Not all minutes from every meeting of the year will necessarily appear in this document. Only minutes that have been submitted are displayed. ---- January 22, 2019 Opening Ceremony: 1910 meeting begins Roll Call of Officers: Members Bill, Tim, Curtis and Kevin present for a quorum. Application for Membership: No new applications this month. Ceremony of Initiation: N/A Minutes of previous meeting: October minutes sent on October 27th was approved. Correspondence: Bill announced a verbal correspondence noting he talked to Dennis at the Detachment Holiday Party who still has about a year of chemo remaining, but appears to be doing quite well. Report of Paymaster: Current balance of $9548.51. Still encountering problems due to delays from National. Motion to accept the paymaster report pending a member audit was made and accepted. Report of any Member/Family Sick or Distressed: Curtis' mother passed away while in the operating room in late October. Detachment agreed to be on call for Curtis and his family if they need anything. Nobody has heard from Bill Brooks for a while although Gordon has seen him on Facebook recently. Mike Betts was ill two weeks ago and this may be the reason he's not at tonight's meeting. Former member Patrick Starliper's brother recently passed away. Patrick was a very active member in the detachment several years ago. Report of Officers: Commandant: Missed the November meeting due to neck problems and is grateful to those members who stepped up during his absence. Enjoyed the Detachment Christmas Party. Would like someone else to consider running for Commandant as he's had the office going on for two years. Sr Vice: Thanked members that participated in the Veteran's Day Parade in Columbia, the Colonel Lou Schott 200-yd offhand rifle shoot, and especially Mike Betts, who did an excellent job pulling targets in the pits. Presented a certificate at an Eagle Court of Honor for Andrew Sontag. Along with Saki, Lou and Mike Blum, handed out toys gathered for Toys-4-Tots. Participated in a WWII Victory Medal ceremony for WWII Marine veteran Joe Cacioppo along with Lou, Gordon, and Mike Blum. This ceremony was reported on channels 2 and 13 in Baltimore. Jr Vice: NTR Judge Advocate: NTR Report of Standing Committees: Scholarship: Will push out notices for this once we decide on a change to the program. Do we increase the amount and reduce the number of scholarships, gear scholarships to a different group of students like ROTC members? Leaning to offering a scholarship to a student from one of the three JROTC units in Howard County. Plan is to get a meeting set up and decide on this. Fund Raising: Bill mentioned the detachment is studying the terms and framework for the Howard County Veteran Friendly Business that the detachment is processing the funds for. Still need for everybody to be heard on this and possibly ask Saki for input with regards to League by-laws. Nobody knew how well the 200-yd Lou Schott rifle shoot went financially. There were about 19 participants but there had to have been operational costs possibly picked up by Ed Hall or Old Post. Still planning to hold a second annual game hen trap shoot. Last year's event in April was enjoyable and fairly successful. Hope to offer roses during Armed Forces Day in front of Giant again this year. Report of Special Committees: The detachment is hosting the Maryland Department meeting at the VFW hall on February 9th. Need to decide on money for breakfast and lunch. Gordon to take care of coffee and donuts, Bill to MC, Curtis able to get soda and ice. Tentatively looking at buying sandwiches, potato salad, and chips from Costco or Sams for the lunch. Hopefully less than $3 in cost per person. Motion made to reimburse up to $400 and if any profit, donate that to the VFW. This motion was approved. Need help setting up tables and chairs no later than 0730 followed by clean up after the meeting. Gordon to send a reminder email. Unfinished Business: None New Business: Bill to snail mail the CD with an 8 minute video of SSgt Karl G Taylor's history to Mike Bechetti to reformat as Saki isn't able to upload this to the detachment web site in its current form. Plan is to upload to YouTube and then send out a link to this. Good of the League: The Department sent out information and registration forms for the convention in Ocean City scheduled for this May. Announcements: Ed Hall planning to send email looking for a detachment member to apply as