CHAPTER  818 NEWS EVENTS AND PICTURES
The James Michael Ray Memorial VVA Chapter #818 is located in Lincoln,
Rhode Island and its over 130 members are from a variety of communities
in Northern Rhode Island and parts of Massachusetts in towns that border
the Rhode Island Stateline.  Our chapter is named after one of Rhode
Island's unaccounted for from the Vietnam War and was from Woonsocket,
Rhode Island.  Ray was a Staff Sergeant and captured by the North
Vietnamese and escaped once and was recaptured.  His Father, Charles
Ray, Sr. and Stepmother, Jean Ray spent the better part of their lives
working with the League of Families and other POW/MIA organizations to
get a full accounting of their son as well as all POW/MIA's.  The Rays
are elderly now and in failing health.  They decided to bequeath the
Chapter with Jimmy Ray's military memorabilia and have charged us to be
the official custodians of these priceless and historical awards. The
Rays live in Diberville, Mississippi now and were not able to bring this
collection to us.  That honor was bestowed on Jimmy Ray's younger
brother, Charles Ray, Jr. who served in the United States Marine Corps
and is also a member of the Chapter.  He presented the collection to us
on Thursday, November 19, 2009.  The Rays are also members of AVVA #818.
The Chapter is proud and honored to receive this precious collection and
it will be proudly displayed in our new meeting space when it opens next
year.

Fr. Phil

Picture  DSC06194   Left - Right
  (Picture) James Michael Ray
   Charles(Chuck) Ray (Brother of James Michael Ray)
   Fr, Phil Salois (President, Chapter 818 RI & National Chaplain)
   Eugene (Joe) Gamache (Vice-President, Chapter 818 RI)
   Richard A. Guerin (Treasurer, Chapter 818 RI)
   Owen (Mickey) Emery ( Secretary, Chapter 818 RI) & RI State Council Vice President VVA

Picture DSC06196
 Medals preented to James Michael Ray (posthumously)

Picture DCS06200
Certificate's of presentation of medals

MOSSBERG joins forces with the New EnglandParalyzed Veterans Trap shooters.
July 4-9 2010 in Denver, Colorado the 30th National Veterans Wheelchair
Games was held. Mossberg this year provided outer ware for the Trap shooters
and there coach. New England Paralyzed Veterans is hoping to establish a
permanent trap team to compete with other states, in the past there has not
been a team to travel to the different shoot that are held.

All Shooter made it to the finals but did not score high enough to get
medals this year , it will be different next year.

Submitted by Mick Emery

L-R Jim Wallack, Michael Gubault, Peter Moore
(Back Row) L-R Brockton VA Worker and Coach Mickey Emery

Aug. 21st 2010 Sixth annual fishing trip...........................
The Firing Range on Sept. 18, 2010.............

VVA Chapter 818 Presents a Donation Check to Operation Stand down
September 18, 2011

Pictures by Ed Frechette

VVA #818 CHAPTER EVENTS for the month of January 2012:

The New Year - As we begin a New Year in the life of VVA #818 we continue to look for ways to better serve our membership and our veteran community. So please come to our monthly meetings and give us your ideas and suggestions on how best we can fulfill our mission. But remember, if you have project suggestions or event ideas, be prepared to spearhead the program and enlisted the support of our fellow members. You simply cannot throw out an idea and expect the leadership to spearhead the program. We all need to work together and get involved in the life of the Chapter outside of regular meeting attendance. This is what shows that everyone takes an active part in making our Chapter the Number One Chapter in the State.
MONTHLY NEWS NOTES - As the membership grows the cost of postage and mailings of the Monthly Meeting reminders and New Notes is becoming prohibitive - so we will now only send these out electronically to the e-mail addresses you have provided. I realize that some of you may not read your e-mails on a regular basis so I encourage you to do so and if your spouse shares your e-mail address that she might alert you when these e-mails arrive in your mailbox. For those of you who do not have an e-mail address, I will continue to send you hard copies. If you are receiving this mailing by snail mail, it means I do NOT have a good e-mail address for you. So if you have a home e-mail address, send it to me at xuanloc@aol.com . This will greatly assist me in reducing the work load I have every month. I thank you in advance.
CHRISTMAS PARTY! - Once again our annual VVA #818 Christmas Party at Savini's Restaurant was a huge success. We had 70 members and wives in attendance. Everyone had a wonderful time. There were many great door prizes that people had a chance of winning. The winner of the $500.00 cash prize for our Annual Raffle was John “Jake” Lubera. Congratulations Jake! Every year we select a member to honor for exceptional service to the Chapter throughout the previous year. This year the VVA #818 Veteran of the Year Award went to Joe Gamache none other than our First Vice-President. Joe has brought in more new members into our Chapter, he has always gone the extra mile to do a lot of “behind the scenes” grunt work that no one sees but is essential to keep the Chapter functioning smoothly. Joe was given a framed VVA Certificate of Appreciate and a Vietnam War wrist watch engraved with his initials and year of his Vietnam tour of duty. Congratulations Joe! We could do it without you! Thank you on behalf of the entire Chapter.
Wreaths Across America - We had a very successful event on Saturday, December 10th at the Lincoln Senior Center as we observed the annual event “Wreaths Across America” - the first of an annual observance at the Vietnam Veteran Memorial in Lincoln. There was a great turn out of VVA #818 members in attendance. This event is to honor and remember all veterans who have gone before us and is celebrated at the same time as the one celebrated in Arlington National Cemetery.
 Membership Report -- We have received five new VVA members and one new AVVA member since our last News Notes in November. Please join me in welcoming into our VVA #818 ranks, Robert Farland, Earl Fontaine, Clement Labine, Jr., Roger A. Richer, James Spooner, and Paula G. Smith, to AVVA. We are the largest Chapter in Rhode Island because we have so much to offer our members. We now total 170 members and 15 AVVA members. Welcome to #818!
 Good of the Order - We lost two members since the last November News Notes. Steve Pansy, of Providence, Rhode Island, died on Sunday, October 30, 2011. Dennis Robert Eaton, of Central Falls and formerly of South Attleboro died on Friday, December 30, 2011. Lucien Fontaine survived a terrible auto accident when his car went spinning out of control when he hit some black ice on St. Paul Street North Smithfield. The car completely rolled over and Lucien was lucky come out alive. He was rushed to Rhode Island Hospital with multiple fractures. He is now home recuperating. Lucien has just lost his sister, Linda the month before to cancer at the age of 58. So please remember Lucien and his family in your prayers as well as the Pansy and Eaton families.