From
the Commander: At
our May 5th membership meeting we will hold the Election of Officers for
this post for the 2003-2004 Legion Year. The following is the slate of
officers presented on April 7th by the Nominating Committee:
Commander: Joseph Charland
1st Vice: Earl Leatherland
2nd Vice: Glen Nichols
3rd Vice: Clarence Marlow
Chaplin: Herb Deshaies
Treasurer: Bernie Leatherland
Sgt-at-Arms: Bill Dadey
Service Officer: Verne Drew
Historian: Bob Page
Executive Board: Tom MaComber, Rod Charleston, Bob Cowles, Jerry Benware,
Wayne Kellogg, Al Marlow and Brian Bowers.
If anyone desires to run for any of the above offices, they can do so
by being nominated from the floor. Remember, you must possess a current
2003 membership card to vote or run for an office and you must be
present to accept any nomination. I urge as many of our members attend
this meeting as can make it. This is a very important process in our
post.
Yellow Ribbons adorn most of Main Street and Andrews Street. Thank you
to Joe & Virginia Charland and to Carrie Sickles for helping me put
these up. We just got in another 100 more ribbons and we will get them
up as soon as possible to show our support to our troops. Get your flags
up and display them proudly to show your support for our troops.
Project "Support Our Troops" is a combined project between
Seacomm Federal Credit Union and the veterans organizations in St.
Lawrence County. This project is designed to assist the families of our
brave men and women that are participating in the engagements throughout
Iraq and Afghanistan. Many of the spouses that are left behind are
suffering financial hardships that go beyond the normal hardships that
military families encounter. This fund has already assisted one such
family in Gouverneur. She was crying by the time we got done talking and
could not believe the support that we were able to give her. The
statement she made to me was that support centers on the base that she
and her husband came from had a support center but it was nothing like
we are doing here in the North Country. I am happy to report that
our post donated $1,000 to this fund. All four branches of Seacomm are
accepting donations from the public as well as the veterans
organizations. Make your check out to "Project Support Our
Troops" and drop it off at any of the four Seacomm Branches. If you
are from outside the area you can mail your donation here to the post at
40 East Orvis Street, Massena, NY 13662 and I will gladly drop it off
for you. If you know of anyone serving is Iraq or Afghanistan and their
family is encountering problems due to the deployment, they can either
contact the post at (315)769-6819 or Jerry Manor at Seacomm at
(315)764-0566 ext. 546.
Past Commanders/Past Presidents Dinner is May 17th. Cocktails are from
5pm - 6pm and dinner is at 6pm. There is a sign-up sheet at the bar.
Dinner will consist of Roast Turkey and all the trimmings. This is the
one occasion a year where we get a chance to thank our past commanders
of the post and S.A.L., along with the past presidents of the Auxiliary.
We present our membership awards and legionnaire of the year award at
this dinner also. We usually have a good time and a good crowd for this
dinner. We generally get a few of our past commanders and presidents
from out of town that we only see at this dinner.
This is my last newsletter so I want to thank everyone for a great 4
years. I think we have made some great strides along the way. Judging by
the way my phone rings every day we must be doing something right. You
have probably noticed or heard over the years that we work in
combination with our fellow veterans organizations. I have found that by
doing so provides the teamwork necessary to accomplish many things we
could not do by ourselves. Every organization is finding that their
membership is getting up in age and that by combining our resources we
can do more. Veterans helping veterans, that's what it is all about.
That's primarily why the Legion, Amvets and VFW provide their meeting
rooms to other veterans organizations that do not have the financial
tools to have their own building. I've only ever heard one person
complain about another veterans organization meeting here and I just
chalk it up to plan old stubbornest on his part. The majority of us
belong to more than one organization and I believe that in the end it
benefits everyone. If we try and rebuild the fences that were here years
ago we would only hurt ourselves.
Memorial Day ceremonies will be conducted on May 26th. The parade
will line up at Sacred Heart Church parking lot this year due to the
expected closure of the Main Street bridge. We are also the host post
this year and will have a large buffet after the ceremonies in the park.
Grave markers are going to be placed in the cemeteries on Saturday, May
24th. If you would like to help out, leave your name and phone number at
the bar. Anyone that would like to march in the parade is encouraged to
do so. Line-up in the parking lot at Sacred Heart will be around 10am.
Toni Alaimo found out about an art show at the Syracuse VA Hospital that
is held once a year. This year there were 47 different categories. It
contains music, poems, woodwork, paintings, leather works, wood carvings
and colored pen and pencil drawings. These are only a few of the
categories. Toni found out about this when he spent a week in the VA
hospital in May. He was laying in his bed when this lady came around
with this cart of arts & crafts to pass your time away with. She saw
his drawings he had on his stand and asked him if he had entered their
art show. Since he didn't she signed him up. He received his application
in the mail and submitted his drawings by the February 28th deadline.