an Adjutant for the American Legion Post 156. Closing Ceremony: Meeting closed at 2015 until the next meeting on February 26th 2019 at 1900. ---- February 26, 2019 No meeting since quorum was not established. ---- March 26, 2019 Opening Ceremony: 1920 meeting begins Roll Call of Officers: Members Bill, Tim, Kevin and Mike present for a quorum. Update from the Commandant: Bill reiterated that the process for working with the Veteran Friendly Business (VFB) program is being worked out in a transparent manner with every precaution taken to insure the Detachments is following all the rules with regard to a non-profit status. Also received first $100 from the VFB program. Ed brought in copies of the first edition of the VFB magazine. Application for Membership: One new application this month. Ceremony of Initiation: Deferred until end of meeting. Minutes of previous meeting: January minutes sent on February 5th were approved. There was no February meeting due to lack of a quorum. Correspondence: Bill received a phone call from Walt Taylor, brother of Karl G. Taylor, who is planning to arrive on the April 10th Honor Flight from Tennessee with 90 other veterans and would like as many Marines from the Detachment to attend. Bill to send details once he gets them from Randy Bohn, Honor Flight coordinator for Post 156. Darwin Pitts is back in the area and is looking forward to resuming activities with our detachment. Report of Paymaster: Current balance of $9192.04 includes $500 in savings with $8586.82 available. Detachment has $1270 in scholarship fund so good for at least one scholarship. Paymaster report approved pending audit. Report of any Member/Family Sick or Distressed: Dennis was seen recently and looked like he was doing quite well. Glad to see Mike Betts back after missing a few meetings. Report of Officers: Commandant: Gave report earlier. Sr Vice: Thanked people for helping at Department meeting in February. Saw Kip and Dolan at the Associated Gun Club Old Post shooting event last month. Jr Vice: NTR Judge Advocate: Not available Report of Standing Committees: Scholarship: Have notices posted on web page and copies of program sent to all the JROTC commands. Gordon will call counselors as a reminder next month. Hoping to get some qualified applicants. Only three high schools in the county have an ROTC program. Committee voted to allow Jacob Witlin to apply for a scholarship as it follows the spirit of our policy change. His school doesn't have a JROTC program and Jacob is interested in attending a military academy. Funding Committee discussed the Hen trap shoot. Tentatively set for October as we didn't get range time for this spring. Ed and Kevin to coordinate on this. Gordon suggested Armed Forces Day at the Chatham Giant for offering Roses. Also do this at the Howard County Fair's opening day. Need to replace fund raising lost due to skipping Savage Fest. Flea Market wasn't productive but the Legion is hoping to partner with the West Friendship Fire Department’s flea market this September. Several ideas like sell soda and water, enter a table for goods to sell and push roses. Sponsoring a Bingo game has worked well in the past. Donna would like us to sponsor some dinner type fund raiser. VFW already does this but it would take a commitment from the members of the Detachment to make this work. Report of Special Committees: Fund raising for the Howard County Memorial was brought up as a periodic reminder. Waiting to hear back from Mike Blum before taking any action on this. Marine Corps League at the Department level working on bringing back the Marine for Life program. Mike noted most of the Detachments never appointed anybody. Difficult to get the word out as we don't have access to lists showing recently discharged Marines. The Resource Fair on April 8th may provide some contacts. Unfinished Business: Bill to physically hand CD with SSGT Taylor video to Mike Bechetti. Everybody was pleased with our handling of the Department meeting including venue, food and professionalism. However, there was a call for members to join the Devil Dogs (Fun and Honor Society of the Marine Corps League). Kevin and Mike have more information if interested. New Business: Funeral this Saturday for Legionnaire Craig Deloof. Ed, Lou, Mike Betts and Tim thus far to attend. Memorial Day flag raising ceremony at the Harriet Tubman building in Columbia again. It will be an annual event. Discussed $125 for ad in Department