Kids & Family

Letter to the Editor: VFW Post 3783 Looks Forward to 2012 Projects

VFW Post 3783 wants to thank the community and invite residents to participate in their projects, Commander John "Pontiac" Hine writes.

My fellow Ramonans,

We, the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 3783 PFC Archie G. McArthur, cannot thank the community of Ramona enough for the amazing year we have had in 2011. We wanted to tell you about our plans for the upcoming 2012 year. Our motto is “We’re the biggest little post in San Diego”, and we could not do that without you. We wanted to tell you about the great things we will be doing for you.

Flag retirements: Whether at home or in front of your business, the symbol of our country from time to time needs to be replaced. We are happy to take your worn flag and properly dispose of it. This year we will hold our first ever public flag retirement ceremony. We will make sure this gets listed in all the Ramona event calendars.

Find out what's happening in Ramonawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Scouting: Every year Post 3783 recognizes those that obtain the rank of Eagle Scout. Many Eagle scouts work hand in hand with the VFW to complete their scout projects. Two scouts have taken the time and completely refurbished both signs outside of our Post. Currently our Scout of the Year competition is underway. The winning Scout of the year will receive a check from the Post and advance onto District competition, and then possibly onto State and National competition with cash awards at each level.

Memorial Day: Once again, VFW Post 3783 will hold a Memorial Day Celebration at Nuevo Memory Gardens cemetery. Unfortunately, every year we hear about one or two veterans that did not get a flag placed on their grave. To ensure every veteran is recognized, the cemetery must know your loved one is a veteran. We place our flags in accordance with a master list constantly updated by the cemetery. We will also hold smaller ceremonies at the WWII memorial on 9th Street and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial on Highway 67. In addition, we will host a community picnic at our Post in our Bobby C. Watt Memorial Park starting at 1pm.

Find out what's happening in Ramonawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Buddy Poppies: Twice a year you can see our volunteers in front of several local businesses. This is our biggest fundraiser of the year and every year, you the community of Ramona comes through. When we “sell” poppies, there is no price, it’s your generous donation. When we raise these funds, there are special rules that we MUST comply with. Every single penny must go to the direct relief of a veteran or their dependants. Some of the things we did in 2011: Donated funds to a member whose special needs van was wrecked by an uninsured motorist. We donated to the Veterans Village of San Diego Stand Down, which gets homeless Vet’s off the street and gets them care and aid they require. We donated monies to add to our Christmas Families we adopted in military housing.

Blood Drives: in 2012, we are going in a new direction. This year we will be sponsoring Naval Medical Center San Diego blood drives. This is a new opportunity for us, which parallels our core mission to support our veterans and active duty troops. Our first blood drive will be on Saturday March 10th, 9:30 – 3:00. Any person who donates will receive a free lunch, Cheeseburgers and all the fixings, Free T-shirt and will know that they stood behind all our troops and veterans as their donation will go to them at military clinics and hospitals from Balboa to Camp Pendleton.

Community Picnics: As mentioned before we’ll have our Memorial Day picnic, also we will be hosting picnics on the 4th of July and Labor Day. We always invite the community of Ramona.

Veterans Day: Every Veterans Day we provide a free meal to all Veterans. Our members of our Ladies auxiliary cook up some amazing Grandma’s Pot Roast. We also hold our POW/MIA ceremony following dinner, as we remember those who have not returned home.

Marine Corps Birthday: Every 10th of November, we hold a dinner and Birthday celebration for our United States Marines. This past year's saw the addition of the Ramona Community Brass Band play along with our ceremonial cake cutting.

Celebrating the lives of our passing Veterans: While we hold too many of these, we are always proud to remember and honor our passing veterans. Any Ramona veteran that passes, is entitled to reside on our Memorial Wall. We will gladly conduct a memorial ceremony and then celebrate that veteran’s life inside the post.

Active Duty troops: We hear year after year in engaging with our troops, “We thought you had to be retired”, which could not be further from the truth. Our Active Duty troops and their dependants are ALWAYS welcome at our Post.

One of the best-kept secrets of Ramona is how good our volunteer cooks are. Also little known until now, the Public is invited for all our meals. We cook dinners every Thursday, Friday and Saturday night, and Sunday Breakfast. Thursday’s are Burger and Fries or Fried Chicken. Friday is Fish and Shrimp fry’s. Saturdays rotate but Prime Rib and Rib Eye steaks are every month. Sundays also rotate, with chicken fried steak and eggs, NY strip steak and eggs, French Toast and eggs or omelets making an appearance. You can keep up on our menus and ongoing events on our website VFW3783.com or of course on Facebook “VFW Post 3783”.

Our Auxiliaries: Our Men’s and Women’s Auxiliary are a vital team to make everything we do in harmony. Our Auxiliaries are made up of the spouses, sons and daughters of our Active duty members. They plan and organize many events, Cancer Fundraisers, Wounded Warriors Poker Runs, Christmas in October, Christmas Wrapping Party and of course our adopted families at Christmas time.

It cannot be said enough, “Thank You” for all you have done with and for us. As we look forward to what we can do for you in 2012.

John “Pontiac” Hine
Commander Post 3783, for all our officers and members.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here