Dale's St Louis Blog

They CHOSE to Serve - Women Veterans

Dale Weir (Coldwell Banker Gundaker) — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 19:07:06 -0800

The young women of today, so cocky and sure of themselves, sometimes forget that they owe their ability to be so sure of themselves to all of the wonderful women warriors who came before them. The women who took over when their husbands, fathers and brothers went off to war and managed the family farms and businesses and kept our economy going. We all owe a debt to these women, some went back to their old routines after the war ended, but many had to keep going in their new roles because the men never came home, or if they came home, they came home wounded and unable to work the farm or in the factory.

Then there were the women who followed the men to war. They became the nurses, the ambulance drivers, the pilots and mechanics. Some learned how to manage the military supply and admin systems and keep things running. They have some fascinating stories when you stop and listen to them.

Take a few minutes and stop and talk to a woman who was the nurse anesthesiologist at the battle of the bulge, or the nurses who were captured and held prisoner during the war. Talk to the ones who left home to serve their country with high hopes of seeing the world, then never got stationed more than 100 miles away from home. Give yourself an hour to talk to the ones who sat at the Nuremburg trials taking dictation, or the ones who were among the first pilots and assigned to ferry aircraft to the men (but who weren't recognized and given credit for it until over 40 years later). Spend some time with the women who were the first in ROTC or the Academies, and discuss how they were treated both there and when they entered active duty. Then talk to the ones who went from being the Women's Air Force and the Women's Army Corp to being accepted into THE Air Force and THE Army.

We are the past, We are the future. Our cockiness and sureness caused us to break all the rules. Many suffered the consequences. Many hit the glass ceiling, but we pushed on and we pushed our sisters through, so that today's young women can do so much more. If you want to talk to the women, if you want to hear their stories, they out there - The Women's Memorial in DC is collecting them along with several other of the National Museums under a special project trying to preserve the memories for future generations. But it's much nicer to hear the stories in person. Take a Veteran out to lunch and ask them about their time in the service. You'll be surprised when you hear the stories they have to tell.

You'll hear about cleaning the grease pits and swabbing decks. You'll hear about midnight raids and long hours of bordom, and times of sheer terror, but you'll also hear about working with people from all over the US and the world. You'll hear about a world that opened the doors to education and housing and opportunities. And you'll hear about trust and faith and working together for a common goal.

Take a Vet to lunch and spend some time talking to them. You'll be glad you did.

I'm the Past Commander of the only All Women's American Legion Post in the State of Missouri, American Legion Post 404 in St Louis. We have some wonderful members, from WWII to women on Active Duty now.

Dale

Free for Veterans

Dale Weir (Coldwell Banker Gundaker) — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 18:36:41 -0800

A quick and dirty list of freebies that I've compiled for the veterans in my area:

Applebees is giving free meals to anyone that is active duty or a veteran (show a military, retiree or service organization ID card) on Veterans Day. They have 6 meals to chose from - a steak, a large salad, a bacon cheeseburger, a pasta dish, a chicken dish and a chicken fingers dish.

UNO's has buy one get one free meals with an ID card or a picture of you in uniform on Veterans Day

Golden Corral Steak House is giving free meals to veterans with ID cards on Veterans Day

McAlister's Deli always gives a discount to Veterans, military and their dependents with an ID card

Lowe's Hardware Stores always give discounts (10%) to veterans, military and their dependents with an ID card

Home Depot Store give discounts (10%) to Veterans, Military and their dependents on patriotic holidays with an ID card

Hair Saloon Barbershops give free haircuts on Patriotic Holidays with an ID card to veterans and military (couldn't find any free haircuts or beauty shop services for the female veterans though)

Krispie Kreme Doughnuts give a free doughnut on Veterans Day with an ID card to veterans and military

Outback Steakhouse gives a free Bloomin Onion and beverage to military and vets on Veterans Day with an ID card

Sam's Club gives away free canes to Veterans and military members (but the number of canes is limited) - you don't have to be a member to get one)

U.S. Department of Interior – All of the areas managed by the DOI is offering free admission to any and everyone on Veterans Day. This includes all national parks, forests, and monuments.

i'm sure that there are more, but those were the ones I could compile for my area - anyone have something to add to the list?