Convention book, and $100 toward hospitality suite, and $100 for raffle tickets and $100 to members attending the convention to defray cost of hotel room. Mike Betts is the only detachment member going thus far but the Detachment is authorized for 3 to 4 delegates. Made motion to spend up to $625 for the convention taking place in Ocean City in early May. Good of the League: Flag retirement ceremony this past weekend. Had good showing but too windy to have a fire. The flags have been properly prepared so look for an announcement when we can finish the ceremony. Nominations: Commandant: Bill Swain Sr. Vice Commandant: Tim Paulin Jr. Vice Commandant: Kevin Oliver, Jesus Tapia Judge Advocate: Mike Betts Since we missed last month and need three nomination events, the next nomination will be conducted via email in order to meet the Department deadline. Announcements: Marines are encouraged to attend the Howard County Resource Fair to be held at Howard County Community College, RCF Building on Monday, April 8th from 1600 - 2000. Ceremony of Initiation: Chris Miller received the League Oath and joined our detachment. Welcome aboard Chris! Closing Ceremony: Meeting closed at 2015 until the next meeting on April 23rd 2019 at 1900. ---- April 23, 2019 Opening Ceremony: 1910 meeting begins Roll Call of Officers: Members Bill, Tim, and Mike present for a quorum. Application for Membership: NTR Ceremony of Initiation: N/A Minutes of previous meeting: March minutes sent on April 3rd 2019 approved as published. Correspondence: NTR Report of Paymaster: Current balance of $8943.50 Sent check to Dept of MD for $225 for convention ad and hospitality suite Gordon to send $100 for raffle tickets. Detachment has $2300 in scholarship fund. Paymaster report approved pending audit Report of any Member/Family Sick or Distressed: Dennis, according to Facebook, is busy and vacationing in the Caribbean so must be doing well. Report of Officers: Commandant: Held off pending Sr Vice comments on Walter Taylor's Honor Flight from Knoxville. Also getting emails from Department about providing a Scout liaison for presenting awards at Eagle Scout ceremonies. Sr Vice: Long and busy but enjoyable day in Washington D.C for the Knoxville honor Flight with Walter Taylor and many other veterans. Took 130+ photos, culled and sent to the Taylor's. Also sent some to Saki for posting on our web site but haven't seen them there yet. Jr Vice: Not present Judge Advocate: Not present Report of Standing Committees: Scholarship: Gordon sent information to JROTC Commanders. Applications due June 2nd. Funding Committee: Two events. Hen shoot in October. Ed working with Kevin on this. Also Col Lou Schott 200 yd offhand shoot on Nov 17th after the Marine Corps Birthday. Partnering with Maryland Rifle Club who will staff the butts so we only have to run the line. On Armed Forces Day - we'll offer roses on Saturday May 18th at the Giant in Chatham Shopping center. Discussed doing this on Memorial Day weekend as well. The Memorial Day fund raising will begin after the flag raising at the Harriett Tubman school in Columbia earlier that morning. Please consider signing up for a time slot. Report of Special Committees: Need at least four Marines to take part of the Harriett Tubman flag raising beginning at 0800 on May 27th. Contact Bill Swain if able to participate. Honor Flight on May 11th being supported by Post 156 but requesting members from MCL to help out. Main activity will be around 1700 when the buses return with the approximately 40 veterans, many from WWII. Marines will greet the returning veterans when the buses pull in. Bill requested a script for the day from Ed as it looks to be a busy day. Will need help from many of our members. May need to ask fellow Marines from some of the nearby Detachments for assistance but hopefully that won't be necessary. Need a parade coordinator to work with the JMC as part of a new Special Committee chair. Mike Betts stepped up! Next parade will be the July 4th parade in Clarksville, MD. Unfinished Business: Bill to physically hand CD with SSGT Taylor video to Mike Bechetti...again. New Business: Department Convention: Reiterated need to send accompanying form with the additional $110 we plan to send to Department. Money was approved during last month's meeting. Convention is scheduled for May 10th – 12th in Ocean City. Ed proposed that members from the Detachment join the Post 156 Legionaries at the Columbia