Friday: Busy Day at the USO

I worked at the USO today from 9 a.m. until 1:30 p.m.  They had a special day for about 200 Marines from Camp Johnson (also in Jacksonville).  They were given a day off to just have fun and they were bused over to the USO. These are YOUNG Marines. I'm guessing early twenties and younger.  Probably 95% male and 5% female.  Just for information's sake, here's info about Camp Johnson:

Mission

The purpose of the camp is to conduct formal resident training for officers and enlisted personnel in the occupational fields of logistics, motor transport, personnel administration, supply, and financial management ( accounting and disbursing), as well as to conduct instructional management and combat water survival swim training. In addition to training Marines, Camp Johnson also houses the Field Medical Training Battalion, which trains corpsmen and religious program specialists of the Navy. The commanding officer of MCCSSS also serves as the area commander of Camp Johnson, and provides administrative support to various tenant commands.

(It was also, a long time ago the training facility for the Montford Point Marines, the first black Marines)

     I helped with setting up chairs and food tables.  We had tons of Girl Scout cookies to set out. The Marines started coming around 10 and were given an introduction to the USO by two staff men who are retired Marines.  They were told of the historical aspects of this particular USO (the oldest continuous operating USO in the world!)

     They were told to relax and have fun!  There were poker tables set up, corn hole games, board games, chess, table tennis, pool tables, video games, etc.  There was plenty for them to do until the food arrived.

     Two different restaurants provided pizza, pizza and more pizza. The USO staff provided taco and burrito fillings, slider sandwiches, salad, chips, rice and beans and more.  I worked at the salad and taco filling table and watched more than a few pour ranch dressing on their pizza!  (I thought that just happened in California.)  Looking at their too full plates, I heard many say, "Man, I'm going to pay for this on Monday!"  Peanut Butter Patties, Samoas and Thin Mint Girl Scout cookies were the favorites!

     If you get discouraged about the youth of the country, spend some time with Marines.  I probably heard, "Good morning Ma'am" and "thank you Ma'am" at least 100 times today. They were all polite and respectful and grateful for the day.  What's hard is having them say to you, "thank you for all you do for us...."  Wow.  It's the other way around, don't you know?

     I think they had a lot of fun until the buses came to get them at 4. I'm so blessed to be able to be there and help when I can. If you ever get the chance to volunteer at a USO, DO IT!  I come home from these events exhausted!  But it's an amazing experience.

Here: https://www.uso.org/centers/united-states

They also take donations!

https://www.uso.org/take-action/ways-to-support

Feb. 1, 2017 A Fun Day

I spent 3 hours at the USO this morning with 7 other volunteers making up rack packs.  How many?  We made up 1,025 rack packs! In case you don't remember what they are:  One of these goes on each single Marine's "rack" when they get back to the barracks after a deployment. They're items they might need immediately, like toothbrush, and paste, razors,  a bar of soap, deodorant and a small snack among other things. In case it's not obvious to you, since they needed 1,025 rack packs, that means some Marines are on their way "home."  When we make "deployment" packs, that means....some are headed out.  Here I am in gray sweater:

After that I stopped for a quick lunch and decided to visit some thrift stores since I was in that part of town.  I never know what to expect from thrift stores, but today was a good day.  I visited this place: 

It's been a thrift store before, but I think it has new owners now.  I saw a plate that looked interesting but it was marked $5.  I saw that it had some chips so I decided not to buy it, but the woman working there, said, "Oh, I'll give it to you for $1.00."  OKAY!  I'll take it.  There was also a small china saucer (blue and white, which I love) marked $3, but I told her no on that too.  That's when she said, "Just a dollar."  Another OKAY!

An older man came into the store saying he'd never been in and wanted to know, "What can I do without?"  Right there I thought of my dad.  The employee showed him something she just bought herself and he said, "But I wanted that!"  Oh my gosh, that sounds just like something my dad would have said.  Later he saw me pick up my mystery piece.  I asked him if he knew what it was and he answered, "No, but I wanted it!"  So much like my dad would have said to someone.  He was kidding of course.  On my way out he said, "You gonna let me buy that?"  I told him he could have it for $20 (I paid 1.75).  He offered .50.  So, no deal.  Ha ha. Here's my purchases from there:  

The luncheon plate is from the 1930s, made by W.S. George Co.  The saucer says Turin and a number on the back, but I couldn't find the pattern anywhere.

Here's the mystery piece.  

 The mystery is not necessarily what it is, but why it's made the way it is.  It stands up on four rubber feet but opened, it is a grater on both sides, with a piece of wood in between.  It's stainless steel and has the word "SlimSlice" on it. The company name is Invento Product Corp.  I found that it was started in 1960 but currently inactive. Can't see much use as a slicer, but the grating part sure is sharp. (Maybe it's missing something?)

I also went to the Infant of Prague Catholic thrift store and found three small Fire King custard cups in the primrose pattern. 

(Forty cents each.) Etsy has 182 Fire King Primrose items listed.   That's nothing; some vintage items can have 4-5 thousand listings of the same thing, or at least similar.

All of these things can be added to my Etsy shop. Hoping February is a better month for sales!

https://www.etsy.com/shop/PicketfencesVintage

It's always fun when I find some deals that I know could possibly sell on Etsy, and so cheap!  Tomorrow I do laundry.

(Friday, another USO event)