LAWRENCE SYBESMA MEMORIAL AMVETS POST 23 98 52 ND STREET SE, KENTWOOD, MI 49548 616-531-5438 DECEMBER 2018 AMVETS MEETING: December 3 rd at 7:00 pm sharp your attendance is welcome! No December Fish Fry AMVET News: Commander Barry Abshire (BarryLeeAb@yahoo.com) 2018 2019 Officers Commander: Barry Abshire 1 st Vice Commander: Jim Walters 2 nd Vice Commander: George Watterson 3 rd Vice Commander: Ken Skonecki Adjutant: Vacant Finance Officer: Mel Rhoads Judge Advocate: John Stawkowski Provost Marshall: Ken Smith Trustee: Harold Mast Trustee: John Felui Trustee: Jeff Norman I would first like to thank all of you for supporting your post. November was a very good month for us, that is because of all your support. We had a few wonderful dinners to support our Veterans. I thank all the workers from the Sons to the Ladies. December comes with another opportunity to come and see friendly faces and enjoy the festive holiday season. My wife and I wish each and everyone of you and your families a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. From 1 st Vice Commander Merry Christmas to all. Just thinking what a wonderful gift to give a Veteran than the gift of Membership. We are a family at the Post and always looking for others to be part of it. Please contact me and we ll get them signed up. On a different note if you have not paid your renewals of $35.00 see me and I will get you the new membership card.
Thank you ~Jim Walters (j.walters0777@gmail.com) From 2nd Vice Commander About bands at Post 23. We will have the Larson Brothers and Guinness Brothers bands back in December. If you haven t heard Larson Brothers, they do a lot of old country and you ve heard the Guinness Brothers here a number of times and both are good bands. Due to the heavy holiday season we will cut back on entertainment with open jukebox on the 22 nd and 29 th plus no entertainment on the 26 th. With winter starting I hope everyone will continue to support the Post whenever they can. Without your support, we cannot continue. Karaoke continues on Wednesday and Saturdays in December. We will be trying a new group Grown Folks Music and will continue for the winter months as long as it s profitable for the Post. Plus, Impressions will pick up a few Saturdays. The time will stay 7:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. as per singer s request. Impressions will continue doing all Wednesdays. Now for what s happening at the Post since last time. PLEASE! If you are planning to have an event at Post 23, no matter how small or big you need to clear it with the 2 nd Vice first, NOT anyone else. He has the master schedule of events and we don t need two groups showing up on the same day at the same time. So please check first. Also, you MUST HAVE a member in good standing present during the entire event if non-members are present. Thanks to Brenda, candy bags have been doing well and if you have any Halloween candy left over you would like to get rid of I m sure Brenda could use it. I have been getting donations for candy and those of you who carefully open the bags, so we can reuse them. Thank you, it s much appreciated. Don t forget the Euchre night on Tuesdays starting at 6:00 p.m. The fish fry will be returning in January on the third Friday of the month now that hunting season is over and with the busy holiday schedules and being so close to Christmas. They will be running until April starting at 5:00 p.m. until gone. The first fish fry was very good. We ran out of perch in October and ordered 20 pounds more for November, so it didn t happen again. We did run out but it was close to 7:00 p.m. and we were in the process of closing down. I m pleased to announce that even with Scott s illness, Denise and Scott will continue as chairpersons running the Tree of Lights this year and are still taking donations for those families in need at Christmas. IF you know of a family that could use a little extra help during the Christmas season please let Denise and Scott know. There are forms to fill out with the family information, so we can help them. Please help Denise and Scott if you can. The Euchre Tournament last month was cancelled due to Scott illness and we hope to try this again in 2019 after the holiday season is over. I will let you know when if we try again. The pre-veteran s dinner on the 9 th went off very well with many happy faces. Thank you, Sue Kintopf and Cheri Hudson and your helpers. Well done ladies.