Mission BBQ on the Friday before the 3rd Thursday of the month. Will wear the red covers as opposed to the Legion's blue covers and plan to prepare an “elevator” speech for recruiting new members. Flag retirement set for Saturday April 27th at noon. Expecting a large turnout. Nominations: Commandant: Bill Swain Sr. Vice Commandant: Tim Paulin Jr. Vice Commandant: Jesus Tapia Judge Advocate: Mike Betts No new nominations for any of the elected positions. Have uncontested suite of nominations as Kevin pulled out as Jr. Vice. Motion was made and accepted approving the new slate of officers. Good of the League: Members agreed that we can't do enough for Walter and Jayne Taylor and it's an honor to have them involved with our detachment in whatever way they can. Lou commented that the Veteran Friendly Business (VFB) participation is taking off. We need a volunteer to act as a liaison with the VFB to fill the magazine stands and help sign up new businesses. Announcements: NTR Closing Ceremony: Meeting closed at 2010 until the next meeting on May 28th 2019 at 1900. ---- May 28, 2019 Opening Ceremony: 1900 meeting begins Roll Call of Officers: Members Bill (via phone), Tim, Mike and Kevin present for a quorum. Normal Meeting Suspended for Induction of Officers: District Vice Commandant Marc Fisher inducted the following officers: Commandant - Bill Swain Sr. Vice Commandant - Tim Paulin Jr. Vice Commandant -Jesus Tapia Judge Advocate - Mike Betts Resumption of Monthly Meeting Application for Membership: NTR Ceremony of Initiation: N/A Minutes of previous meeting: March minutes sent on April 30th 2019 approved as published. Correspondence: NTR Report of Paymaster: Current balance of $8943.50 as of May 22nd. Chaplains fund is at $249.00 Benevolent Fund at 631.22 Detachment has $2300 in scholarship fund. Fund Balance of $2,931.22 Paymaster report approved pending audit Report of any Member/Family Sick or Distressed: Gordon feeling better after spending some time in the hospital. Yesterday was first day out of the house. Report of Officers: Commandant: Commends everyone who came out to the Harriet Tubman Flag raising. The Marine Corps JROTC from Franklin High School in Riesterstown, MD looked sharp. Sr Vice: Agreed with Bill about the great Memorial Day Ceremony at the Harriet Tubman School. Sent photos to Saki showing the Flag Raising. Showed framed display of Karl G. Taylor that Walter Taylor gave us during the Honor Flight visit. Earlier Flag retirement was windy again so only retired one flag. Rest were disposed of by the Howard County Fire Department. Jr Vice: NTR Judge Advocate: NTR Report of Standing Committees: Scholarship: Gordon sent two reminders for scholarship applications from JROTC candidates but no response from them. But have application from a person interested in a military career. May need to change criteria, broaden requirements or do something else to benefit community. Funding Committee: Two events. Hen shoot in October. Ed working with Kevin on this. Also Col Lou Schott 200 yd Offhand Shoot on Nov 17th after the Marine Corps Birthday. Partnering with Maryland Rifle Club who will staff the butts so we only have to run the line. Give a discount to those the prepay in order to get a better count of participants. Recruit Gunny Allen, Marine Corps JROTC Commander , and encourage shooting sports with the youth. The Detachment is all set for participation in the Independence Day parade in Clarksville. This year there will be strict accounting of fire arms used as display in this parade such as for color guards and vehicle mounted display. Roses event set for May 18th was canceled as we didn't get with Giant in time for permission to set up. Report of Special Committees: Mike Betts attended this year's convention but it wasn't much different than the quarterly meetings. Bill noted that we need a full time adjutant to step up and fulfill those duties. Asked the attending members but there was no interest. Unfinished Business: Mike Bechetti has the CD with the story of Karl Taylor in his hands so is working to post it and provide a link to our web site. New Business: June 14th is the Mission BBQ lunch with the American Legion Post 156. Get there by noon for the National Anthem. Reminder to make an effort to participate in the July 4th parade. Ed Hall sponsoring cookout after the parade for the VSO members and their families at his house. Good of the League: Mike Betts accepted an award from Craig