Harford News

Harford County Commission on Veterans Affairs met Oct. 4.

Here is the minutes provided by the commission:

The meeting was called to order by Chairman Robert Brown at 6:30 p.m. in the Conference Room, 220 S. Main Street, Bel Air, Maryland.

Attending: Bob Brown, Hayden Anthony, Lisa Brown, Janice Cassady, Jim Castelli, Bill Elliott, Art Kaff, Scott Kearby, Bill Montgomery, Mike Ray, Pam Silcox, Cindy Smith, Deacon Vic Petrosino Excused: Patricia O’Keefe, Larry Owens, Heather Roelker, Councilman McMahan (liaison)

Pledge of Allegiance was led by Chairman Brown. Prayer was led by Deacon Vic.

Welcome & Opening Comments:

Chairman Brown – presented the HCCOVA Mission and Vision statements and asked members present to continue to think about activities and projects for this upcoming year that would support our mission to assist veterans and their families. He also introduced & welcomed several guests to the meeting.

GUESTS:

 John Melcher – Adjutant & Public Relations Officer American Legion Post 39 (Bel Air)

 Frank Esposito – Marine veteran, candidate for MD State Senate

 Sharon Jacobs – retired Army Officer & CEO, Strategic Alliances. She gave a brief description of InStep – a service employment program oriented towards the 18-24-year- old age group. The program includes test preparation for various standardized tests, including the ASVAB (Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery)

Approval of Minutes:

Minutes from the September HCCOVA meeting were sent to commission members for review prior to October meeting. No corrections were put forward; Jim Castelli motioned for approval of the minutes and Scott Kearby seconded the motion. The minutes were unanimously approved by commission members.

Opening Comments from Appointed Members:

Art Kaff – continuing to post information on the HCCOVA Facebook page & respond to requests for legal assistance from veterans &/or veterans’ family members. The number of likes on the Facebook page continue to increase each month. The Veterans Resource Fair flyer is also posted on the Facebook page.

Bill Elliott – offered his services as Santa Claus at veteran-connected events

Janice Cassady – will post Veterans Resource Fair flyer on the HCC Financial Aid Facebook page since her office is part of that department. This semester, her office has hosted several Meet & Greet gatherings for veterans who are students at HCC. These smaller gatherings provide an opportunity for students to connect with college representatives as well as other veterans. Initial feedback from these meet & greets is very positive and seems to be a better fit than large scale events.

Cindy Smith – will attend a training event later this month & will provide updates to members at the November meeting. This includes changes to Chapter 35 & Post 9/11 Education benefits.

Mike Ray – stated the Chamber of Commerce is sponsoring a Spirit of Thanks Tour on November 8th. This year’s bus trip is to Gettysburg and is no-cost to veterans. Any veterans interested in attending should contact the Chamber of Commerce.

OLD BUSINESS

Veterans Resource Fair 2018 Updates – Bob Brown, Pam Silcox, Hayden Anthony, Lisa Brown

 Saturday, November 10th from 10 am – 1:00 pm at Bel Air Armory

 Since this is the 100th anniversary of WWI (& the Armory), the theme of the fair is:

“Century of Service”. The Historical Society will provide information for the fair & there will be several WWI displays. A wreath-laying ceremony will take place in front of the armory at the beginning of the resource fair.

 Schedule:

o 7:30 set-up tables/8:30 vendors set-up

o 10:00 wreath laying ceremony, followed by opening of resource fair o 11:30 lunch service begins

o 12:30 motorcycle drawing

o 1:00 fair closes

 Detailed flyer was finalized & sent to all commission members. Other promotional material was distributed to various media outlets.

 Need assistance getting flyers out to various communities throughout Harford County, including Aberdeen, Havre de Grace, Joppa, Edgewood, North Harford & Bel Air.

 Currently, there are 35 confirmed vendors.

 Every 20 minutes throughout the fair, Bob will introduce a major subdivision of vendors (housing/employment, benefits, services, education/therapy). Then, several door prizes will be called, capping off with a Harley-Davidson motorcycle giveaway at the end of the fair. Lisa asked commission members to bring door prize donations to the November HCCOVA meeting, if they did not bring it tonight.

 Mission BBQ will provide most of the food for the event, and Lisa is contacting other businesses for additional food & drink donations.

 Commission members are needed throughout the fair to assist with set-up, lunch service, door prizes, vendor assistance and clean-up.

NEW BUSINESS

Veterans Discount Listing:

 Idea was brought forward to create a veteran’s discount card listing the discounts various stores in our local area offer to military service members. Bill Montgomery coordinated this project with the publisher of the Armed Forces Directory.

 This year, discount pages will be a supplement to the directory; next year, the pages will be part of the directory.

 Mike Ray will provide responses from Chamber of Commerce members to Bill for incorporation in the discount pages.

Boards and Commissions Appointees Letter:

 All commission members received a letter stating that the current term will end on November 30th.

 Any members who are interested in continuing to serve on the commission should submit their application to Jennifer Davis at jmdavis@harfordcountymd.gov.

Final Announcements

 October 16th at 7:30 PM: last County Council meeting for Captain Jim

 October is Socktober: HC Government is collecting new socks, mittens, gloves & hats

 November 8th at 8:30 AM: HC breakfast for county employees who are veterans

 The next HCCOVA meeting will be Thursday, November 1st at 6:30 PM.

ADJOURNMENT

The meeting was adjourned at 8:00 p.m.

https://www.harfordcountymd.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Minutes/_10042018-1002