great partnership with Jean and we are both hoping that's going to extend down to the  VFW and Auxiliary Departments, Districts, and Posts.  We are all in this together and we realize the time is now to show the world that together we can make great things come to fruition!

Jean Hamil and I are going to make a great team.  We think alike on so many areas and speak with one voice for veterans!

Lots of spacing, but the material was top notch whether you were in person or on Zoom

The Auxiliary members are always so nice to me at these events.  Even Mama got a great gift bag of treats!  They know she likes Greenies!

A pensive moment on the rooftop of the Inter-Continental hotel, while the rest of use were having official photographs done.  She's probably thinking about those treats waiting for her in the room!

Some spur of the moment after dinner magical entertainment!