Reeling for Bill's Individual Meritorious Commendation for fulfilling the role of Commandant. We would like to award the Franklin Cadets with a Detachment Level award. Mike knows more details about this and can assist. Need to think about the 2018 Detachment Marine of the Year. Gordon to send email. Anybody can nominate. Bill asked about a table at Savagefest but not sure we have the numbers to staff it. Many members out of town that weekend. Announcements: NTR Closing Ceremony: Meeting closed at 1950 until the next meeting on June 25th 2019 at 1900. ---- June 25, 2019 Opening Ceremony: 1905 meeting begins Roll Call of Officers: Members Bill, Tim, Jesus present for a quorum. Application for Membership: NTR Ceremony of Initiation: N/A Minutes of previous meeting: March minutes sent on June 24th 2019 approved as published. Correspondence: NTR Report of Paymaster: Current balance of $8924.44 as of 6/24/2019 Scholarship fund is at $2300.00 but expect to pay out $2000.00 very soon. Benevolent Fund at 631.22 Fund Balance of $5,996.22 Have not seen anything from the VFB fund recently. Paymaster report approved pending audit. Report of any Member/Family Sick or Distressed: Bill Brook's wife fell and broke her right shoulder and arm. Took a couple of weeks to obtain surgery but is currently doing much better. Gordon's wife is also scheduled for shoulder surgery soon. Report of Officers: Commandant: Heard from Craig Reeling that every detachment must have a Marine for Life Chairman. Bill has a video link he'll send out about the Marine for Life duties. It's been two years since Danny left. Need to see how to divide up detachment duties including adjutant duties which involves more than just recording the minutes. Was hopeful that two recent members could help out but haven't seen them in a while. Sr Vice: Good turnout at last Mission BBQ. Jr Vice: NTR Judge Advocate: NTR Report of Standing Committees: Scholarship: Recipients have been notified. Heard back from Jacob and waiting on Delaney. Michael and Gordon to get together and upgrade the looks for the certificates. Gordon, as our rep for the 4th of July parade, won't be able to help during the parade due to his wife's surgery. However, Ed has taken on a lot of this. Curtis to drive Ed's jeep. Step off is at 0900 in front of the Clarksville Middle School. Bring candy! Reach out to the community will be made by attending the ground breaking ceremony dedicating land on Columbia's Lakefront in honor of Millie Bailey on Saturday 0900 on June 29th Flag Retirement ceremony also on June 29th beginning at 1000 for flag preparation, followed by the ceremony at 1200. The ceremony will only burn one flag with the fire department disposing of the remaining remnants. MCL is in charge of the formation. Fund Raising – Two major events. The first is the 2nd Annual Charity Game Hen Trap Shoot set for Oct 19th at the Associated Gun Clubs on Marriottsville Rd. Nov 3rd will be the 2nd Annual Col. Lou Schott 200 yd Offhand Championship. Expecting a knockout event. Start time at 1200. Maryland Rifle Club (high power experts) will staff the butts for us. Report of Special Committees: NTR Unfinished Business: NTR but Bill noted that Jayne Taylor was glad to see we got the video linked. New Business: VFB program needs volunteers to support the restocking of magazine racks located at participating businesses in the county. Gen. Howard Mooney has moved on from the Veterans Commission and is replaced by retired Col. Greg Jolissaint, MD. Good of the League: July 4th, after parade, gather at 1130 at Ed's place for burgers, dogs and Alpha Battery (cannons). Now that the process for hosting videos has been set, Mike Bechetti will be able to host other videos as well so if we have any, to let him know. Announcements: NTR Closing Ceremony: Meeting closed at 1940 until the next meeting on July 23rd 2019 at 1900. ---- July 23, 2019 Nothing was discussed at our meeting so that we could present scholarships. --- August 27, 2019 Opening Ceremony: Meeting begins 1905. Roll Call of Officers: Members Bill Swain, Tim Paulin, Jesus Tapia, and Mike Betts present for a quorum. Application for Membership: NTR but Ed mentioned that a Signals Intelligence Marine, Chris Rivers, was made aware of our Detachment. Ceremony of Initiation: N/A Minutes of previous meeting: Extra short July minutes due to scholarship ceremony. This was briefed and approved as stated. Correspondence: NTR Report of Paymaster: Current