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Farewell to a Great Coffee Group!

My hubby has changed jobs which, in the Army, means a round of "farewell" events. We were farewelled from the brigade a few weeks ago at a brigade staff "Hail and Farewell" and I was farewelled last night from the brigade Coffee group.

For my civilian friends, a "Hail and Farewell" is a regularly scheduled social event for the Soldiers and spouses of a unit to welcome new members to the unit and to say goodbye to those who are scheduled to leave. Welcomes include a quick summary of the Soldier's previous assignments and jobs plus information about his/her Family and interests. Farewells generally include a nice speech about the value the Soldier and Family has added to the unit and may include a farewell gift (framed prints and unit colors are popular). A nice touch is that incoming spouses usually receive a yellow rose and outgoing spouses receive a red rose.

A "Coffee," by contrast, is a social event exclusively for the spouses of Soldiers in a unit. It is not an FRG (Family Readiness Group) function, but is more focused on socializing and less on official information sharing. A different spouse (or a group of spouses) hosts each Coffee, which can be scheduled monthly or as desired. They can be hosted at a home or planned at a local restaurant, but usually include food and fun.

The Coffee I attended last night was hosted by a friend and was a happy evening of chatting with old friends. In our Coffee group, we have a choice of a couple of different farewell gifts ... a way to remember our time with the unit. My gift is really a great one -- personalized and unique! It's hard to explain in words, but is basically a framed print of our unit crest. The crest itself was made by repeating my last name in ink! The letters are closer together to make the outline and darker parts of the crest and spaced out further to create the lighter background.

Here is another (not-so-great) pics from my iPhone:

Can you see "COOK" in the close-up? It's so cool!

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Comments

  1. Army WifeJuly 7, 2013 at 11:31 PM

    I hope you still check back this far, but do you have any idea of where they had this print made? What a fabulous idea!

    ReplyDelete
  2. My Army LifeJuly 10, 2013 at 1:31 PM

    Isn't this print fabulous!?! You'll be amazed at what she can do. They're a smidge pricey but PERFECT for a special welcome or farewell.

    Her etsy site is:
    http://www.etsy.com/shop/personalizedsketches

    You can also find her on Facebook:
    https://www.facebook.com/PersonalizedSketches?ref=ts&fref=ts

    ReplyDelete
  3. Personalized Sketches and SentimentsAugust 30, 2013 at 12:36 AM

    Hi! Thanks for sharing your artwork here on your post :o) and for passing along my etsy site and facebook page :o) So fun meeting you through blog world too :o) I love, love, love drawing these with the names and found out about your post from another military wife.

    Thank you also to your husband for his military service :o)

    Blessings & Aloha!

    ReplyDelete

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