Gerry Berger AVHOFS President Class of 2016

Dear Patriots,

First, I want to THANK everyone who worked so hard on making the recent Induction Ceremony for 2019 outstanding!  It continues to get even better every year with the wonderful and highly motivated team from UAV and the Society.  If you didn’t attend, I’m sorry you missed this one.  Dylan Dalzotto, Chair, Unified Arizona Veterans; Lea Seago, Vice Chair; Reggie Yates and Rob Welch among many others were instrumental in carrying this one to be so impressive.  Governor Ducey attended for a short time and said a few inspiring words to us, and our Secretary of State, Katie Hobbs and Wanda Wright, ADVS, presented medallions and plaques to our Inductees.  I also want to thank Colonel Wanda Wright, Director of Arizona Department of Veterans Services and Richard Andrade, Arizona Representative, for assisting in presenting pins at the early morning reception. There will be photos on our website shortly.  Our Society welcomes and congratulates the Class of 2019.

Now is the time to seriously consider nominating a veteran deserving of recognition into the Arizona Veterans Hall of Fame for 2020.  Contact the Unified Arizona Veterans at their website: www.azuav.org.  There will be changes to the Nomination Form of an Inductee soon.

Our Society Business meeting was held on Wednesday, the 9th of October with a review of our major programs and the slate for 2020 was presented as well as Save the Date for our Patriotic Awards Luncheon.  The Society Chair for this special Luncheon is Kathy Laurier and you will see further information as plans are made.  This event will be held at the Doubletree Resort by Hilton Paradise Valley—Scottsdale on Friday, the 8th of May, 2020. Many thanks to Gary Fredricks for making all the arrangements for this annual meeting and to Ron Perkins for keeping us on track with our agenda.

Please make an opportunity to Thank Veterans for their service to this great nation on Veterans Day as well as every day of the year.  Many ceremonies and remembrances are being held throughout the state so please participate where you can. We gather at events like this to honor not just recent generations of veterans but every man and woman who has honorably served since the American Revolution. Even with that impressive history, Veterans Day 2019 is especially significant.

And now as we look forward to Thanksgiving, what are you truly thankful for?  Give that question some serious thought and reflection.

Thank you for all you do for veterans.

Gerry Berger
Aspire to Inspire before you Expire

Jerry Wojtas AVHOFS Treasurer Class of 2011

As most of you know and all of you should know, our Century Club money goes into our Scholarship Fund.  Below is another write-up for one of the students who received a scholarship from the Hall of Fame Society this past year.  

James Lednicky was born and raised in Phoenix, Arizona.  From a young age, he knew he wanted to serve in the military. He is currently a senior at Shadow Mountain High School. He has been active in AFJROTC and was the group commander of unit AZ-911 for the 2017-2018 school year.  James has participated in the Veterans Heritage Project since the eighth grade and has written and contributed the stories of twelve veterans that appear in the book, “Since You Asked”.  He enjoys exploring Arizona and is an avid hunter, fisherman, and hiker. After high school, James will be in the civil engineering program and the Naval ROTC at Arizona State University.

By the way, another thought for those of us who love a little recognition for our effort.  Make your contribution $105 or more instead of $100.  By doing so, your name will appear in larger type and in color and stand out to all reading the listing.  As of the end of October, our members and their spouses have contributed $6,010 to our Century Club.  Every time a member contributes, a new record is established. Are you one of the members who contributed?

 GREEN - $101-$199   BLUE - $200-$299   RED - $300 and above

If you shop on Amazon.com, you can put the AVHOF on your holiday donation list without spending an extra penny!

With Amazonsmile, Amazon will automatically donate a small percentage of your purchases to the hall of fame.
This does not affect the cost of your purchase.

Please designate "ARIZONA VETERANS HALL OF FAME SOCIETY" as your charity at smile.amazon.com

For more information and detailed instruction on how to change your charity if you wish, our website has detailed instructions.

And now to provide you with a noteworthy presentation!  If you recall this photo in last month’s Patriot, here is the photo again and further information. Many Congratulations to Harvey and Dawn.

Recently, I received an email from my college roommate, Harvey Bershader, AVHOF Class 2017. He invited Barbara and me to attend the 19th annual Spirit of Sedona Awards Celebration.  He stated that during this event, he and his wife, Dawn, will receive the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award. The sponsoring organization is the Arizona Community Foundation of Sedona. This Foundation, founded in 1995, is a Regional Affiliate of the Arizona Community Foundation. Harvey and Dawn have been very much involved in this organization for many years.

They have supported and volunteered for many non-profit organizations in the Sedona —Verde Valley area. Dawn has been very active in the Sedona Christ Lutheran Church outreach programs. She also supported the Arizona Community Foundation of Sedona with their fundraising events.
Harvey volunteers for many non-profit organizations in Arizona. He is very involved in the Sedona—Verde Valley Synagogue. He was on their fundraising committee and building committee. He served as President following completion of the Synagogue. He has been active in the Sedona Art Center, the Sedona Library, the Flagstaff Symphony, and numerous other organizations. He is very active on the AVHOFS’s Foundation. He is involved in grant writing for the funding of the AVHOFS.
The event was a sellout. Several awards were presented to volunteers and organizations. The final presentation of the Lifetime Achievement Award is the coveted presentation of the event. This award has only been presented twice in the history of the organization.

Rabbi Alicia Magal of the Sedona—Verde Valley Synagogue, presented the award. She described the significance of the award and reviewed the many services that Harvey and Dawn have provided to Sedona—Verde Valley and the rest of the state. She showed a video that featured comments by several residents discussing the wonderful services that Harvey and Dawn provide to the community and state.

Rabbi Alicia Magal then called Harvey and Dawn to the stage to present them the Lifetime Achievement Award. They received a standing ovation. They thanked the Foundation for this high honor.

Following the ceremony, many attendees approached them and thanked them for their service and congratulated them on their award. We were thrilled to be with them when they received this well-deserved award.

Article By Paul and Barbara Schnur

Request you let us know as soon as you know of an inductee’s passing.  If available, we would like to know the inductee’s name, date of passing, funeral and memorial service details, and a copy of the obituary.  Send notices to me at bergergerry@hotmail.com.

Known members that have passed so far this year are:

Arden Rowley (Class of 2004) passed 14 June
James Seidl (Class of 2006) passed 16 June
Joseph Schneider (Class of 2009) passed 17 June
Aloysius F. Radlinski (Class of 2010) passed 5 September

Many of our Society members are very active in their communities.  You are invited to send me articles with pictures of our “members in action”.  Be sure to identify the members in the pictures.  We will select a few of the best for publication.  Please send to me (tom Hessler) at tjhessler@cox.net.