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Washington State Patrol
Troopers Spouses Association
P.O. Box 2431
Olympia, WA 98507

March, 2008 - D4 meeting minutes

1. Welcome and Sign In – Heather Gerard, Gladys Shirey, Sue Power, Cassie Walker and Sharmen Slemp
2. Treasurer Report from Sharmen – the 2007 general fund contribution to district 4 of $1000.00 was recently deposited into our account. 
3.  Business –
   • Relay for Life update from Gladys – Currently there are six spouses, three troopers and one sergeant signed up for the WSPTSA Relay for Life team.  The team goal is to raise $1000.00 by selling $1.00 quilt raffle tickets, sponsorship of walkers, the selling of luminaries and donations.  Heather is still working on getting WSPTSA T-shirts for all WSP who participate, the more the merrier, kids too.  We are working with the WSPTA on providing food, support and hopefully the use of their trailer. A team meeting is set for April 3^rd, 6:00 p.m. at Northtown Chili’s Restaurant and all interested in participating are asked to attend.  Any questions or those wanting to provide monetary support call Gladys (contact WSPTSA for number).
   • District 4 Summer Picnic – Mark your calendars now for April 23^rd 7:00 p.m., district office for the beginning planning stage of our picnic scheduled for September 7^th, 2008.  The more people involved the more ideas to possible generate a larger picnic so bring a friend.
   • Meeting with Captain Otis – Sharmen and Heather recently sat down with Captain Otis to discuss our Critical Incident Team outline.  Captain Otis had a few good suggestions on areas we could add to our outline.  He notified us there will be four new troopers coming to the district on April 16^th.   He also approved having a spouse’s association member on the list of immediate contacts for incidents within our district.  Captain Otis expressed full support of the spouses association and has an open door for any spouse’s concern, questions or feedback.  Everyone mark May 6^th on your calendars as Captain Otis advised us the district will have a prayer breakfast in the morning then an inspirational speaker, a Louisiana State Trooper, will be giving a couple of presentations on this day and all are welcome to attend.  More detail should be coming. 
   • Auction Basket – We are putting together a basket for the Washington State Law Enforcement Memorial Ball being held April 19^th.  Our current donations are listed below.  Contact Heather at (contact WSPTSA for number) if you have something to add to our Basket, theme is Spokane Area.

4 Spokane Indians upper box tickets – 2008 season
2 Spokane Indians baseball hats
2 Spokane Indians baseballs
6 Spokane Chiefs tickets – 07-08 playoffs or 08-09 regular season
1 Spokane Chiefs signed hockey poster
1 Spokane Chiefs baseball hat
1 Spokane Chiefs hockey puck
Spokane Candy
The Davenport Soft Peanut Brittle Candy

·         Meeting Adorned

April 2006

Greetings Spouses,

We would like to take the time in this article to tell you about the services that we offer so that you can feel more informed and connected.

• Cadet Spouse Orientation

• Welfare checks for families in need, financial assistance, childcare, etc…

• Website for easy access to information and patrol links  www.wsptsa.org

• Direct connection to the patrol, questions can be answered the same day

• Crisis training in cooperation with Dr. Clark and the CISM network

• WSP military deployed care packages

• Annual summer picnics  East/West

• Annual meeting in July,  Wenatchee

We are very proud of how far our association has come.  Some of you may not realize this but in the few short years we have been around the spouses now have a connection with the patrol. We do have a voice, where in the past we have not.  It may not seem like much but coming from folks that have had questions or concerns in the past and have not been able to get an answer this is a great accomplishment.  When and if you are in need of an answer please know that you can come to your association, we are here for you.

One complaint we’ve heard is that, “they weren’t there for me.”  Here’s the catch with that, we can only help if we are notified. We sometimes hear of situations from the Daily Bulletin, however we do have to work around privacy issues so unless we are directly contacted, our hands are tied. We know and understand that it’s difficult to request help, however requesting help is the best thing you can do when you feel like you are sinking.  Please, please call on your association in times of need.  Be it on your own behalf or a friend’s.

Maybe you have heard of complaints or have suggestions.  If either is the case, please come forward.  Hear say is very unproductive; coming forth with information will bring a fresh perspective.  Your willingness to be frank can open our eyes and help this association grow even further.  If you are uncomfortable coming forward you can always contact us anonymously by going to our website, clicking “contact us” and omit your email address. This way we will not know the sender.