Veteran's Affairs Plus W/ David L. Washington

Announcer
0:00:00
This is a KUNV Studios original program.

Wesley Knight
0:00:04
You're listening to special programming sponsored by Making Moves Life Coaching Services. The content of this program does not reflect the views or opinions of 91.5 Jazz & More,

Dave Washington
0:00:14
the University of Nevada Las Vegas, this is Veterans Affairs Plus on 91.5 Jazz and More. Good day Las Vegas, this is Veterans Affairs Plus on 91.5 Jazz and More. I'm Dave Washington, your host. Got a few words to state to all and then we'll have a couple of guests on this week's show. First of all, I want to express condolences to the family and friends of a poetess, Miss Nikki Giovanni. She transitioned just the other day. She is now an ancestor, a good sister, a very, very talented, very talented poet. And we got a daughter, Angel. Angel's a gifted writer. So anyway, condolences to her family. And

Dave Washington
0:01:23
then also condolences as well for the family of Lonnie Carter. His services will be on 12-28, so that'll be later on this month. And I forgot the actual location, but I'm sure you can look it up. Lonnie Carter, long time Las Vegas good guy. We'll miss Lonnie and hope that God will be pleased with the work that Lonnie did while he was here on this earth.

Dave Washington
0:01:46
Holidays, of course, Merry Christmas to all who celebrate Christmas and certainly Happy Hanukkah and Happy Kwanzaa. Those are three of the major holidays that'll be coming up throughout this month. In terms of birthdays, I have a long time friend,

Dave Washington
0:02:01
he's been deceased for a number of years, but his daughter, Charlotte. Charlotte sent me just a reminder. Willie Clyde Janelle, his birthday is this month. So to his family, we still miss that brother. Very, very good man and a very dear friend.

Dave Washington
0:02:16
In fact, on New Year's Day, Willie and I used to go around and make a few stops throughout the community. But I miss doing that with that brother. Also, one of our granddaughters, well, two of our granddaughters, Amari, her birthday is this month, December. Nala at the end of the month.

Dave Washington
0:02:31
And then a dear friend, Faye Duncan Daniel, her birthday is this month. And I'll tell you a little bit more about Faye and an excursion that she happens to be on. But I don't want to mention that over the year. At this particular point in time, considering this show is heard throughout the world to include down in Helena, Arkansas. So anyway, I don't want to specifically say that. Oh, yeah, Kyson, that's our grandson, which I did mention last week, but his grandmother is making sure that I mention it again.

Dave Washington
0:02:59
She's always in the control room over there with Wes, telling him to tell me something to do. As she drinks her coffee, I won't even name the name of the coffee place that she's seen to be enjoying over there in the control room. Tony Marshall, he's our service officer. I apologize, I'm sitting up here talking about Tony, and I know I got his number at hand somewhere, and I don't have it at hand, but I apologize.

Dave Washington
0:03:25
Tony Marshall, y'all know I've given y'all his number many, many times. Tony is our service officer. He has a couple locations, one at the VA hospital and then at the Veterans Community Center, also down in far north Las Vegas.

Dave Washington
0:03:41
Also, later on this month or early next month, we'll have a former Assemblyman Winnipeg Williams back on the show to talk about the activities that will be coming up for the Martin Luther King Committee functions coming up in January. So with that, once again, this is Veterans Affairs Plus on 91.5 Jazz and More. I am Dave Washington, as I mentioned, your host. And shortly we will have Ms. Cynthia Mercy. She is the president of the Valley View Golf Club.

Dave Washington
0:04:10
Hey, Ms. Cynthia, how are you?

Dave Washington
0:04:12
I'm well, how are you? Doing well, doing well, doing well. Perfect timing. So, Cynthia, give our listening audience a little bit about you.

Cynthia Mercy
0:04:20
Who are you and where are you from, Cynthia? Well, my name is Cynthia Mercy. I was born in Toledo, Ohio. However, I grew up in Illinois, in the suburbs of Illinois. My father was one of the first black cross-country truck drivers, and so he got a job in Chicago, and so we moved from Ohio to Illinois.