I'm a Past Commander of the Only All Women's American Legion Post in the State of Missouri - if you want to see Veterans in action, check out Post 404 some time.

Dale

Highway 40/64 shutdown

Dale Weir (Coldwell Banker Gundaker) — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 15:32:54 -0800

Well, we're over a month into the highway 40/64 shutdown and so far things are going well. We ahaven't seen any of the major debacles that they predicted and the traffic seems to be moving fairly smoothly. My husband fights the traffic on a daily basis and while he's had to change his route, it really hasn't lengthened his day any. When I'm out showing property, I just plan my route ahead of time to ensure that we can get to all the homes my clients want to see without issues. I think the biggest challenges have been to the businesses and homeowners with construction on their doorsteps. It has changed where people shop.

The recent bad weather was a test of the shutdown, since the concerns were that emergency vehicles wouldn't be able to get through, but that hasn't been a problem. Have you had any issues with the shutdown?

Driving in St Louis

Dale Weir (Coldwell Banker Gundaker) — Fri, 10 Nov 2006 21:26:30 -0800

Here's a tongue in cheek look at driving in St Louis. When you're ready to start looking at homes, give me a call, I know my way around and will be there to help you find the right home in the right area!

A VISITOR'S GUIDE TO DRIVING IN ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI:

The morning rush hour is from 6:00 to 10:00 am. The evening rush hour is from 3:00 to 7:00 PM. Friday's rush hour starts Thursday morning.

Gravois Road can only be pronounced by a native. Ditto for Spoede and Chouteau.

Construction on Highways 40, 64, 70, 255, 270, 44, 55 and I-170 is a way of life, and a permanent form of entertainment.

The Page Avenue extension and Airport expansion projects took over 20 years to get approved and St Louisan's lost track of how many political figures claimed them as their own ideas.

A St. Louisan from South County has never been to North County and visa versa. West County has everything delivered.

St Louisan's were aghast when the federal government required them to redo the highway signs to indicate that the federal highway went to cities in other states instead of local municipalities.

There are 2 exits on Highway 40 for Clayton Road and 2 for Big Bend.

Laclede Station Road mysteriously changes names as you cross intersections. As do McCausland, Lindbergh, Watson, Reavis Barracks, Fee Fee, McKnight, Airport Road, Midland, Olive and Clarkson.

You can go all four directions on Highway 270: North and South in West County, East and West in South County, and East and West in North County.

Confused? So are the St. Louis drivers.

There are 54 school districts on the Missouri side alone - each of which has their own school bus system and scheduled times to block traffic.

There are 75 "official neighborhoods" in the City of St Louis. St. Louisans commonly give directions (especially for restaurants) to strangers based on these neighborhoods which aren't marked on any maps that are handed out by the tourist board, the AAA or Mapquest.

There are 91 official municipalities in St Louis County. Each municipality has it's own rules, regulations, and often their own police departments. More importantly, most have their own snow removal contracts so it's not uncommon to drive down a road in winter and have one block plowed, the next salted, the next piled with snow and the last partially cleared by residents wanting to get out of their driveways.

No native St. Louisan knows that Lindbergh runs from South County to North County. And, if you tell them, they will not believe you.

Lindbergh belongs to every neighborhood except Kirkwood, who had the nerve to creatively change the name to "Kirkwood Road".

Highway 270 is our daily version of the NASCAR circuit.

Lambert Field and St Louis International Airport really are the same place. The East Terminal however is a different place.

Never ever try to cross a bridge in St Louis during rush hour unless you have a port-a-potty in the car.

The outer belt is Highway 270 which turns into Highway 255 in South County. The inner belt is Highway 170 and if it's a 3XX number it's an outer outer belt.

Highway 40 is the same as Interstate 64 through the middle of St Louis.

If you need directions to O'Fallon, make sure to specify Illinois or Missouri.

The City of Ballwin actually proposed that drivers use connecting strip mall parking lots to get from place to place rather than drive on Manchester Road to cut the traffic on Manchester.

Remember, if you need help finding your way around when you first get to St Louis and start house hunting, give me a call. I'll demystify our road system for you! 314-660-4803 or dweir@cbgundaker.com!