BLUE KNIGHTS®                         

International Law Enforcement Motorcycle Club

   California VII (Oakland)

The Blue Knights Nevada II© and a small Bible study group of Dayton, Nevada who had a vision to help a family, are asking for

Blue Knights© NV II

Summary of 2008 Holiday Party/Annual Business meeting

Good Morning Knights,
Another successful Holiday Party has come and gone. The potluck was a resounding success and we got through the Annual Business Meeting in record time.

First the potluck: We had over 60 people in attendance and completely filled four tables with your favorite recipes; Appetizers, Salads, Turkey, Ham, Casseroles and Deserts. The menu went on and on. It would be impossible to recognize each of you for your individual dish as I'm sure I'll miss someone. I've heard from a number of long time members that this was one of the best potlucks they could remember! You all out did yourselves!

On to the Business Meeting: After all the usual executive board reports, we elected the 2008-2010 our new chapter e-board by acclamation. "Election by Acclamation" is a process used when a candidate, or slate of candidates, for office are running unopposed, which was the case this year. So, without objection, your new e-board is as follows:

President, Don Banks
Vice President, Dave McKenzie
Secretary, Pete Van Putten
Treasurer, L.A. Taylor
Past President, Mike Lange
Ride Director, Tom Lashbrook
Ride Director, Jim Alexander
Gordon Perlow has graciously consented to be our Quartermaster.
Contact links for the E- Board will be posted on the chapter webpage shortly.
Thank you all for agreeing to serve as chapter officers.

Outgoing chapter president, Mike Lange, presented the annual Ride Participation Award to Bob and Linda Metcalf, as well as a number of special awards on behalf of the chapter recognizing various individuals for their contributions to the chapter of the past year;

Steve Countouriotis Special Military Award
Dr. Norm Sanders Special Military Award
Suzanne Traylor Special Chapter Service Award
Connie Van Putten Special Chapter Service Award
John & Louise Fredriksson Special Chapter Service Award
Kevin Traylor Chapter Service Award – SafetyCoordinator
Dave McKenzie Chapter Service Award - Treasurer
Peter Van Putten Chapter Service Award - Secretary
Tom Lashbrook Chapter Service Award - Ride Director
James Ziegelman Chapter Service Award - Webmaster.

Dr. Norm Sanders is currently spending his retirement time training military trauma surgeons in Texas prior to their deployment to the Middle East and LTC Steve Countouriotis is once again serving inNorthern Iraq.

At Mike Lange's suggestion, we passed the hat and collected $400 to be used to buy things for Steve and his troops for Christmas. We will be mailing four boxes of books, socks, DVDs, etc. to Steve in the next few days. Thank you all for your contributions and support of our fighting men and women serving around the world!

R~w~P
…pete…

Pete Van Putten
Secretary
Oakland Chapter CA-VII
Blue Knights® International
2008-2010

Knights:
Steve replied to me about the e-mail I sent yesterday and in it he referred to this newspaper article so if you didn't read it here goes and all of our thanks, appreciation and most of all that his son survived and is in good condition. He is a young hero to many of us.
Doc
Petaluma soldier honored for heroism in Iraq
Bronze Star awarded to Army captain shot while getting wounded Iraqi soldier to safety

By GUY KOVNER
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Published: Sunday, December 7, 2008 at 3:00 a.m.
Last Modified: Monday, December 8, 2008 at 9:56 a.m.
Army Capt. Nick Countouriotis of Petaluma, shot in the arm while aiding an Iraqi soldier under enemy fire, has received a hero's medal in Iraq.


Nick Countouriotis. Countouriotis, 26, was awarded a Bronze Star for valor, the Army's fourth-highest award for combat heroism.  "I'm truly humbled to even be considered 'valorous' by the brave men around me," Countouriotis said in an e-mail. "Each one of them is a true hero, putting aside his own safety . . . to defend people he doesn't know and will never meet."
A Terra Linda High School graduate, Countouriotis is serving his second tour in Iraq with a 15-member team based near Sadr City, a sprawling slum next to Baghdad.
His team and an Iraqi army unit were ambushed by militants while on patrol in Sadr City on April 5. The Iraqi soldier was shot in the street, and Countouriotis left a building to help him, exposed to small-arms fire.
Countouriotis got the soldier to safety and was knocked down by the force of an enemy bullet striking his left arm and breaking the bone. Rather than allow Army medics to risk harm, Countouriotis ordered them to stay put and applied a tourniquet to his own arm.
He directed his team's actions by radio until the enemy attack broke off.
A month later, Countouriotis was home, recuperating from the wound and preparing to return to duty. "I'm ready to get back over there so I can help the team out," he said in May while on the couch of his parents' Petaluma home.
The soldier's father, brother and sister have all served at least one tour in Iraq.
Lt. Col. Steve Countouriotis, Nick's father, also has been deployed to Afghanistan and is now stationed at Tal Afar in northern Iraq
The elder Countouriotis advised friends and relatives of Nick's medal via e-mail, saying his son was "too quiet and humble" to do so himself.
"Heroes like him usually don't say much," Steve Countouriotis wrote.
Nick's sister and brother -- Army Reserve Capt. Alethea Bordwell and Marine Staff Sgt. Demetrius Countouriotis -- are both stateside.
Their mother, Debbie Countouriotis, a Marin County teacher, has spent years worrying about her loved ones at war.
"It's something you just have to live with," she said in May while Nick was recovering at home. "You can't change it."
You can reach Staff Writer Guy Kovner at 521-5457 or guy.kovner
@pressdemocrat. com.

--
Michael (DOC) Lange
Past-President
Blue Knights CA VII
(925) 427-5451
doclange@comcast. net