Sean C. Morgan
Of The New Era
The State of Oregon AmVets Ladies Auxiliary, represented by Teri Spier of Sweet Home, and Elda Wacek both received national awards recently.
The AmVets Auxiliary was named the Auxiliary of the Year for 2006-07 at the national convention held in South Carolina, Spier said.
Wacek of the Sweet Home Cooties Auxiliary, the “Bush Apes,” was named Supreme Chaplain of the Military Order of the Cooties.
“That’s due to all our work with veterans throughout the state of Oregon,” Spier said of the AmVets award.
The AmVets Auxiliary is active with the Veterans Administration Hospital, nursing homes, children’s programs, St. Jude’s children’s cancer clinic, Paws with a Clause and the John Tracy Clinic. The John Tracy Clinic was set up by actor Spencer Tracy who had a deaf child. The clinic provides hearing aids to deaf children.
Paws is a national organization that provides service dogs to disabled persons, Spier said. For example, a dog may be trained to lift the legs of a person bound to a wheelchair.
Spier was the president of the state AmVets Auxiliary at the time.
This is the first time Oregon has been recognized nationally, she said. “It just means that the girls finally got the recognition we deserve for all the hard work everyone does for the veterans. All of the local auxiliaries in the state come together. That’s how we got our national award.”
Sweet Home’s AmVets Auxiliary supports state functions and also local programs, such as visits to local nursing homes, Spier said. Members also provided Christmas for two families who had soldiers serving overseas. They also work with the Veterans of Foreign Wars Auxiliary on the veterans’ Christmas Party and on the Easter party for kids. They work with other groups and auxiliaries providing four dinners a year to patients of the Roseburg Veterans Administration hospital.
Mostly, they work with local groups on a variety of projects, she said.
The AmVets membership includes veterans who did not serve in a war zone, including those who served stateside.
Wacek “has been a very good chaplain,” Rose-Marie Allyn said. Allyn is involved in the Cooties and other veterans organizations.
“She’s been a chaplain for five to six years,” Allyn said. “She bends over backward to do things for veterans whether they’re homebound or whatever.
“She’s kind of quiet, friendly and lovable,” Allyn said. She attends everything, and when she can’t she’s busy making things for veterans.
At meetings, “she does our closing prayers, and she always makes sure there’s some time for our troops,” Allyn said. “She just kind of goes a little step beyond, which is why I think she got the award.”
“I was overwhelmed,” Wacek said. “I was very, very surprised. A national award is hard to come by.”
She has served in veterans organizations for more than 40 years, she said. They include the Cooties, Disabled American Veterans and the VFW.
Helping veterans is an absolute must, Wacek said. For those who have problems, “I feel so sorry for those veterans. They feel so down, and they need something to grab a hold of. They’re human beings, and they need us desperately.”
Wacek’s husband, John Wacek, was named Cootie of the Year in Albany’s Cootie Post, the Timber Toppers.