I would like to also thank Michigan Turkey for donating the turkey roasts given to each veteran who was there. The extra turkey roasts that were left will be given to the Tree of Lights families. On the 11 th the ladies auxiliary hosted a Veterans Day Lunch that was very well received. A big thank you to Lee Williamson, Nancy Middleton and the helpers of the ladies auxiliary for honoring our veterans. Another job well done. Thank you! I wish to thank Nancy Middleton for printing up the New Year s Eve tickets again this year. This is always most appreciated during the busy holiday season. Thanks Nancy. We will have our last New Year s Eve planning meeting on December 10 th at 7:00 p.m. So far hardly anyone has volunteered to help with this event. If you can help, please let me know. We would need help between 4:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. setting up tables and decorating for the reopening at 6:00 p.m. The more people who help makes this event a lot easier to put together. This year s band is the Frank Eimer Band. Tickets went on sale November 14 th at 7:00 p.m. and can be purchased from the bartenders. Cost this year will be $20.00 per person and as in the past seating is reserved at time you purchase your tickets. The ticket ### on the ticket will match your seat ### on the master chart. The cost will include one celebration drink, party favors, dinner (which is 2 meats, 2 vegetables, 2 potatoes, salad bar, roll and dessert) and at 11:15 p.m. a light buffet snack (2 sandwich meats, rolls, breads, cheese & crackers tray, vegetables & dip tray, fruit bowl) table. And, of course Champagne at midnight. The 6 Month calendar meeting was November 29 th at 6:30 p.m. If you have an event for the first half of 2019 you needed to be there to put it on the January 1 st thru June 30 th, 2019 calendar so it can be approved by the AMVETS at the next meeting. If you had something to add and didn t make it, you need to call me to have it put on the master calendar before the January 7 th AMVETS meeting. The shuffleboard league started October 14 th (Sunday) at 1:00 p.m. and has been well received and should be ending December 16 th. If there is enough interest we may resume in January again. The Post will close at 5:00 p.m. SHARP on December 16 th so the employees can enjoy their annual Christmas Party. This is our way to thank those bartenders for a job well done. The Post will also close at 8:00 p.m. SHARP Christmas Eve and be closed Christmas day. We will also close it at 5:00 p.m. SHARP New Year s Eve to ready it for the New Year s Party starting at 6:00 p.m. We will have no entertainment on December 22 nd (Open Jukebox), the 26 th (no karaoke) and 29 th (Open Jukebox). History: On the 5 th The Somalia Campaign began (1992). On the 7 th the U. S. Navy was attacked at Pearl Harbor. The 8 th the U.S. declared war on Japan. The 11 th Germany and Italy declared war on the U.S. The Iraq War ended on the 15 th (2011). The 20 th the Panama Campaign began (1989) and the 21 st winter begins. December 31 st is New Year s Eve and was the official End of World War II (1946). If you have flags, on the 7 th fly it at half mast until sunset to honor those who were lost on December 7 th and at full mast on the 25 th. Good bye 2018 and hello 2019, Peace ~George Watterson, AMVETS 2nd Vice
From 3 rd Vice Commander Deb and I would like to take a moment to wish each of you a very Merry Christmas. We thank you for all the positive feedback on the Newsletter. Please submit articles by the 15 th of each month. We would like to hear from all groups associated with the Post the Sons, Ladies, Bartenders, Mo, The Riders and even You. Thanks and God Bless everyone. Have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year Newsletter articles or submissions are due by the 15 th of each month. The newsletter will be completed around the 25 th of each month. The articles in the newsletter are inserted in as submitted. If there are errors please contact the person the article came from. I do not have the time to send out corrections. God Bless, ~Ken Skonecki SOA News: Commander Kevin Fox (ripster_32@hotmail.com / 616-284-9400) No Report Riders Report: - No Report Ladies Auxiliary Report: President Lee Williamson (williamsonleora@att.net) The Ladies Auxiliary December meeting will be held at the very festive home of Nancy Middleton (1535-48th St. SE) on the 10th at 6:30PM. Please bring a snack to share and two gifts valued at $3 to $5 each, for a fun game. Lee Williamson, President ~ Lee Williamson, Ladies Auxiliary President Hello Ladies We are coming down to the wire for Membership to be added to the list at the current price of $28 for renewals and $35 for new members. Grab a Membership application at the post and fill it out completely. Also, please be aware that if the deadline of December 31, 2018 is missed all renewing members will have to revalidate for new membership. That means you will need to submit a DD214, an AMVET post membership card and or a death certificate. There will be no exceptions. I urge you to follow through with this easy process. Call your friends to make sure they meet the deadline--they will be happy you thought of them! New pricing for January 1, 2019 is as follows: $37 for a new member this means if you missed the deadline you will be signing up as a new member at $37. To join as a life member price will rise to $278. All cost changes are from National and become effective 1/1/19. As a friendly reminder all life members are urged to submit an annual $5 donation towards our Hospital activities which are now due. Our resident veterans at the Home sure appreciate