Cynthia Mercy/Joyce Eaton
0:04:41
And then as an adult, I lived all over the city, south shore, north side, west side.

Dave Washington
0:04:46
And so that's where I started. Okay.

Cynthia Mercy/Joyce Eaton
0:04:49
So how long have you been in Las Vegas now? I've been in Las Vegas 14 years. I'm a retired federal employee. And so when I decided to leave Virginia, which is where I retired from, I decided

Dave Washington
0:05:00
to come West and I wanted to be where the weather was good so I could enjoy

Cynthia Mercy
0:05:05
my pastures year round.

Dave Washington
0:05:06
Wish you would enjoy this. I know Marsha wouldn't, but I played golf with Cynthia several times. And if somebody get a birdie, we take a shot of peach snaps. That's right. Peach snaps liquor. It's fun times out there.

Dave Washington
0:05:21
Fun times with Cynthia. That's a perfect segue, Cynthia, into who are you the president of and what do y'all do?

Cynthia Mercy
0:05:29
Okay.

Cynthia Mercy/Joyce Eaton
0:05:30
I am, you know, golf is a passion of mine. And so I am the current president of Valley View Golf Club. Valley View was established in 1955, and I'm proud to say that in 2012, we were inducted into the Las Vegas Golf Hall of Fame as the oldest established African-American club in Las Vegas. And I'm also proud to say that our junior golf coach, Jim Hart, who was part of Valley

Cynthia Mercy/Joyce Eaton
0:05:55
View long before I came along, was inducted last year in 2023 for his unwavering commitment to coaching youth in the community. And so today now we're having, this is the end of the year. And so at the end of the year, we go through our recruitment for new members and also the renewing of past members. And so if you're interested in golf, you can check out our website,

Cynthia Mercy/Joyce Eaton
0:06:21
which is ValleyViewGolfMV.com. And on that website, you'll see the history of the club, the officers, our membership form, our shirts where you can order them, and our contact information. And if there's any junior golfers that might be interested in golf, you can contact Jim Hart Direct at 702-521-8537. Yeah, Jim has done a wonderful job with that group.

Dave Washington
0:06:47
In fact, I know you've got a number of those young youth golfers that operate and have done some things on the regional level, in fact, won a few of those tournaments, if I'm not mistaken.

Cynthia Mercy/Joyce Eaton
0:07:00
That, for, you know, our junior golfers, we have about a half a dozen who are competitive. Last year was a big year. Last year was a big year for us because last year they made it to the national junior, PGA junior tournament, which is really significant because the colleges are there watching these kids. And although our kids were too young at that time,

Cynthia Mercy/Joyce Eaton
0:07:26
they were 15 at that time, they couldn't come to school, but the schools are watching them, which creates opportunities for them to get scholarships. But we have some very good players, who are very competitive. And sometimes they come out and play with us, and they're playing with the scratch

Cynthia Mercy
0:07:42
golfers.

Cynthia Mercy/Joyce Eaton
0:07:43
They are that good. So they started out as just some of these youth in the community, and that's just to say that for any kid who gets exposed, the possibilities are endless.

Cynthia Mercy
0:07:54
The possibilities are endless.

Dave Washington
0:07:55
Well, we salute Jim. In fact, I need to get him on the show sometimes to go into even greater detail about the junior golf program, because I know that there have been a number of youth who have come out of that and gone on to play golf. Junior Bill, I remember many, many years ago where he became a national championship. I think it was South Carolina State, if I'm not mistaken.

Dave Washington
0:08:17
I remember seeing him one time, and he had on his little ring. So I ran home, because our daughter went to Southern University, and they won the, I think it was a swag championship, whatever it was anyway, as a trainer, she got a ring. So she had her ring dedicated to her papa since me and her mom was paying her tuition, you know, even she got a partial tuition thing

Dave Washington
0:08:39
for being a trainer, but I went home and also Frank Hawkins was up there with his little ring on. So I went home and got my ring and I was flashing it all over the place at seven C. You ain't been nowhere, you ain't been nowhere.

