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| Volume 7 - July 2021 |
| PRESIDENT'S NOTES |
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Jim Monroe
AVHOFS President
Class of 2014 |
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
PRESIDENT
Jim Monroe
VICE PRESIDENT
Pat Little-Upah
SECRETARY
Nancy Fassbender
TREASURER
Jerry Wojtas
DIRECTORS
Pat Farrell
Peter Kloeber
Kathleen Laurier
Joe Little
Christine Mahon
Tom Sheets
SERGEANT AT ARMS
Roy McClymonds
CHAPLAIN
Vacant
PAST PRESIDENT
Gerry Berger
PRESIDENT EMERITUS
Ron Perkins
ASSOCIATE MEMBERS
Wanda Wright (ADVS)
Lea Seago (UAV)
LEGAL COUNSEL
Richard Erickson-
Snell & Wilmer LLP
PATRIOT EDITOR
Tom Hessler
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After many months of trying to determine if we should attempt to put on a Patriotic Awards Luncheon this year, we did it! The pandemic took away any possibility of doing a PAL last year, so this year we combined the 2020 and 2021 award presentations at the DoubleTree Hilton in Scottsdale on June 18. There was doubt about how many people would attend; we were pleasantly surprised with a guest list of over 250 who came to see the honorees receive well-deserved Copper awards and student scholarships and lunch was enjoyed with friends who hadn’t been seen in a very long time. Governor Doug Ducey attended; he is a veteran-supporter and spoke on (no taxes on pensions etc.). Col. Judith Patton was our emcee and Lisa Cimino (Air Force veteran) sang our national anthem; we thank them for their service and their wonderful contributions to the PAL. Roy McClymonds read the American’s Pledge and led us in the Pledge of Allegiance. Trish Carlisle gave the invocation. A special thank-you goes to our partners: Unified Arizona Veterans; Veterans Heritage Project and the Arizona Department of Veterans Services. We would also like to thank our sponsors TriWest and Military Order of the Purple Heart. An event like this takes a team to put together and this year’s committee did a wonderful job during unprecedented times.
The 2020 Copper Award recipients are Copper Star to Drew Trojarnowski; Copper Shield to Mark Cardenas; Copper Eagle to Hospice of the Valley; Copper Sword to Kristine Huskey.
The 2021 Copper Award recipients are Copper Star to Jennifer Harris; Copper Eagle to Arizona Public Service; Copper Sword to Dr. Michael Marks.
This year’s Lamp of Knowledge scholarships were presented to veterans Army Specialist Gwendolyn McKay and Army Specialist 4 Oddisey Knox. Native American Air Force Veteran Charles Yellow Horse also received a scholarship. Student scholarships were presented to Chloe Choquette, Asher Furedy and Michelle Satran. We wish them all the very best as they pursue their educations.
Past Copper Award recipients may be viewed on the Society website at www.AVHOF.org.
We were honored to have the following guests attend: Honorable David Ortega, Mayor of Scottsdale; Honorable Mark Nexsen, Former Mayor of Lake Havasu City and a 2019 recipient of the Copper Star award; Col Wanda Wright, Director of the Arizona Department of Veterans Services; Dr. Alyshia Smith, Director of the Phoenix VA Health Care System; Marc L. Miller, Dean of the James E. Rogers College of Law at the University of Arizona; Richard Romley, Former Maricopa County Attorney and past President of the Az Veterans Hall of Fame Society.
Other notable attendees include Dr. Alexander White, 98 Holocaust, survivor and number 270 on Schindler’s list; Mr. John Schwantes , USA WW II veteran who lost his leg in the Ardennes Offensive; Captain Thomas Latendresse , USN former POW in North Vietnam; Colonel Tom Kirk USAF former POW in North Vietnam; Lt Col Thomas Collins USAF former POW in North Vietnam; Captain Dean Lange Air Corp WWII former POW in Germany; Aviation mate 1st Class Jack Holder USN, Pearl Harbor Survivor who will be 100 yrs. young in December.
Despite our apprehension in producing the Patriotic Awards Luncheon at this time, it turned out to be a stellar event. Event videos will be available soon, and you will be notified how you might view them. For those of you who did not make it this year, we look forward to seeing you at the PAL in 2022.
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PATRIOTIC AWARDS LUNCHEON
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GOVERNOR DUCEY COMMENT AT THE LUNCHEON
Grateful to join the Arizona Veteran’s Hall of Fame’s Annual Patriotic Awards Luncheon today and help celebrate Arizona’s veterans and active military members, as well as the non-military members and private institutions that support them. Thank you for all you do for us! —Doug Ducey
 
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PHOTO GALLERY FROM THE LUNCHEON
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COPPER SWORD AND COPPER EAGLE AWARDS
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Pat Little-Upah
AVHOFS Vice President
Class of 2014 |
I think that everyone who attended our annual Patriotic Awards Luncheon would agree that it was a great time of fellowship and reconnecting. Even more than that it was a time to recognize those individuals who are not Veterans and Companies like Hospice of the Valley and APS who have given back so much to the Veteran community. We all know deserving individuals and companies and now is the time to start putting together a wonderful heartfelt thank you to them by nominating them for the Copper Eagle or the Copper Sword award for 2022. Please go to the avhof.org website to access the criteria and forms. If you need any help do not hesitate to contact me at patupah@gmail.com We look forward to seeing you and your nominees at the 2022 Patriotic Awards Luncheon on April 1, 2022.