the small gifts we purchase with these funds. Complete an application circle the $5 at the bottom of the page and place in an envelope at the auxiliary mailbox in the post. Now would be a good time for you to submit to an address or name change. I am working with National s database to update their files. I would need your old information then the new. (For my info only Don t forget to include a phone number or email in case I have questions.) Do you want to receive a post newsletter? Send me your email and I will add it to the auxiliary list to receive it. Need help or clarification? Call me at 616 530-8684 or ghall54@aol.com Leave a message so that I can return your call. Thank you ~ Gloria Hall, Membership Chair Upcoming Events / Points of Interest / On-Going: Monday: Happy Hour All Day! Tuesday: Tacos / Burritos Wednesday: * Burgers and Fries -Served after 5pm on Karaoke Wed's * Thursday: Chef's Choice (Menu will vary) Don't forget karaoke Wednesdays are regular drinks prices. The menu on Thursday will change weekly.. Memorial to our Fallen Brothers and Sisters: ** A serious note here; from the AMVETS who wish to pass on our sympathy to the family of longtime Sons member Jerry Ciermans who passed away November 15 th. Please come to show your support to his wife Trish honoring his service to the Post on December 8 th at 2:00 p.m. here at Post 23. If you know any brother or sister that has passed away, please email names to me. Award presented to the post from the Sons for Community Service Barry Abshire and Doug Coke
Information about our Post: 2nd Lt. Lawrence Sybesma CP KIA 468th Bomb Group Aircraft Aircraft #: 42-6389 Squad: 792 Group: 468 AC Name: Party Girl Pilot: Lyons Date Lost: 12/7/1944 Comment: Hit Mountain after Mukden 42-6389 Party Girl 792ndBomb Squadron December 7, 1944, mission to the Mukden aircraft factory from forward base in China. MACR 10100. 42-6389 failed to return from the mission and was contacted 1 hour and 15 minutes from A-7. The element leader contacted 42-6389 and told A/C Lt. Lyons to break up formation in order to start descent through the undercast. 42-6389 answered back and started a 360-degree turn, which is normal procedure for aircraft flying in the #3 position. The element leader started a descend into the undercast but upon finding that ice was beginning to form on the wings very quickly decided to climb above the undercast and make a quick descent in the general area of A-7. 42-6389 was never seen again after starting the 360-degree turn. Crew 1st Lt. Calvin L. Lyons AC KIA 2nd Lt. Lawrence Sybesma CP KIA 1st Lt. Waldo B. Schneider N KIA 1st Lt. John A. Bucher B KIA 1st Lt. James W. Smith FE KIA S/Sgt. Joseph Micciche RO KIA S/Sgt. Neuman A. Bodart R KIA S/Sgt. William B. Jackson CFC KIA S/Sgt. Sisto A. Aldieri LG KIA S/Sgt. Lavern A. Fink RG KIA S/Sgt. Russell W. Peters TG KIA
2nd Lt. Lawrence Sybesma Laid to Rest in Grandville Cemetery 3570 Prairie St SW, Grandville, MI 49418 Block G - Lot 1054 - view looking north west ; second row from the right
2018 DECEMBER SUNDAY CALENDAR YEAR CALENDAR MONTH FIRST DAY OF WEEK Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 25 26 27 28 29 30 01 Grown Folk Music Karaoke 7:00pm 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 Shuffleboard League 1:00 AMVETS Meeting 7:00 Euchre 6:00 pm Impressions Karaoke 7:00pm Riders Meeting 7:00pm Frank Eimer Band 7:30pm Ladies Pool League 6:00pm Footloose Karaoke 7:00pm 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 Son's Meeting 12:00 Shuffleboard League 1:00 Ladies Auxilary Meeting 6:30 pm New Years Eve planning Meeting 7:00 Euchre 6:00 pm Impressions Karaoke 7:00pm Ladies Pool League 6:00pm Big Dogs 7:30pm Impressions Karaoke 7:00pm Newsletter Due 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 Shuffleboard League 1:00 CMC Meeting 6:30 pm pm Last Call at 4:30pm Club/Post Closes at 5:00pm SHARP! - Employee Christmas Party 6:00 pm Blue Star Mothers Impressions Karaoke Meeting 6:30 pm Euchre 7:00pm 6:00 pm Larson Brothers 7:30 pm Adult Christmas Party 7:00 pm NO FISH FRY Open Juke Box 6:30 pm 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 Last Call at 7:30 pm Club Christmas closes at 8:00 pm SHARP Club Closed No Entertainment Guinness Brothers 7:30 pm Open Juke Box 6:30 pm 30 31 01 02 03 04 05 Last Call at 4:30pm Club/Post Closes at 5:00pm SHARP! - New Years Eve Party 6:00 pm