Newsletter

American Legion Post 56 Monthly Bulletin

May 2007

Commander's Message

WOW!!  What exciting times here at Post 56.  April was full of great events and May holds several more to come.  First, thank you to Les Shaunce for filling in as Cmdr. at the April Post meeting since we have no 1st or 2nd Vice and Past Cmdr. was unable to be there to do the job.  Things are about to change though.  Also, thank you to Arnie Troe, 1st Dist. Cmdr. for presenting the 50 and 60 year membership certificates to our members.  Congratulations and thank you for serving our country to preserve our freedom.  However, a side note is that this may be a tradition of the post that may drop by the wayside since younger military veterans are not signing up as members as early as the WWII and Korean veterans did.  Many Vietnam veterans will be 80 or older to reach 50 year membership.  That leads me to membership.  Please ask, tell, and sign up a veteran and increase our membership past our current total of 1016.

Another great event at Post 56 is the Legionnaire of the Year.  This year Sandy Maiden was given that honor.  She served as Post Cmdr. in 1998-99. Currently she has served and worked hard to make the Freeborn County Veterans Memorial become a reality and it will be dedicated on May 28th. Congratulations!!

On Monday, April 16th the American Legion Post 56 Honor Guard received notice of a very nice and large grant from the Worth County Development Authority to be used to purchase new uniforms.  The grant is for 75% of the purchase price so the honor guard will probably be doing a fundraiser in the near future to raise about $4000.  So thank you WCDA.

Another major tradition for the American Legion is Legion baseball.  It was voted to keep it going and raise money (about $3,500) to support the program since we don’t have gaming funds to support it as in the past.  Thank you to the many that have donated money ($400 so far) already but we could us more.  An easy way to help is by attending a BREAKFAST for $5.00 on Sat., May 12th from 7:30 - 11:30 am.  So bring a friend or two...

Ladies nite out is also on Sat., May 12th with a very fine ladies comedy show.  Get your tickets early and save plus come early and have a bite to eat.

Past Cmdr.’s dinner got postponed and rescheduled but the May Post meeting is for election of officers so you may want to attend just to make sure your name isn’t put on the ballot as the Post may feel you are the person to lead Post 56 in the year to come.

Another important event for Post 56 is the 1st District convention in Lake City on May 19-20.  Our Post gets 13 delegate votes so if you are interested in attending please let us know soon here at the Post.

Memorial Day - Monday, May 28th is a great day for remembrance and to show appreciation.  Starting at 7:00 am a service is held at Lakewood , St. Theodore’s, and Hillcrest followed by a dropping of a wreath on Fountain Lake at 9:00 am.  Following that a parade will be held and a service at 11:00 am at Graceland which will be on radio and you may come to the Legion and listen to it if unable to attend Graceland .  After the service Post 56 will serve a free will offering lunch (scalloped potato & ham, vegetable, bun, and drink).  The Auxiliary will prepare and the SAL will serve this meal from about 11:45 to 1:15.  At 1:30 pm a parade for the Veterans Memorial will be held and a dedication service will be held at 2:30 pm at the site on the corner of S. Broadway and E. College.  Upon dismissal there will be free cake and coffee at the American Legion.  Yes the lounge will be open this Memorial Day.  Thank you to the Avenue of Flags helpers and their leader.

Oh, yes many things are looking positive at Post 56, however, there is still great work to be done.  We are still working on debt elimination and you will be getting more information next month.  In the mean time thank you for your support.  Remember a $10 meal on Thursday night at the Legion is a much better deal than a $6.39 hot dog at Magic Kingdom .

In time of all the sadness, bad happenings, and a new society that wants things for nothing and seem to place no value on things it may be a time for grandparents to talk to their children and maybe your grandchildren so they may better understand how our freedoms have been obtained and what they mean to you plus what we may have to do to keep them.  History is very different today.  Make May a month of remembering and being thankful, so thank a veteran. See you on Memorial Day if not before

For God and Country
Arnie Mulso, Commander Post 56

Club Update

Lets forget about April (too snowy and cold), but here comes May (flowers, gardens, and warm weather)!  May also brings two very important dates:  Mother’s Day and Memorial Day.  Don’t forget your Moms (of course you won’t) and honor our deceased veterans on May 28th!