balance of $6,659.77 as of 8/25/2019 Scholarship fund is at $300.00 so need to think about fund raising soon. Benevolent Fund at 631.22 Fund Balance of $5,728.55 Dues should be in now but there's still time to pay. Paymaster report approved pending audit. Report of any Member/Family Sick or Distressed: Gordon is scheduled for oral surgery in mid-September. The Detachment wishes him well and to let them know if they can be of service. Report of Officers: Commandant: Presented a small gift from the Detachment to Lou for his birthday. Reminded everyone that it's recruitment time so see what we can due to recruit more members. Curtis' neighbor comes to mind. Sr Vice: Emailed Saki a few pictures of Lou's 99th Birthday party earlier today. Jr Vice: NTR Judge Advocate: NTR Report of Standing Committees: Fund raising – Ed presented a preliminary flier of Hen Shoot scheduled for Saturday Oct 19th from 0900 – 1200 at AGC Gun Club on Marriottsville Rd. Cost will be $25 and includes shells. Will skip the grilling of food since it made no money last time. Need people to participate. Made list of organizations we can contact in order to increase participation. Lou Schott 200-yd Offhand shooting event in November. Plan to use same contact list as we have for the trap shoot but this event will be capped at 40 participants. Also fund raising for Mike Foley to support the fight against blood diseases during the months of September. Money from both Old Post members and guests will go directly to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Detachment made and approved a motion to donate $100 for this. Scholarship: Not much to report but plan to redefine scholarship requirements later this year. Gordon received an assignment to write two paragraphs with the new requirements while convalescing. Report of Special Committees: Bill Swain has handed out 7 Citizen awards at Eagle Scout ceremonies over the past 5 months with another one planned for October. Need presence for the November 10th and 11th planning activities including the Veteran's Day parade and the Marine Corps Birthday Ball. Ed, Kevin and Mike, as parade coordinator, will tie this together. Unfinished Business: NTR New Business: Sept 21st at 1100 will be a flag raising at the Harriet Tubman school so plan on turning out for this. It is expected to be a fairly short event. Parade set for November 11th in Columbia. Good of the League: Asked Tim to brew a Marine Corps SSGT Taylor beer for toasting during the Ball. Asked if interest in celebrating an Octoberfest. Ed offered his place and settled on October 19th after the Hen Trap shoot. Details to follow. Mike Betts presented Bill Swain an Individual Meritorious Commendation that he's been holding since May. Still need to select a Marine of the Year candidate but a single shirt may cost about $60. Tim agreed to represent the Detachment at the 16 November Department meeting in Cumberland. Ed and Lou will check their schedules to see if they can attend as well. The September Columbia Mission BBQ luncheon will be on Wednesday September 11th and not on the usual Friday of that week. Wear red MCL covers. American Legion Post 156 is standing up a color guard with M1 rifles so 2 Marines are encouraged to join this. The requirements to join the American Legion have been changed so anyone who has served since December 7th 1941 is now eligible. The Commander of VFW Post approved Post 156's request to put up a 7x7 storage shed that the Detachment can use if needed. Ed briefed an event held in Quantico with Lou Schott being recognized in front of a class of newly minted Captains. Lou is invited back to brief all the officers after the Commanding General of Quantico learn of this. Announcements: NTR Closing Ceremony: Meeting closed at 2010 until the next meeting on September 24th at 1900. --- September 24, 2019 Opening Ceremony: 1910 meeting begins Roll Call of Officers: Initially didn't have a quorum. Held meeting to discuss the passing of one of our officers, Gordon MacPhee. Later we had enough officers, Bill, Tim and Mike. Application for Membership: Larry Gourdine was present but nobody had an application for him. He served as a corpsman serving FMF Marines! Larry has agreed to come to our October meeting for a formal initiation. Ceremony of Initiation: N/A Minutes of previous meeting: Minutes from the August meeting were sent on September 1st. Correspondence: NTR Report of Paymaster: A motion was made and approved