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| AVHOFS PARTNERS WITH ANYTIME AUTO GLASS & TINT |
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Tom Sheets
AVHOFS Director
Class of 2019 |
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Our Society has recently joined in a beneficial partnership with Anytime Auto Glass & Tint to provide easy windshield replacements or repairs—from which the AVHOFS will receive donations in return. Anytime Auto Glass: is a member in good standing with the Southwest Veterans Chamber of Commerce; was a Finalist in the Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce Torch Awards for Ethics; has an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau; and is a preferred vendor with USAA and all other insurance networks.
 Here is how it works. When you have a damaged windshield, you contact Anytime Auto Glass by phone, text, or email between 8:00 am and 5:00 pm Monday through Saturday and give them our program code “AVHOFS.” They will coordinate with your insurance company to ensure proper reporting and processing. (You do not have to use the vendor that your insurance company would automatically use.) Anytime Auto Glass will replace your windshield at your location or in their shop. Then, the best part, for every insurance paid windshield replacement we refer, Anytime Auto Glass will donate $100 to the AVHOFS!
Their service areas include Buckeye, Casa Grande, Flagstaff, Florence, Greater Phoenix Valley, Maricopa, New River, Prescott, Payson, Tonopah, Tucson and Superior.
Please review and keep the flyer that follows. It is also important to note that you do not have to be a member of the AVHOFS to take advantage of this program—AVHOFS members just need to refer it to their friends, families, neighbors, and connections. The donation is made to us for our referral—whether it is a “self-referral,” an AVHOFS Member, or another person.
With all the construction in our area and another record-breaking hot summer being predicted, many of us will unfortunately face a windshield replacement soon. It is not if—it is when! Why not help your AVHOFS when you replace your windshield?
Any questions please contact Tom Sheets, AVHOFS Board of Directors, at t.sheets@swvcc.org or 760.213.3705. |
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| TREASURER'S NOTES |
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Jerry Wojtas
AVHOFS Treasurer
Class of 2011 |
Our June 18th Patriotic Awards Luncheon was a big success for our Society, it’s members and also for the guests in attendance. At that time, our Society gave out $10,000 in scholarships and the Unified Arizona Veterans gave out additional scholarships. So, you can see why we ask all our Society members to contribute to our Century Club. That scholarship money comes from YOUR Century Club donations.
We still have a few weeks to go, and we need your contributions badly. We want to reach our $10,000 goal and as we go to press with our July issue of the Patriot, we currently have $9,482 in this fiscal year’s contributions, which ends on June 30th. I was pleased to see that some of our newly installed members have seen fit to become Century Club contributors.
I’m again placing an ad with this HELP WANTED sign out for all of you to consider. I have been Treasurer for your Society for the past 7+ years. The job has grown in responsibility over that period of time. An assistant would be greatly appreciated by me.
OR… if there is someone out there who feels they would like to be the treasurer with or without an assistant, please step forward and make yourself known. I will be around to offer answers and assistance as needed. At this point I would be willing to step down completely, or be an assistant to a new treasurer, if so desired.
Give it some thought and if you have questions, you can contact me by phone at 623-544-4477 or by email at jp7wojtas@gmail.com.
And remember, when mailing your contributions to the Society, PLEASE use the complete address as shown below.
Arizona Veterans Hall of Fame
4980 S. Alma School Road, Ste, A2-619
Chandler, AZ 85248-5545
CENTURY CLUB DONATIONS (FY Goal is $10,000. Total to date is $8,882)
Black - up to $100 GREEN - $101-$199 BLUE - $200-$299 RED - $300 and above GOLD - $400 and above
Listed below are those that have contributed so far in CY 2021.
Kathy Laurier |
Tom Eisiminger |
Harvey Bershader |
Jerry Wojtas |
Ron Perkins |
Tom Sheets
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Pam Wojtas |
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Ron Capek |
Dennis Defrain |
Phil Hanson |
Lee Lange |
John Ady |
Carol Culbertson |
Richard Minor |
Eugene Crego |
Jeffrey Olson |
Roger McGowan |
Gerry Berger |
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Gary Fredricks |
James Monroe |
Charles Schluter |
Tom Kirk |
Tom Hessler |
Pat Little-Upah |
Jack isler |
Dennis McComb |
Christine Mahon |
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Karl Pfitzer |
Arian Allen |
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COUNTRY STORE |
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Roy McClymonds
AVHOFS Quartermaster
Class of 2017 |
The Country Store is now closed for the season. It will reopen in September. The Society challenge coins will be available now for $10 each, although they are not shown in the Country Store yet. The Country Store catalog can be found on the AVHOF Website. If you have a problem finding what you want, please feel free to contact me at (480) 694-2425 or my email at ramnpt@cox.net.
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| WEBSITES YOU MIGHT LIKE TO VISIT |
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| IN MEMORY OF |
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 Jim Monroe at j.c.monroe@cox.net.
Known members that have passed in 2021.
James Johnston (Class of 2013) passed 14 January
Joe Briggs (Class of 2020) passed 15 January
Helene (Billee) Culin (Class of 2017) passed 19 January
William Christopher (Chris) Spicer (Class of 2020) passed 1 May
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| UPCOMING EVENTS |
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30 Aug 21
Deadline for submitting nominations for the Society’s Copper Sword and Copper Eagle awards.
30 Sep 21
Deadline for submitting nominations for the UAV’s Copper Shield and Copper Star awards.
15 Oct 21
2021 Annual Induction Ceremony at the Talking Stick Resort in Scottsdale.
1 Apr 22
2022 Patriotic Awards Luncheon. |
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| EDITOR'S NOTE |
Many of our Society members are very active in their communities. You are invited to send me copy-ready articles with good quality pictures of our “members in action”. Be sure to identify the people in the pictures.We will select articles as space allows. Please send to me (Tom Hessler) at tjhessler@cox.net. |
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