Disabled American Veterans (DAV) Chapter #63 (Clermont County) Executive Committee Members conduct one of their committee meetings in a driveway of a DAV chapter member during the pandemic. Required proper distancing is strictly followed for the meeting. DAV Chapter #63 members (starting clockwise at extreme left) are: Steve Smith; Gary Lytle; Reynolds Robertson; Ray Hutchinson; Doug Fike; John Plahovinsak; and Cheryl Childers. With receiving permission from the Union Township Trustees to return to their former meeting site at the Union Township Administration Building, 4350 Aicholtz Road, they will be having their first meeting, since the pandemic outbreak, on Monday, July 5, 2021, at 7:00 pm.
Starting Monday, July 5, 2021, the Disabled American Veterans (DAV) Chapter #63 (Clermont County) will be returning to their former monthly meeting location at the Union Township Administration Building, 4350 Aicholtz Road, Cincinnati, Ohio 45245. The monthly meeting will start at 7:00 pm.
On Thursday, June 10, 2021, the Union Township Trustees granted the DAV Chapter permission to return to the facility, which had been closed to organizations for their meetings because of the pandemic.
“We were fortunate that the United Methodist Church in Owensville allowed us to meet in their large gymnasium at no cost during the pandemic,” said Chapter Commander Steve Smith. “This room rental savings allowed us to focus our finances on assisting our disabled veterans in Brown and Clermont Counties.”
“The health and welfare of our disabled veterans was our main concern,” noted Past Chapter Commander Gary Lytle. “We took all the proper and necessary procedures to ensure the safety of our members, including distance spacing.”
“Our Executive Committee meetings also adhered to the proper spacing requirements,” explained Commander Smith, “often meeting outside in a large driveway of one of our DAV members.”
Although the DAV Chapter suspended monthly meetings, because of the pandemic in April of 2020, it resumed its’ monthly meetings in March of 2021 at the United Methodist Church in Owensville.
“We have urged our DAV members to get their Covid-19 vaccine shots as a method to protect our fellow disabled veterans from the virus,” explained Chapter Adjutant John Plahovinsak. “So far we have been very successful. All of our DAV members residing at the Southern Ohio Veterans Home in Georgetown have already been vaccinated.”
However, one chapter member contracted the virus before the vaccine was available. “He was placed on the ventilator for three (3) weeks and later spent five (5) weeks in a private Nursing Home in Georgetown,” said Smith. “This virus is deadly and that this why our Chapter followed the Governor’s guidance and recommendations.”
“We are very fortunate that the Union Township Trustees allowed our veteran organization back inside of the facility on July 5, 2021,” said 1st Junior Vice Commander Rick Keilholz. “Hopefully, all of our disabled veterans will start coming back to the meetings.”
“We have a lot of activities planned for the rest of the year, like the Brown County Fair, and we certainly need their input and participation to make these activities for our disabled veterans a success,” highlighted Smith.
The DAV Chapter #63 Annual Report of Activities in 2020 is available (free of charge) by contacting Chapter Adjutant Plahovinsak at plahovinsak@msn.com.