It's Official

I can't think of a better topic to write about today, my birthday, then to say that I am now officially a member of the Mill Creek VFW Post 5421 Ladies' Auxiliary. It took awhile, but it was fitting that a life-long dream came true on my birthday week. 

 The initiation ceremony took place Wednesday evening.  It was a short ceremony, but was very structured, and followed Robert's Rules Of Order and the official Ladies' Auxiliary by-laws to the letter.  In a nutshell, I raised my right hand and swore my allegiance to God, the U.S.A, the flag, and the veterans and their widows and children.  I was given the official By Laws book to read and follow, and they presented me with a gold Official Seal Of The Ladies' Auxiliary pin.  I was almost weepy.

Then the meeting portion of the evening started.  It was interesting to say the least. When the lady in charged banged the gavel down on the podium and gave the orders "At Ease", I went to join the other members.  I migrated immediately to the table with the oldest member.  You know how I love the cool little old ladies. This little old lady had her portable oxygen tank with her (in a very cool quilted carrying bag, too), and she would turn off the oxygen every 20 minutes so she could light up and smoke.  Great, I thought; we're going to get blown up during my first Ladies Auxiliary meeting.  But Isa there any way. 

The president wasn't there, nor was the senior vice-president, so that left the junior vice-president to conduct the meeting.  She was scared to death, but she did a great job.  The meeting was short, but it was not without drama.  There was a major disrepancy with the date of the special Sunday afternoon bingo next month; the secretary read in the minutes of the previous meeting that it was going to be February 5, and everyone else in attendance yelled "No, it's the 12th."  When I say everyone yelled, I truly mean everyone yelled.  Well, everyone except me; being the new member, I just sat there and observed, even though I, too, knew that the bingo was the 12th.  The treasurer spoke up over the chattering and told them "Look - the gaming license is for the 12th and that's when we're having it."  Nuff said.

Like I said, the initiation and the meeting only took about an hour, but it was an interesting hour.  I was disappointed - I'd hoped for at least a couple hours worth of stuff going on.  Maybe next month.