to skip the paymaster report this month. Report of any Member/Family Sick or Distressed: Gordon MacPhee passed away Saturday morning September 21st after undergoing a surgical procedure the previous Thursday to remove a cancerous tumor. Everything was going well for him and of all the scenarios the doctors outlined, Gordon was at the good side of the possible outcomes during and after the surgery. Unfortunately, about 36 hours later, both his heart and lungs deteriorated rapidly requiring a tremendous amount of heroics from the staff at Johns Hopkins to keep him alive, but to no avail. Services for Gordon are scheduled for Saturday, October 19th. Mike Menardi reached out and mentioned his health is improving and would like to get more involved with the Detachment when his health is better. He is able to get around without a wheel chair and even though his medications were cut in half, he is still experiencing a lot of pain. We hope he keeps improving as we'd love to see him back! Report of Officers: NTR Report of Standing Committees: NTR Report of Special Committees: Discussed the November 10th and 11th planning activities including the Veteran's Day parade and the Marine Corps Birthday Ball. Ed, Kevin and Mike, as well as any members they contact, will ensure we make this happen. Unfinished Business: NTR --- October 22, 2019 Roll Call of Officers: Officers present: Bill, Tim and Mike. Application for Membership: NTR Ceremony of Initiation: N/A Minutes of previous meeting: Minutes from the August meeting were sent on September 29th. Correspondence: Letters and cards for the MacPhee family. Enclosed checks will be deposited. Report of Paymaster: No report of the Paymaster this month. Bill called the bank and needs to go there to verify his signature on the signature card. Need to find a new paymaster. Bill will cover the immediate tasks for now such as paying the bills and depositing checks. Motion made and approved to hold the interim Paymaster report in abeyance until next month. Report of any Member/Family Sick or Distressed: Kevin talked with Dennis who has no more cancer treatment needed and a prior surgery went well so is on the mend. Al Hernandez was present at Gordon's service and played the bugle. He hadn't been to any meetings lately but was looking good. Mike Minardi, also at the services, was able to get out and attend but needs some more time to heal to the level required for getting out more often. Jesus Tapia, while at Gordon's services, wasn't able to attend the Oktoberfest as a young Marine working for him had just committed suicide. While obviously devastating to the Marine's family, it must also be tough for Jesus, who was a mentor for the Marine. For that, our thoughts are with Jesus during this difficult time. Report of Officers: Commandant: Mentioned Ed put out a nice email recognizing the participants for Gordon's funeral. Bill will forward it to the Detachment. Sr. Vice: Game Hen Trap Shoot was a bust as no shooters showed up. Made $25 due to a donation by Jeff Henry, who didn't want to shoot, just donate to the Detachment. Judge Advocate: NTR Report of Standing Committees: Need a new Scholarship Chair but there is time. Discussed Gordon's plans to write up a new proposal for awarding scholarships as the past year's rules didn't garner enough applications and the possibility that $1000 isn't enough money these days for students to bother applying for. It's on the committee’s plate to define the new rules with the knowledge that we don't have much scholarship money at this time. Received a recommendation for a proposal to put all the money donated in Gordon's name be directed to the Scholarship fund. This was made and approved. Parade Committee – again Gordon played a large part so need someone to step in for this. Most everything is already taken care of so just need to show up. The major work involves the Gala afterward. Current plans already have Mission BBQ, Voices for Vets, guest speaker and Naomi Ling. Ed is the POC for this and had sent the flier. Not sure what tasks are remaining so plan to check with Ed; possibly the cake for the cake cutting portion. Tim is planning to attend the Department meeting in Cumberland on November 16th. Report of Special Committees: Fund raising: Col Lou Schott 200 Yd set for November 3rd at 1200. Unfinished Business: NTR New Business: Mike received notice from the St. Andrews society that the bag piper needs to be paid $100. Made motion to