Dave Washington
0:08:51
I said, man, my daughter went to Southern University and she gave her dad her ring, so check it out. And mine was bigger than that, even though I think I was, well, I think it's a Sucronium. That's that fake, wasn't a real diamond, like that.

Dave Washington
0:09:06
Like theirs were.

Cynthia Mercy
0:09:07
That's right.

Dave Washington
0:09:08
It's a symbol of success. That's right. And I just showed my butt. I showed out. So Cynthia, tell us about, now you mentioned again your website. Please mention it again because I think one of the things that I want to help from this platform is that we grow that organization

Dave Washington
0:09:23
in terms of, because we need some younger folks involved. And I'm not talking about the junior program. I'm talking about folks who are over that junior age group, but certainly young men and women. We want this organization to continue to be around and

Cynthia Mercy/Joyce Eaton
0:09:39
as you mentioned it started with back in the 50s. In 55, that's right. In 55. Our website is valleyviewgolfnv.com valleyviewgolfnv.com. Yes, we're always open for people. Sometimes people think that they're not

Cynthia Mercy/Joyce Eaton
0:10:17
really sure what it entails but just come There are people who I have met who say, oh, I'm not good enough to play. But let me tell you, we have a game for everybody. We have scratch golfers. When we play in a local tournament,

Cynthia Mercy/Joyce Eaton
0:10:14
part of this Western States Consortium, our scratch golfers win. We have league golfers like me that are double digit handicaps, but enjoy and have a passion for the game. And we have a game for everybody.

Cynthia Mercy/Joyce Eaton
0:10:29
We have prizes for everybody. You don't have to be a scratch golfer to win because it's all based on handicaps. The levels of play field. So you can come out and feel comfortable playing with anybody and still have an opportunity to win something at the end of the day. And basically we have just a pot, and the pot is shared.

Cynthia Mercy/Joyce Eaton
0:10:50
It's not like a max gambling pot. It's just a pot. We even have a hole-in-one pot. And hole-in-ones are not by skill, they're by luck.

Cynthia Mercy
0:11:00
I've been lucky three times over.

Dave Washington
0:11:03
I remember Cynthia, I remember when I first started, I got a hole-in-one in Las Vegas, Muni, 92 yards with an eight iron. Today, I would put the eight iron in the street. It was 92 yards. They say, you got a hole in one.

Dave Washington
0:11:17
I said, yeah, right. Go check it out. I went over there. It was in there. Oh my goodness, man. And you know, my wife, she started out.

Dave Washington
0:11:24
She tricked us all. Daughters bought a set of clubs for Mother's Day. She bought four or five new outfits and never played again. Well, she did go out a few times. She went out with Dana Love before he passed.

Dave Washington
0:11:35
And she said, you know, I'm like, I said, let's go hit some balls. I'm not going out there and hit the balls and I don't know what I'm doing. Why would I practice doing the wrong thing? But Dana Love, he had this one, two, three approach, some kind of way when you swing

Dave Washington
0:11:48
your club. She was pretty accurate with it, but she's a fair weather golfer. She probably played between 79 to 80, 283 degrees. Anything before that or after that, she ain't going to play. It's too hot or too cold. I'm like, woman, please.

Dave Washington
0:12:06
But anyway, I'll try to get her back out there because I think it will be good for her outside of just that dance thing with the fancy dancers. They do their little thing up at, what is it, Pearson Center every Monday and Tuesday. But anyway, Cynthia, I'm so pleased that you will get on. Tell us about what's coming up in 2025 for the Valley View Golf Club?

Cynthia Mercy/Joyce Eaton
0:12:26
In 2020, 2025, we're going to be planning more local trips, like to Utah and to Mesquite. We play all over the city. I mean, there isn't a club that we haven't played throughout the city, but we're going to do some of that. But the other thing, because we're part of Western States Golf Association,

Cynthia Mercy/Joyce Eaton
0:12:44
they have an annual tournament in Birmingham, Alabama. And in the past, it's always been held in the West. And so last year was the first year we went to Birmingham, and those people really welcomed us. It was a large turnout. All of the many of the golf clubs that are in this consortium had members represented.