The club should be a lot of fun this month.  May 5th - Paul Knutson performs his Elvis Show from 8 pm - 12 am.  Bring your dancing shoes, he has a great show.  May 12th - The Legion Baseball Breakfast fundraiser.  May 12th - We will have the “Woman out all Night” Comedy Show performing from 8 pm -10 pm. Tickets are $13.00 in advance.  $15.00 at the door.  Bring your moms and wives as it will be an enjoyable night.  Dinner specials available from 5 - 7:30.  May 14th - Board meeting at 6:00 pm.  May 19th - Marine Corp Toys for Tots will start and finish their ride at the club.  We will have donation boxes set up for the kids.  May 21st - Supper at 6 pm followed by the Post meeting at 7 pm.  May 28th - Memorial Day.  Breakfast at 8 am - parade to cemetery at 10 am.  Free will lunch hosted by the Auxiliary from 11:45 - 1:15 pm.  Parade to the courthouse and dedication of Memorial at 2:30 pm, followed by cake and coffee at the club.  May 27th - Post Breakfast serving 8 am - 12:30 pm.

Join us every Friday - 4th, 11th, 18th and 25th for Karoake, food and fun.

Have a Great Month!

Heidi Watson
Food and Beverage Manager

F.Y.I.

At the post meeting on Monday, April 16, the following legionnaires were recognized for their 50 years of continuous membership:

Harold Bollinger
Roland Green
Philip Kermes
Raymond Cochlin
John J. Johnsrud
Kenneth Leland
Leo Sukow
A.F. Morehouse

At this same meeting the following members of Leo Carey Post 56 were recognized for their 60 years each of continuous membership:

Leonard Bosacker
Dr. T.M. Gill
Donald Drommerhausen
Merle Jordahl
Raymond Katsung
Courtney A. Slife

A special salute also goes to the Legionnaire of the Year:  Sandy Maiden

Ed Shannon

Editor

Auxiliary News

Our April showers turned into snow showers!  But it was nice to have the sun come out the next day.  Have you ever seen Fountain Lake look so blue, surrounded by white snow on the hills?!  Beautiful!

Right after Easter, on Monday April 9, our committee chairs gathered in the Legion Hall and put together our annual reports.  It is a big chore but we like to let the rest of the organization know what we are doing here!  At the same time, several ambitious gals put together the items that had been brought in and packed 11 boxes to go to Iraq or Afghanistan .  Thanks to all who donated for our troops.

At our April 4th meeting twelve members signed on to help serve the Sunday April 22 pancake breakfast.  It should prove to be a good fundraiser again.

Also at the April meeting our nominating committee offered a full slate of officers which was approved by voice vote.  For 2007-2008 your officers will be:  Joyce Rhody - President, Wanda Christensen - First Vice President, Pat Johannsen - Second Vice President, Vonnie Oftedahl - Secretary, and Rita Anderson - Treasurer.   Most committee chairs are taking their same positions and we thank everyone for their help and cooperation.

Monday May 28 is the official observance of Memorial Day and it will be very special here in Albert Lea.  At 1:30 the parade will assemble in the parking lot of the East Annex of Albert Lea Medical Center and march to the Government Center on South Broadway, where the new Veterans Memorial will be dedicated. We hope for good weather and a good crowd.  After the 11:00 am ceremonies there will be lunch served at the Legion Hall with a goodwill offering.  Plan to make a day of it, honoring those who have served, both those living and those who have died..

Our next meeting will be Wednesday May 2 at 7:00 pm.  The Board will meet the previous Monday, which is April 30 at 5:15 pm.

For God and Country

Joyce Rhody, President

GORDON ROGER BLAKE
Born June 5, 1926.  Died March 8, 2007.  He served in the armed forces from 1945 to 1947 and was a member of the American Legion and the Elks.

CLIFFORD L. JOHNSON
Born Aug. 29, 1925.  Died April 4, 2007.  He served in the U.S. Navy during World War II and was a member of the American Legion and the VFW.

ROBERT A. KUEHL
Born May 28, 1923.  Died Dec. 17, 2006.  He served in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II and was a member of the American Legion.

LEO J. ZOBEL
Born June 2, 1918.  Died April 4, 2007.  He served in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II and was a member of the American Legion, the Moose and the Eagles.

Dollar-A-Month (D.A.M.)

Thank you for your contributions to the Dollar-A-Month fund.  All contributions support the Post 56 club facilities, maintenance & continued growth of our organization.

Judi Olson,

D.A.M. Account Manager

To make a donation, click on the link to our D.A.M. Fund Account Page.

The deadline for the June issue will be the Wednesday following the post meeting.  This will be the deadline in the future!

Veterans Memorial Update

As of April 18th a total of 2,146 of the paver bricks and 41 sponsorships have been sold to honor those who served in the nation’s armed forces.  There’s still room for more paver bricks and more sponsorships!  

Post 447 VFW and Auxiliary meetings are held on the 2^nd Monday of every month at the American Legion Post 56 Clubrooms @ 7:00pm. Come and join VFW Post 447. 

Veterans helping Veterans.

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with Heidi  373-7993