pay the piper which was approved. A motion was made to spend up to $500 for the Birthday Gala. This should be way more than enough. Tim will look into getting the cake from Costco if needed. Also need to get the word out about the gala. There's going to be Pistol Shoot on Saturday November 9th at 0900 as part of the Marine Corps Birthday celebration. Hope to combine this with the regular Old Post pistol shoot scheduled for the same time. Should try and notify our neighboring detachments to join us. Good of the League: Kevin is placing an order at the MCL store so offered to add items to his order. Announcements: Flag retirement is this Saturday, Oct 26th. Closing Ceremony: Meeting closed at 2010 until the next meeting on November 26th at 1900. --- November 26, 2019 Opening Ceremony: 1910 meeting begins Roll Call of Officers: Officers present: Bill, Jesus, Tim and Mike. Application for Membership: NTR Ceremony of Initiation: N/A Minutes of previous meeting: Minutes from the August meeting were sent on October 31, 2019 Correspondence: Received urgent requests from Craig Reeling that IRS Form 990 and Form 1 need to be submitted. Report of Paymaster: No report of the Paymaster this month. Report of any Member/Family Sick or Distressed: Both Mike Betts and Jesus were ill over the Veterans Day weekend but both are doing considerably better now. Report of Officers: Commandant: Bill asked again for a volunteer to be Paymaster. Ed stepped up saying he'd do it. Mike Betts, Ed and Bill plan to meet at the bank to square things away so that both Ed and Bill will be able write checks. Mike's name is the only name available, at this time, on the signature card. Sr. Vice: Attended funeral for Sgt. Polston, coworker of Jesus. Low turnout for the Veterans Day parade among members. Asked for Marines to sign Thank You card for baker who stayed late to finished the Gala cake. Attended Department meeting in Cumberland. County Executive’s ad for Toys-for-Tots neglects giving credit to the Marine Corps Foundation. Spoke to Craig Reeling about it but haven't heard if issue has been acted on. Detachment does have members helping to categorize and hand out the toys set for December 14th. Jr. Vice: Sgt. Polston's younger sister is attending the Naval Academy but has checked into Walter Reed due to concerns about the stress she's under. Jesus has offered to help the family in any way he can. Judge Advocate: NTR Report of Standing Committees: Ed did good job putting all the Veterans Day activities together. 56 paying attendees at the Gala. Detachment made $610. Scholarship Committee – We seem to recall that Kevin agreed to be the new chair. One order of business is to revamp the criteria for applicants. Would like to add Franklin HS JROTC into our pool of applicants as they help us a lot, even though they're from Baltimore County. A motion was made and approved to send a letter to Department outlining our proposal. Mike Foley fund raising collected $1873 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Fund raising: Col Lou Schott 200 yard rifle shoot made $115.00 Game Hen was a bust. Need ideas for what to do with 20 game hens. Projected fund raising. Missed handing out roses this year. Ed suggested the Rt-40 Mission BBQ may be willing to let us stand out there. Need to find if we have any roses. Discussed possible dates. Feb 22 – Battle of Iwo Jima, Armed Forces Day in May. Money contributed in memory of Gordon earmarked for scholarships. Report of Special Committees: NTR Unfinished Business: Still need to pay the bag piper $100 as soon as we can write checks. New Business: NTR Good of the League: Ed suggested the Judge Advocate give a short presentation of USMC history, tradition, proper protocols at each meeting; 2 - 3 minutes in duration. Department tickets are available for sale. $5/ea or 3/$10. Ed suggested the Detachment have its own raffle. One idea is a Last Man Standing bottle of Makers Mark bourbon. Have time line open ended until all the tickets are sold, guaranteeing we make money. Another idea is a bingo card based on the daily Maryland lottery numbers. Elkridge Rotary Bull Roast coming up at the end of January Martins West. Tickets will cost around $50. American Legion Holiday Party set for Dec 11th, money for tickets due by Dec 6th. This event will be considered the Detachment's December meeting. Lou loved the framed maps he received at the Gala. Announcements: NTR. Closing Ceremony: Meeting closed at 2010.