Northern California Veterans for Peace Convention

Why?

- To share our experiences and learn about what Chapters throughout northern California are doing
- To consider what more we can do together to achieve the goals of VFP
- To get to know each other


Agenda:

Friday 6:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m. Arrive any time; meet & greet; music and poetry;
chili & soup provided
Saturday Before 9:00 a.m. Arrival for those that couldn’t arrive Friday.

9:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m. Breakfast (at the Vets Bldg.)

10:00 a.m. - 10:15 a.m. Review VFP’s Goals and Objectives (optional)

10:15 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. Chapters Presentations
- What works well in your chapter?
- What hurdles do you face and/or have you
overcome?

11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. The Golden Rule Project – Fredy Champagne

12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m. Lunch (at the Vets Bldg.)

1:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. Bradley Manning Update - Jeff Patterson of Courage to Resist

2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. Continue Chapter Presentations

3:00 p.m. - 3:15 p.m. Break

3:15 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. Conclude Chapter Presentations

4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. Utilizing Social Media – Bill Creighton

5:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. Dinner (at the Vets Bldg.)

7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. Speaker - Peter Phillips, past Director of Project Censored, speaking on “Getting the Word Out”, “Media Issues”; “Effectiveness of Social Media”, etc. (Note: open to the public)

9:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m. Social time
Sunday 8:00 a.m. - 9:00 a.m. Breakfast (at the Vets Bldg.)

9:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. Miscellaneous topics (to be time scheduled at the beginning of this session):
- Fund Raising
- How to keep an organization alive
- PTSD treatment
- DU issues
- Homelessness; squatting
- Banished vets (moved to a plenary)
- Unmaking War; Remaking Men (book by
Kathleen Barry)

11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. Recent Vets and their families speak out!
What do a few local recent vets and their support network have to say about their experiences?

12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m. Lunch (at the Vets Bldg.)

1:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. Wrap-up, conclusions, next steps

2:00 p.m. Convention ends (cleanup begins for local hosts)


Lodging:

The closest motel is Economy Inn - one block from the Veterans Building.
- 406 South State Street, Ukiah, CA 95482
- (707) 462-8611 [fax (707) 468-9476]
- 40 rooms; 2 stories
- two rooms are handicapped accessible
- All rooms have coffee makers
- A few rooms have small refrigerators
- An ice and a soft drink machine are on site
- WiFi Internet access available
- AAA approved
- Rates:
1 king or queen-size bed - $45.00/night plus tax
2 queen beds - $50.00/night plus tax

The second closest motel is Sunrise Inn - six blocks from the Veterans Building
- 650 South State Street, Ukiah, CA 95482
- (707) 462-6601 (fax (707) 462-6009]
- email - sunrise [at] pacific.net
- Web - http://www.sunriseinn.net
- 24 rooms; 1 story
- All rooms have mini-refrigerators
- Most rooms have a microwave oven
- Coffee available at office
- Ice machine on site
- WiFi Internet access available
- Rates
1 king bed (1 smoking; 2 non-smoking rooms) - $48.00/night plus tax
1 queen bed (some smoking, some non-smoking) - $48.00/night plus tax
2 queen beds (some non-smoking rooms) - $58.00/night plus tax
3 queen beds (one non-smoking room) - $68.00/night plus tax
AAA approved - AAA discount available ($3.00)

Limited lodging is available with local residents for attendees on a budget.
- Contact Steve Scalmanini, Secretary, VFP-116, to make arrangements.
(707) 391-5853 (cell) - sscalmanini [at] yahoo.com


Meals:

Meals are included in the price of the conference and will be provided at the Veterans Building.
Friday evening: light food available (soup, chili, etc.)
Saturday: breakfast, lunch, dinner
Sunday: breakfast, lunch

Please include any dietary considerations with your reservation.

BYOB


Cost:

The price for the Conference, including meals, excluding lodging, will depend upon the number of attendees. The cost to rent the Veterans Building is $270 for the three days ($90/day.) Meals will be served at the Building, which has a kitchen and dining room separate from the main room. Steve of Ch. 116 in Mendocino County hopes is working with a local caterer to do the meals, the cost of which should be modest with a group of 30 or more. For example, if 30 people attend, and if meals are done for, on average, $6.00 per person per meal, plus utensils, plates, etc., plus the cost of rental, the cost of the Conference would be roughly $50.00 per person. Please plan on paying this at the conference by check to VFP – Chapter 116. We'll know the exact cost at that time.


Internet Access:

High speed Internet access is not regularly available in the Veterans Building, so the host Chapter is investigating temporary access during the conference, hopefully wireless.


Directions:

Ukiah??? Where’s Ukiah???

Ukiah is small-town rural northern California at its best. It was chosen for the Conference because of its central location to other chapters - a three-hour drive from the Eureka/Arcata, San Jose, and Sacramento. (Apologies to Santa Cruz and western Sierras chapters – you’ll have to drive an additional hour.)

Ukiah is on US 101, 60 miles (one hour drive) north of Santa Rosa; that’s two hours north of San Francisco. There will be commute traffic northbound on US 101 through Marin County and some of Sonoma County on Friday evening until ~ 7:00 pm, when the carpool lanes open to everyone. From 3:00 to 7:00 the carpool lanes are legal for 2 or more people in the vehicle. If you are driving from the South Bay Area, going up the Peninsula via I-280, 19th Avenue, and Golden Gate Bridge is usually faster than dealing with the congestion on I-880 and I-580 in the East Bay.

From Sacramento and the Sierras, the fastest route is I-5 to Williams, over Hwy 20 to US 101, then 6 miles south to Ukiah. (It’s faster to bypass the small resort towns along Hwy 20 on the east (scenic) side of Clear Lake by turning left onto Hwy 53 and driving through the city of Clear Lake to Lower Lake, where you turn right onto Hwy 29. This intersects with Hwy 20 again at the northwest end of the lake; turn left onto Hwy 20 toward Ukiah.)

When you’re near Ukiah on US 101, take the Perkins Street exit one half mile west to downtown. Cross the railroad tracks to the signal light at State Street (the main intersection in town.) Turn left onto South State Street. Take the 3rd right onto Seminary Avenue. The Veterans Building is at the end of the 2nd short block, on the left side of the street – at the corner of South Oak Street. (The next block is the driveway into City Hall.)

The Economy Inn is on the corner of South State Street and Seminary Avenue. If you’re going there first, turn right just before Seminary Avenue into its covered entryway. The Veterans Building is one short block from the Economy Inn, so it’s convenient to leave your car there and walk to the conference.


RSVP

If you will attend the conference, please copy and paste the lines below into an email, fill in the appropriate information, and send it to Steve Scalmanini, Secretary of host Chapter 116, at sscalmanini [at] yahoo.com. (US Mail address is PO Box 436, Ukiah, CA 95482.)

________________________________________________________________________

I will attend the Northern California Veterans for Peace Conference March 4-6 in Ukiah.

Name(s):
From (Chapter or City):
Expected arrival day & time at the conference:
Expected departure day & time from the conference:
Dietary restrictions:
Lodging location:
Cell Phone (if applicable):
________________________________________________________________________


See you there!

Steve Scalmanini
Secretary, VFP-116 (Mendocino County, CA)
sscalmanini [at] yahoo.com
(707) 391-5853 (cell)

Bill Creighton
President, VFP-69 (San Francisco)
billjcreighton [at] yahoo.com
(415) 571-9962 (cell)