| Fundraiser
planned for VFW
This Saturday the BusdaStubLUp Saloon and Grub is putting on a Poker Run to benefit the local VFW post. They are doing this to honor the veterans as well as the troops in Iraq, in particular, owner DebeeAnn Thompson, who has been stationed in Iraq for the past several months. Thompson spent 3 months of training at Fort Riley, Kansas and shipped off to Baghdad on April 25 of this year. At Ft. Riley she trained with about 300 other soldiers on a variety of things like weapons qualification, small arms and automatic weapons systems, how to react to Improvised Explosive Devices (IED’s), conducting convoys, HMMWV rollover drills, clearing buildings, hand-to-hand combat, live fire exercises, Arab culture, Iraqi language classes, physical fitness, leadership development, specialized training and more. Currently she is Executive Office of the Multi-National Security Transition Command-Iraq (MNSTC-I) to the J7 Engineers. MNSCT-I is responsible for developing, organizing, training, equipping and sustaining the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) and the rebuilding of Iraq. The stated mission is to train the ISF so that they become capable of defeating the insurgency and taking responsibility for maintaining security within Iraq. This should be done so that the coalition can reduce the number of troops in Iraq. Therefore the MNSTC-I mission is a central part of the U.S. exit strategy. DebeeAnn is currently a Major and will be promoted to Lieutenant Colonel this year while in Iraq. She has held positions from platoon leader to company commander to executive officer. The Prairie “Freedom” Poker Run starts at the BusdaStubLUp and goes to Mac’s Bar & Grill in White Bird then to the Hub Bar & Grill in Kamiah, then to the Clover Club in Nezperce, the Halfway Club in Ferdinand and then back to the BusdaStubLUp in Cottonwood where they will end the run with the National Anthem, a barbecue and a live band. There will be a silent auction and prize drawing. Each rider or driver donates $20 and draws a card at each location to build their poker hand. The top three poker hands will win cash prizes. Each rider/driver gets a set of military dog tags, a barbecue ticket and gets to enjoy the event. Many local businesses have also supplied support for the event. |
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