The East St. Louis Stand-up was a solid success. On October 20, at least seventy women veterans from East St. Louis were served. They received social and educational services from a number of participatingorganizations, including St. Patrick's Center, the Employment Connection, the Veterans Affairs Administration, Hence Foreland's Windsor House and many more. Army Reserve Brigadier General Cassie Strom was the tremendous moving force behind it all.
Veterans For Peace, chapter 61, was represented by Bob Crecelius, Casey Stinemetz and Woody Powell along with local intern, Kellie Jones. We manned a booth and cooked hot dogs. A lively interest was shown by the participating women in what VFP does and what we stand for. A lot of literature and bumper stickers were distributed.
Mayor Alvin Parks was present and was very pleased that his City was able to host the event in the East St. Louis City Hall. He graciously expressed his appreciation of the efforts made by the organizations putting on the event, including, specifically, Veterans For Peace. He felt it was good for the City to acknowledge the service of these women in a positive way, a caring way.
Wilson (Woody) Powell