Cynthia Mercy/Joyce Eaton
0:13:04
Valley View, we had about nine members that went, which was a good showing. And of course, we had some winners in it. But it was a good opportunity to go East and meet some people from the east who wanted to even play in our tournament and played in our tournament to bridge this gap of east and west, but also just to expand our horizons. I think that we will be continuing to do that, to try to go to other places, not just on

Cynthia Mercy/Joyce Eaton
0:13:32
the west because it's a different environment. But my theory in life is this, step out of your comfort zone. Do something different. When you do something different, you learn a lot.

Dave Washington
0:13:45
All right. Well, we appreciate that, and I agree with you 100%. In fact, looking forward to one day I can get to moving around, because in fact, I've been cleared to start golfing again, but I'm going to wait until January. So once again, this is Veterans Affairs Plus on 91.5 Jazz and More. We had Ms. Cynthia Mercy.

Dave Washington
0:14:03
She's the president of Valley View Golf Club here in Las Vegas. Thank you, Cynthia We appreciate you and we'll get you back on again and give us further updates about the club. Thank you for having me Dave Once again, this is Veterans Affairs Plus on 91.5 Jazz and More. My daughter, April, suggested that I make contact with Ms. Eaton to talk about a program that she has. So I'll let her introduce that program and we'll have some conversation with her about

Dave Washington
0:14:38
it, which I've been familiar with the program because she's been around for a number of years assisting folks throughout our community. How you doing, ma'am? Go ahead and give us a rundown on who you are and what you're up to.

Joyce Eaton
0:14:49
This is Joyce Eaton.

Cynthia Mercy/Joyce Eaton
0:14:50
I'm so glad to be here with you. First of all, thank you for having me. And I am Joyce Eaton, the president of LACE, the nonprofit organization. We're about 32 years old this year, and out of the LACE program about 15, between 15 and 16 years ago, we created a project called Grants for Grants. And what we do with that program is assist

Cynthia Mercy/Joyce Eaton
0:15:28
grandparents that are raising their grandchildren and perhaps struggling with it. Now, not all grandparents, of course, that are raising grandchildren are in need of help, but there are many

Cynthia Mercy/Joyce Eaton
0:15:54
that need a helping hand and need a

Dave Washington
0:15:58
little help

Cynthia Mercy/Joyce Eaton
0:15:41
And that's what we are here to do. The program is called Grants. For grants, we grant those families small monetary gifts to buy household items, other things that they may need to help the family to function.

Dave Washington
0:15:58
Now go back if you would, you say it came out of the LACE program. Give us an indication about that. I call it the mothership. So give our listening audience a little indication of what that program was all about and is

Cynthia Mercy/Joyce Eaton
0:16:11
about. All right. Back in April of 1990, LACE was formed. And LACE is the acronym for Ladies Advocating Christian Entertainment. Well, way back then, what we were doing, we're producing musicals,

Cynthia Mercy/Joyce Eaton
0:16:39
consorts, fashion shows, different programs where families could come and have entertainment together. And so we did that for years, and what happened, it was a November, and we were getting We were going to take those items and make food baskets for families in need. Now, this was for

Cynthia Mercy/Joyce Eaton
0:17:02
any family or individual that needed help during the holidays because of non-sufficient food supply their household. So we went on doing that for I tell you about 10-12 years and instead of just doing it for that Thanksgiving holiday, it developed into a full-time food pantry. And so there we were with

Cynthia Mercy/Joyce Eaton
0:17:47
doors open five days a week, assisting I tell you, the mission is the same today as it was then. The method, of course, has had to change, you know, of how we assist the families and how they find us and the needs that they have and why. But I tell you, we're still hanging in there, there and I get pleasure and joy out of letting people know that we have never received a

Cynthia Mercy/Joyce Eaton
0:18:07
government grant.

Dave Washington
0:18:09
Just the people assisting you. You know, what is your inspiration? Because I always like to know when people are doing the kind of work that you're doing, I just feel as though something inspired them to do that. They don't just do it something internally, externally, but something drives them with that passion to do what needs to be done for those who are without.

