Wright County Blue Star Mothers celebrate 15 years
The Wright County Area Blue Star Mothers Minnesota Chapter 13 celebrated their 15-year anniversary on Saturday, February 4, with a gathering of 26 past, current or future members and some special guests. The event was held at the Monticello VFW Post 8731, appetizers, snacks and cake were served. Among the twenty-five people were three past Department of Minnesota Blue Star Mothers Presidents Pattie Kelley, Jeanne Ullmer and Lucie Cutts, as well as the current president Karla Keller. We were honored that they were able to share this joyous occasion with the chapter. Their guidance and support through the years has been invaluable and much appreciated! Past Department President Dottie Sills, the president who installed the chapter and officers on February 3, 2008, was unable to attend, but she sent a congratulatory message that was read by chapter President Jen Pecarina during her speech, “Hi. I was hoping I would be able to attend your celebration of 15 years, but I can’t. I am so very proud of all of you for the mission you have continued for all these years! I remember your first official meeting with installing your chapter and all your officers. Congratulations Chapter 13, Department of Minnesota, Blue Star Mothers of America, Inc. Love to all. Dottie.”
A video congratulatory message was also played for all to see and hear from the National President of Blue Star Mothers of America, Inc, Stacy Anders. Anders lives in California and comments on how she is trying to stay warm because it’s normally not that cold there as it was on that day, but she stated that she’s got nothing on us Minnesota girls! She sent well wishes for a happy, happy 15-year birthday to our chapter. Anders expressed that we should keep going strong for the organization and keep up the great work! She’s also looking forward to seeing all of us at the National Convention this summer in Nashville, Tennessee. In closing, she hoped we all had a good day and sent her love to all.
During Pecarina’s speech she talked about the beginning of Blue Star Mothers of America, Inc. How Captain George H. Maines saw the morale of his soldiers was low. They were worried about their mothers back in the states and how their lives were without them. He decided to hold a meeting for military Moms and placed an ad in the Flint, Michigan, newspaper on January 22, 1942, announcing this meeting for military Moms and the desire to form an organization of support for them. There was a coupon in the paper for Mothers to fill out and return. There were over 1,000 responses. On February 1, 1942, the first meeting was held at the Durant Hotel in Flint, Michigan, and 300 mothers came to that first meeting! And Blue Star Mothers of America, Inc was formed. Chapters were formed all over the United States. In June of 1960, the organization was congressionally chartered. BSMoA is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit veterans service organization. Chapters meet regularly to fulfill the organization’s mission. Once a year, moms from every chapter are invited to attend the National Convention held at different locations throughout the United States. At this meeting, moms conduct business for the good of the organization and elect new officers for the upcoming year. In the early years, the mission was to bring their sons home, make sure they received the benefits they deserved, help their families, help each other, and to be there if something happened. The mission hasn’t changed much over the last 81 years. It still includes the original mission but has also expanded to include rehab, hospital volunteers, etc., to serve and support currently-serving military, veterans, Gold Star families, and each other through service, fundraising, and social times.
Minnesota Blue Star Mothers history includes the forming of the first chapter in the state, Chapter 1, out of the Willmar area. Chapter 1 was officially chartered on March 23, 2003. It takes five members to form a chapter. Not long after other chapters were formed and on March 1, 2005, the Department of Minnesota Blue Star Mothers of America, Inc. was formed (at least three chapters are needed to form a department). Not every state has a department, and there are only two other states who currently have one, Michigan and Ohio. The Wright County Area Blue Star Mothers Chapter was formed and started meeting in October of 2007; they were officially chartered and installed on February 3, 2008. They have seen many moms come and go in the chapter, but there are a couple of the original moms still involved. The chapter started with 13 moms and has grown to 29 moms and six associates. Associates are non-military mom members, such as dads, siblings, and community members who are passionate about the BSMoA mission. There are currently about 200 chapters throughout the United States.
Some of the activities, events and fundraising that MN Chapter 13 is currently involved in or has been involved in include: helping with various events, at the Buffalo American Legion, hosting craft fairs, attending craft fairs, speaking engagements, being in parades, Veterans Day programs, Memorial Day programs, concerts in the park, having information tables at events, such as resource fairs and the Buffalo Home and Garden Show, playing Bingo with the veterans at the St. Cloud VA, decorating trees at the annual Wright County Historical Society Festival of Trees, hosting a meet-and-greet in July at a local park, Coburns hotdog/brats fundraiser, Perkins fundraiser, Pizza Ranch fundraiser, hosting department spring meetings and fall conventions, staffing the merchandise table at the annual Tribute to the Troops event for Gold Star families, attending National Conventions, hot dish cook-off, Trexx plastic recycling project, welcome home celebrations, send-off ceremonies, monetarily supporting Freedom Farm, Eagles Healing Nest and other veteran service organizations, hosting Gold Star Mother’s Day Tea on the last Sunday in September and presenting the Gold Star banner to the family of a fallen hero. These are only some of the things they’ve been involved with over the last 15 years. Annually, they do a Holiday Project of hand decorating (with the help of community members) Christmas stockings (200-400 each year), fill them with goodies and send them to deployed military members.
Pecarina closed out her speech with the words, “I want to thank everyone for coming out today. This chapter and this organization is very near and dear to my heart..as are you all. When we went to that first meeting, and second, we didn’t all know each other; we were strangers. When we started our chapter, we were so new to the wonders of what we, as Moms, could do to support our children as they lived out their military life journey. I think we all joined thinking about what we could do for them, not realizing what we would be doing for ourselves. We formed a sisterhood, a bond not by blood but by common ground, put differences aside and worked together to support the mission of Blue Star Mothers of America, Inc. We’ve cried together, laughed, shaken our heads in frustration, bit our tongues, shared family joys and sorrows, and in the end, we come together as family..to support all military, our children and each other. I also want to thank our associate members and other family members not on our roster who help behind the scenes. My military children for making me a Blue Star Mother. I thank my family for always helping me support the mission. Being an associate member is a thankless role, but please know our chapter, any chapter, couldn’t run as smoothly as they do without our associate members, too! You are greatly appreciated!”
A poem written by Blue Star Mother Laurie Mandery (when her son Charles was deployed, she expressed her thoughts and emotions through poems) was read:
“There is a soldier coming home today
His mission is now done
God has answered all my prayers
That soldier is my son
Every night before I slept
My prayers would always be
That God would bring him safely home
To his Country he served and to me.
When I read things on the Internet.
Scary stories about his platoon,
He’d say, “Mom don’t dwell on this.
Keep thinking I’ll be home soon.”
So I’ll never know what he went through
To keep our country free
And I’ll always be very grateful
That he kept these things from me.
So, thank you, son for thinking of me
When it seems, I was at the end of my rope
You always managed to calm my fears
And always helped me cope.”
If you are a past member of our chapter and would like to receive notifications about our upcoming events, please send your address to the email listed below. You can also follow our chapter on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100079301813394 Blue Star Mothers of Wright County Area MN 13. Military Moms in the Wright County area, or just outside of it, are now accepting new members, and we would love to hear from you and welcome you into our chapter. Please contact us through the president’s email at presi dent.mn13@bluestarmothers.us or you can call and leave a message at 612-849-0698. We look forward to meeting you and walking this military Mom journey alongside you!
