2007-08-16 Veteran Advisory Committee Minutes

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Veterans Advisory Committee Page 2 August 16, 2007 to get involved. Civil Air Patrol is involved since it is a nationwide volunteer program which has a youth cadet program. Organization will obtain sponsorship for these wreaths, which will be sold for $15.00 each. Unsure how many wreaths they will be able to have, depending on sponsorship. They will have a booth at the County Fair to seek sponsorships. Will request from the County number of graves at Veterans Cemeteries on the Big Island. Barbara asked members what they would like to see during the program scheduled for December 15th at 12 noon, she has a sample script, but would like to add more to it. Barbara Cooper will be getting elementary and middle schools involved by first meeting with principals at some of the schools. Some of the mainland schools created a study program by having kids walk through cemetery, pick a name from one of the gravesites, look it up on the internet to study about that person and how they served their country. She may also contact the Boy Scouts for possible assistance and will be looking for a refrigerator to store wreaths. She would also like to know how long the wreaths could remain at the cemetery - in the Mainland they leave it until January. West Hawaii Liaison Joy Hofer said she will not be seeking sponsorships this year because she has too many things going on. Announcements Mr. Keith Ribbentrop of the Office of Veterans Services announced the following: Robert Alameda of Hilo Intermediate School called, they will be hosting a "Patriots Day Celebration" at the school between 8 am and 9 am on September 11th. If Veterans Organizations would like to participate, contact him before August 30th at 974 -4955 Ext. 247. Mr. Ribbentrop also announced that Colonel Marty Wong of the Armory National Guard informed him that they began a Military Funeral Honors Program for all services, contact Ph# 808 - 672 -1589 or mart__onggus. army. mail. Water Usage at Veterans Cemetery III - West Hawaii Mr. Minoru Hanato installed a 1" meter to see what the water usage is at the West Hawaii Veterans Cemetery. He said they are using approximately 11,000 gallons per day. Director Engelhard said that is a lot of water when we were allotted only 3,600 gallons per day and haven't opened the other side or constructed restrooms yet. Mr. Hanato will check again since it doesn't sound right. NEXT MEETING The next meeting is scheduled for September 20, 2007. Respectfully submitted, Nathalie Santos, Secretary