Cynthia Mercy/Joyce Eaton
0:18:31
Yes, you're absolutely right. And what happened, I am a retired casino dealer and I was working at, I was dealing at the Lady Luck and I had been there, I guess about 85 days because I'm waiting for my probation period to be over the 90 days. So I go into work. I've got a 13 year old daughter that I'm supporting.

Cynthia Mercy/Joyce Eaton
0:18:53
I go into work and myself and 12 other dealers were called into the casino manager's office. We had been laid off. They said laid off. Okay. So now what do you do? You can't, uh, we're looking around, okay, we're going to look for another job. And you know that process, you go to apply for unemployment. Well, it took some time to get started.

Cynthia Mercy/Joyce Eaton
0:19:23
And I went looking for help myself. But what happened, all of the places that I went to, I didn't qualify because I was going to be getting unemployment or I didn't qualify for this, this reason or the other. I was so upset about that I'm like, well, what do you do when you just need a helping hand? You just need help for a moment and I got real upset about it

Cynthia Mercy/Joyce Eaton
0:19:49
I'm going God something needs to be done and somebody needs to do something the spirit say. All right get busy Don't don't complain about it do something about it What can I do? You see I'm out here looking for help myself. Anyway, so I did get together with some entertaining friends that I knew, and that is when we started thinking about doing this concert

Cynthia Mercy/Joyce Eaton
0:20:16
and this musical situation for families. And it kind of evolved out of that, of me at one point needing help myself and couldn't find it and and that's kind of how it evolved into being there to help people that needed immediate help. Well I certainly...

Cynthia Mercy/Joyce Eaton
0:20:48
Back in the day, you know

Dave Washington
0:20:53
if you applied for food stamps you didn't get the stamps today or tomorrow, you had to wait, you had to qualify and there was some red tape. Well, one thing I love about that, Klesea, you said, look, don't be whining, you know, go about, be about it, go do something.

Dave Washington
0:21:03
I love that. That's right. And that's what generally has to happen. You know, you can talk about things, but if you're not willing to put some, as they say, some sweat equity into it, nothing will happen in many, many cases. So we admire the work that you've done over these many, many years and really appreciate that.

Dave Washington
0:21:18
So you got a website, I trust.

Dave Washington
0:21:20
Yes, we do.

Cynthia Mercy/Joyce Eaton
0:21:21
The other thing I would just like to make known is that all, ever since the very beginning, we got our state charter in 19, April of 1991. And so our staff has always been volunteers. Nobody has ever gotten a paycheck. We never had a payroll. And even when we had a brick and mortar place, the help was people that care about others.

Cynthia Mercy/Joyce Eaton
0:21:53
And that is still how it is today. So I would just pray that this call would do two things. First of all, I'd like to make people that are, I'd like to make people aware of the fact of who we are and the service we render so that if there is

Cynthia Mercy/Joyce Eaton
0:22:23
a grand family as we choose to call them or someone that knows of a grand family that needs help for the upcoming holiday, then we'd like to give them a number to call. And when we say

Cynthia Mercy/Joyce Eaton
0:22:47
help, four organizations and you've already been approved and you're getting food and toys for the kids. But if you don't have anything and you have a genuine need for help, we can help and we will help and that is what we want to do, help those grandfamilies that are in need. And so if by chance there's a grand family listening or you know of a family, I'd like

Cynthia Mercy/Joyce Eaton
0:22:56
to give a number if that's okay, phone number where they could call and we could get them pre-registered because there is still about maybe another week that they can pre-register. Sure.

Dave Washington
0:23:07
Yes, please give that number.

Cynthia Mercy/Joyce Eaton
0:23:08
Okay. All right. That's 702-861-7920. So they can call that number to pre-register for Christmas gifts. Last year, God blessed us to have 100 brand new bicycles. We had toys.

Cynthia Mercy/Joyce Eaton
0:23:29
We had gift cards for the families. And we pray that it'll be a little better this year, you know, that those families that are in need of help will be able to find help. And I also pray that some of your listeners, and I know that there are some listening that care and share and want to. All of our finances are generated through contributions, donations, and fundraisers. So we are conducting a fundraising campaign right now.

