President's Message

By: Frank T. Church
3rd Quarter, 2023

The 11th ACVVC is still rolling along, although a little slower than in the past. Age and a loss of our youth is affecting all of us. Your leadership is not immune to that. We realize that and are taking steps to keep our organization viable into the future. We know that we last forever but are putting plans in place to last as long as we can. To do that we must outsource functions that would be very difficult to continue when any one of our committee chairs can no longer perform. Looking to the membership and current Officers/BOD is only pushing the prob lem down the road is only a temporary fix that will need to be addressed again when another one of us falls.

Our Reunion Chairman and Vice President Steve Page has stepped away from both positions. His health and age prevent him from fulfilling his duties. I am grateful that Allen Hathaway as agreed to fill that role of Vice President pro-tem until the next election is held. I will take the lead for Reunions until we can find an alternate solution. We owe Steve a huge “thank you” for all the contributions he has made to the 11ACVVC. Ollie Pickral, our Treasurer, also had a health scare but continues in that role. These two occurrences have confirmed the need for us to find a more permanent solution to our aging.

We are in the process of finalized the transfer of managing the Quarter Master to Finish line Awards. They have experience in doing this for other organizations and are very capable of meeting our needs. That company will be at the Grand Rapids Reunion. Jerry and Jan Beamon will still be involved in the QM but will not have the work load and responsibilities they now have. There will be new look with the addition of new merchandise as well as our unique items. So, continue make the QM your second stop, Bob is still in the registration booth.

A large part of our success is due to volunteers that every year step up, any changes in our procedures does not take away the need for volunteers to help so please continue to support that. With that said, the role of President and Reunion Chair is very demanding and one person cannot do both for an extended period. I am making a plea to anyone out there that feels they can be an assistant to the Reunion Chair at the reunions please speak to me or any officer. I have provided some detail to what that would entail in the Reunion update article.

We are still in need of a secretary to replace Greg Mason when he retires at the end of his term in 2024. If you have the skills and desire to do this job, please see any Officer or BOD member. Mike Rafferty has agreed to manage the Silent Auction but will still need volunteers to help. The permanent position of Vice President will be voted on at the 2024 Grand Rapids Reunion. Our By-laws require nominations to be made and a vote to taken.

A few updates on what has been happening in the past few months. Allen Hathaway has completed an update to Our Memorial by having the names of 6 previously unknown WW2 KIAs’ added to their place of honor on their monument.Thank you, Allen, for your work and the to The BlackHorse Association for paying the cost of the plaques.

We are close to closing an agreement to set up a trust fund to maintain our Memorial into the future. Details of this endowment is still being defined.

Chaplain Bill has secured a scholarship match from his alma mater, St. Francis University. They will match the scholarship funds of any awardee of the 11th ACVVC if they chose to enroll and is accepted at SFU.

The transfer of ownership and responsibility of the M-60 Tank in Colorado Springs is still an ongoing project. We continue to have discussion with the BHA on how best to do that. Pete Walter continues to seek cost reductions in the cost of publishing Thunder Run while maintaining the present quality and in quarterly editions.

The leadership of the 11ACVVC is and will always be committed to its members and the continued success of the organization.  We will ride this horse until we are no longer able.

We were, are and always will be proud “Blackhorse Troopers”!

Frank