Vance hosts Retiree Appreciation Day for local retired military Published April 9, 2014 By Senior Airman Frank Casciotta 71st Flying Training Wing Public Affairs VANCE AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. -- A crowd of retired military members visited Vance April 8 for Retiree Appreciation Day where active duty Airmen and private organizations gave briefings aimed at keeping retirees current on what services are available to them on base. "The main reason we do this is to recognize their contribution in the past and let them know they are still part of the team," said George Pankonin, the retiree activities director at Vance. "It also provides them a forum to talk about memberships to various organizations dedicated to assisting military veterans and retirees." One of those retirees is Carl Miller, a retired Army first sergeant. "I haven't been out to one of these in a while and thought it was about time I got up to date," said Miller, who managed the Falcon's Nest Bowling Center for 25 years after it opened in 1982. To reach as many retirees as possible, Pankonin sent out more than 850 newsletters to retirees in the local area. "I wanted to make sure every retiree within any zip code that started with '737' got invited," said Pankonin. "A majority of retirees want to know the type of paperwork they need to update their identification cards, but I wanted to include information about all the services they can use." Among the highlights was a presentation by Joel Urdang, the health promotion program coordinator for the Health and Wellness Center. Urdang spoke about the importance of healthy living, dieting tips and statistics on the leading causes of death among Americans. Top of the list was heart disease. Vance plans to host another retiree appreciation event next year, hopefully with even more attendees, said Pankonin.