The art show was held on March 4th at 10am with the pledge and a few
speakers. Kathy Stepien and Suzanne Hawes started to hand out awards in
different categories (music won two awards, poetry won 3 awards). The
awards are a certificate, plus a gold medal that they place around your
neck. Toni won the gold medal and certificate for the colored pens and
pencils category. He had entered three drawings and won with his entry
entitled "Day at the Circus". Toni was very surprised and
honored to have won. Any veteran can enter as long as he or she belongs
to a VA hospital or clinic in their home town. Contact the VA hospital
(Kathy Stepien or Suzanne Hawes) at 1-800-792-4334 ext 52589 or call
Toni Alaimo at 769-8129.
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Auxiliary:
Our auxiliary would like to welcome new Senior members: Marion
Kniff, Patricia Eldridge, Esther Jarvo, Hillary Grenon, Susan
Keeley, Dawn Mitchell, Carol Zwyghuizen, Valerie Harrington,
Catherine Dubray and four new Junior members: Sarah Eldridge,
Michelle Delosh, Amy Laba and Kaelyn LaPoint. We now have 254
paid up members. We still have 10 members that haven't renewed
their membership dues from last year.
Also any member that is 70 years old or older, your dues are
paid for by the unit. You must pay the first 5 years of dues to
join the Auxiliary and then the unit will pay their dues. This
pertains to Auxiliary members only.
If you know of any of our auxiliary members that is sick or in
the hospital, you can call Rita LeBlanc, our Chaplain (769-9269)
or you can call Suzanne Vatter, co-chairperson (389-5150) or
leave name at the bar (769-6819).
We are having a combined Beauty Pageant this year with the VFW.
The forms are out at the High School and at the VFW and American
Legion posts. If you know of any girls that would be interested
in signing up for this pageant and are between the ages of 14 -
17 years of age, you can pick up the forms at the Massena High
School, VFW or American Legion posts and turn the forms in by
the deadline on April 30th. The pageant will be held on May
10th.
The Poppy Drive this year will be May 22nd, 23rd and 24th. I
will have a sign-up sheet on our membership board.
Also in May our auxiliary will be doing three dinners on a
Friday. These dates are May 2nd, 16th and 30th. If there are any
Auxiliary members that would like to help out in any way, please
contact Joanne MaComber (769-8223) or Carrie Sickles (764-0469)
or leave a message at the bar. We do need members for waiting on
tables, this was omitted on the sign-up sheets.
At our May meeting we will be having our Election of Officers.
If there is anyone that would like to run for an office please
let us know or come to the meeting.
Auxiliary President
Joanne MaComber - President
Jr. Auxiliary: Juniors held their second meeting
April 10th. We had pizza and juice and made Easter cards for the
veterans in the Highland and St. Regis Nursing Homes. The
girls each made their own unique and very beautiful cards and
signed them and put their age on them. Commander Phillips
scanned them through the computer and made them into greeting
cards for each of the veterans.
Our next meeting will be May 12th at 6pm upstairs at the post. I
really hope all the girls will make it to this meeting. We are
going to make up flags and banners to carry in the parade on
Memorial Day. I would love all the girls to be in the parade.
In May the auxiliary is having dinners on Friday nights. If any
of our older Jrs. would like to help, we would love to have
them. If any Jrs. or parents have any questions or want to
join the Jrs. please call me @ 764-0469 or leave a message at
the post for Carrie.
Carrie Sickles - Chairperson
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Sons of The American Legion: I am very saddened
to say that we have lost another member from our ranks, Donald Fregoe,
may he rest in peace. We would like to welcome two new members this
month. They are Kevin Hand and William Weaver.
I would like to thank all the members that helped out at the fish fries.
Serving 350+ people would not be possible without the Legion, Auxiliary
and Sons all working together for one common goal - to serve the Post
and all we stand for. At a time when our soldiers are over fighting for
America and world freedom, it is nice to have a place where people can
come together to have a good dinner and talk about their feelings of the
war.
The scholarship applications are still at the bar. Pick one up and
return it by May 1st. If you would like one and are not able to get to
the post to get one, call me at (315)769-8525 and I will mail one to
you. The Past Commanders/Past Presidents dinner will be May 17th at 5pm.
I will be sending out invitations for members that will be receiving
awards. The bowling banquets are coming up and if you are able to work,
call me or the bar for dates. These are good money makers for us. Once
again check your membership cards. There are still people that have not
paid. Lets get them in.
Our next meeting is May 12th at 7pm. This will be an election night, so
please come and vote for your officers for 2003 - 2004. The next 4th
District meeting will be June 14th. The next County meeting is being
held at our Post on May 3rd, so come and show your support.
Scott Bolia
Sons Commander
Thank you to the Sons, Auxiliary and all of my officers for a great four
years. Without your cooperation and support I could not have done it.
Yours for The Legion,
Mark S. Phillips
Commander
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