Cynthia Mercy/Joyce Eaton
0:24:02
And so those of your listeners that are listening that can help, that number is 702-861-7920.

Dave Washington
0:24:08
Well, one thing I can tell you, you've been around the block a few times. Ms. Joyce, you don't have to be prompted. You know how to go out there and get it. No, we admire the work that you're doing, and I will encourage my wife to maybe talk to her fancy dancer group. Maybe they can, if not this year, maybe down the line next year they can offer up because

Dave Washington
0:24:32
they do a lot of work within the community as well. They don't just be down here at Pierce and dancing and doing their thing, but they also get out and do some work within the community itself. So we certainly, and you mentioned that you don't have a physical plant now. And if my memory serves me correctly, because many, many years ago, were you on Miller?

Cynthia Mercy/Joyce Eaton
0:24:55
Yes, for a moment. We've been all over town, man, I tell you.

Dave Washington
0:24:59
Yeah, I thought, because we had that old fire station there, and they had, the city had given it to the United Firefighters of Southern Nevada. We had it for a number of years before we gave it back to the city. And I'm thinking you were right along there on Miller Street somewhere, maybe on another street, but I just recall, I do recall something about your organization back in the day. And that's great.

Dave Washington
0:25:22
And I'll tell you another location that was our home. We had a suite there at the Moulin Rouge, one of those storefronts.

Cynthia Mercy/Joyce Eaton
0:25:28
We were there.

Cynthia Mercy
0:25:29
Okay, all right.

Cynthia Mercy/Joyce Eaton
0:25:30
Yeah, we were right there until the bulldozers came. They bulldozed all around. We were one of the last to leave with Reverend Sam Roberson had the Christian bookstore. And we were right next to him and baby, we weren't going anywhere until he just knocked

Dave Washington
0:25:50
us down. Yes, indeed. So we really appreciate you coming on air. And again, give your website again and your number because we certainly want people, and to you veterans out there and others who are listening, please consider making contact to the website and or the number and make some kind of contribution because I think it's a very worthy cause.

Cynthia Mercy/Joyce Eaton
0:26:12
Thank you so much. The website is the same as the project name. It's Grants, G-R-A-N-T-S, as in free money. The number for grants as in grandparents, G-R-A-N-T-S dot net. So that's grants4grants.net. That's the website.

Cynthia Mercy/Joyce Eaton
0:26:35
And then if it's easier for you all to give me a call, call me at 702-861-7920. That's 702-861-7920. We certainly appreciate your time and effort. And, again, we wish you Godspeed and good health and all that you continue to do, not only in 2024, but 2025 and beyond, because there's always a need in our community, unfortunately. But we are blessed through God's work that we have people like you to step up and take that on. And you say, get busy about it. Do something about it. Don't just be talking about it.

Dave Washington
0:27:13
I love it.

Dave Washington
0:27:13
That's right.

Dave Washington
0:27:14
So we thank you so much for your time, and we look forward to doing what we can to assist. And any other time during the year, don't be afraid to reach out to me. You got my number now.

Joyce Eaton
0:27:26
OK.

Dave Washington
0:27:26
And we'll get you back on and promote other things that you're doing in this community because I think it's so important. Once again, this is Veterans Affairs Plus, and I know when Wes gives that certain look, it's time to wrap it up.

Dave Washington
0:27:36
So thank you, Ms. Easley. Take care of yourself.

Cynthia Mercy/Joyce Eaton
0:27:38
All right.

Dave Washington
0:27:39
This is Veterans Affairs Plus.

Cynthia Mercy/Joyce Eaton
0:27:40
Thank you also very much.

Dave Washington
0:27:41
Sure. Veterans Affairs Plus on 91.5 Jazz and More. Oh no. Hey, oh no. Oh no.

Music
0:27:46
Oh no. Oh no. Oh no. All the smoke in the air, till the hate when they stare, all the pain that we bear, on

Transcribed with Cockatoo