It has been a great honor thus far serving as your president, we have welcomed several new members and have had some great losses as well in loosing those sisters who we have held in highest regards.
It has been a busy eight months with some changes but also some additions making our Auxiliary even stronger. We as part of District 9 hold first place in the race with 102.33% in memberships, that is something to be very proud of, congratulations!
We stayed busy assisting our VFW in the monthly chicken and brat events, 4th of July in the park, Veterans Day and Memorial Day services while also achieving new goals set by us. Our newly formed Committees have been a great asset to the president and group, it’s been wonderful to see so many members getting excited to be involved.
We visited with CFC students K-6 discussing patriotism and flag etiquette, all the students received a mini flag for waving at parades, a patriotic pencil, and a flag sticker. In turn we were invited to have lunch with the students after the veteran’s day program where they displayed their artwork and waved their flags.
The Auxiliary is sponsoring WAA (Wreaths Across America) of Buffalo City, wreaths were layed on local veteran’s grave in the Buffalo City Cemetery including our Gold Star Family. For more information on WAA and how you can purchase a wreath and be a part of laying these beautiful wreaths, please see the information listed on the webpage or by contacting Deb Kujak.
Our Halloween Committee dressed the part at the Trunk or Treat in the park handing out candy to all the ghosts and goblins and some big one’s too, they had a great time, and we look forward to next year.
We had our first joint Christmas party with the VFW in December, our Christmas Committee did an awesome job putting this together it was enjoyed by all, mark your calendars for December 9, 2024, for the next joint Christmas party.
We filled out and hand delivered Christmas Cards to the Chippewa Falls Veterans Home, we recently signed Valentine’s Day cards and delivered them as well. Putting a smile on a face or touching the heart with a simple greeting is something these Veterans deserve.
You can view photos of these events and updates on our Facebook page. If you are not on the personal Facebook page, please reach out and we will assist you. You can also view our public VFW and Auxiliary page at https://vfwpost10406.org/auxiliary/index.html.
We went outside the box in 2023-2024 and did a handgun raffle and we exceeded our expectations, great job Auxiliary, the drawing for the raffle will be on March 16th during the VFW Chicken and Brat event.
We have been working on reaching out to our members correcting contact information, it has been great to personally speak to you and having updated our records. If you have a name, address, email, and phone number change please let us know so we can make those changes and you are receiving all the information firsthand.
As we move into the second month of 2024 and upcoming events, the Veterans Appreciation Dinner will be on February 24th honoring our Viet Nam Era Veterans. A dinner and program will be held including our VOD (Voice of Democracy) and PP (Patriots Pen) winners’ recognition. The Auxiliary reached out to the Choir Students from CFC for singers, we have 4 volunteers to sing our National Anthem this year along with inviting back to assist in the Missing Man Table is past Voice of Democracy Winner Hale Madsen, will be lighting the candle. We are looking forward to this event, all VFW and Auxiliary members and families were welcomed and invited.
We will be having our nominations of Officers for the 2024-2025 year at our March 14th meeting, any member in good standing may nominate themselves or someone else, except for At Large Members. No member shall be elected to the office unless the member is in attendance at the election, or unless they submit in writing their willingness to be elected and hold office. All Officer positions are open for nominations, the secretary position is a appointed position by the president. Remember these are nominations only, our Elective Officers shall be nominated and elected at the regular business meeting in April.
I have agreed to remain as President fulfilling my two-year commitment through 2026, I’m truly enjoying this experience and everything I have learned and still learning while representing our Auxiliary and working together with you all.
Please remember that as an elected Officer you are not required to keep moving up the ladder, you can do one year, two years or how many you want depending on the interest of that position, so please consider an Officer position. While attending District, State and National events are very informative they are not required at this level by any individual, but they are fun.
This year’s State Convention will be held June 12 -15th in Green Bay, you can always learn something new along with new people, you can attend all or one of the events, I’m personally excited for the Formal Military Ball that will be the closing this year. Every VFW and Auxiliary member may attend all, one or just the evenings meal and ball.
New Officers equals new ideas and opportunity for growth inside our Auxiliary not to mention we have fun and its very rewarding. We hold our meetings the second Thursday of the month at the VFW in Cochrane at 7:00pm. Come Join Us!
No One Does More For Veterans.
Kimberly Goss
VFW Post 10406
Auxiliary President
100 Michaels St
Cochrane, WI 54622
Cell (715) 279-2464
Club (608) 248-2733 kmg2605@gmail.com
Established 1914, members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States Auxiliary set out to serve the veterans of this country and our communities in honor of the sacrifices and commitment of every man and woman who has served in uniform. The VFW Auxiliary is one of the nation’s oldest veterans’ service organizations and our members are the relatives of those who have served in overseas combat. More than 475,000 members in nearly 3,900 Auxiliaries nationwide who volunteer millions of hours and fundraise millions of dollars for charitable projects that benefit veterans, military service personnel and their families.
