Commander's
Message
The summer and hurricane season is just about
here again and I hope everyone is prepared for both. By the
time you read this message, we will have celebrated the
Post’s 24th year of existence. It was a well-attended event
and from all the smiling faces, it appeared all had a good
time.
During the month of May the Post will have POST 318 DAY at
the St. Lucie Mets Field. The event will take place on May 3
starting at 4pm. If you haven’t yet purchased your tickets
please see Brian in the kitchen or any bartender to purchase
them. Cost is $20 and includes the Beer Bash hosted by
Rolling Rock, free music, free hot dogs & BBQ and also
admittance to that day’s baseball game.
The final day for nominations for any Post position will also be at
the General Membership meeting on May 3rd. If you or someone
you know wants to run, this is your final chance to be
nominated. The actual election will take place on June 6
between noon and 8pm.
Speaking of elections, I will be seeking re-election as your
Commander. In the 3 years that I have been associated with
this Post, I have always given 110% in everything I do. I
think this is evident in the “Wall of Remembrance, “ Vets
Fest, and my association with the Color/Honor Guard. I
therefore ask for you to VOTE in the upcoming election.
Finally, this months MEMBER OF THE MONTH is Paul V. “SCOZZ”
Scozzafava. Paul is the current Sergeant-At-Arms for the
Legion Riders, Post 318. He is there preparing and cooking
dinners on Wednesday; he is always there to help in Post
cleanup and does whatever he can to make this a better Post.
Again, thanks and congratulations on a job well done.
Frank Howard, Commander
Post Elections
Commander
1st Vice
2nd Vice
Jim Burk Denny
Cush Larry Raschell
Frank Howard
Sergeant-At-Arms Finance
Officer
Chaplain
John Aitken Dana
Lambert John Hager
Historian
E-Board
Open
Gary Schmitt, “Babe” Garneau, Ron Zimmerman
Chaplain's Corner
Post 318
POST EVERLASTING:
While it is my pleasure to report that we did not have a
Legionaire report to Post Everlasting this past month, we
did have an outstanding member of the SAL Squadron depart us
- John R. K earns, 4/08/2008
Our sincere sympathy is extended to the families and friends of our
departed comrades who now enjoy eternal rest.
NEED PRAYERS FOR THE FOLLOWING MEMBERS:
Andy Collins, Norris Chuck, Dale Hollopter, Randy
Hunter, Otto Kahl, Robert Mason, Anthony Palizzo, Gary
Schwartz, Conrad Tutela, Sheldon Weiss
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
A Peace filled mind will attract, filled people and life
situations.
If you know any member sick or in
distress
PLEASE call:
JOHN F.H. HAGER, Chaplain
PH# 879-7095
Auxiliary
Unit 318
Sick List: Sick
cards were sent out to the following members,
Marion Leisbesberger, Ann Hunter, Rose Whelan, Mary Cramer and Eileen Lane
Pray for these members of the Auxiliary to get well soon.
Sympathy Card: A sympathy Card was sent to
Dorothy Kearns for her husband John Kearns. May God
Bless you Dorothy.
Please call me if you know someone
sick or in distress.
May God put a healing hand on all of you.
MATTIE KELLY, Chaplain, PH# 879-7095
Jim Burk for Post Commander
My name is JIM
BURK, 1st Vice Commander of Legion Post 318. I recently made
the decision that this was the right time for me to run for
Post Commander. I am a Veteran of the Coast Guard, serving
most of my 4-years at search and rescue off Cape Hatteras.
As a 2-term Past Commander of the Legion Riders, the
membership increased from a few dozen to well over 100
members. This has contributed to the increased membership at
the Post since all Riders are members of the Post , Aux.
and/or S.A.L. I have had the privilege of serving on the
E-Board for the past 2 years. If you ask other officers &
E-Board members, I’m sure they will tell you my
contributions have always been positive & for the good of
the Post.
One of my proudest achievements is being named to the
Salvation Army Advisory Board. I am involved with their Soup
Kitchen, Annual Mash Bash (where Post 318 presents the
military museum) and other programs slated for homeless
veterans.
As membership chairman, I have spent many hours processing
and soliciting Post memberships. Behind the scenes, I also
made contact with many members & applicants whose paperwork
needed corrections or was missing documentation. There was
no follow-up system in place to deal with these problems. I
developed a correspondence program to rectify these issues
that will certainly require much less time commitment from
the next membership chairman, & get new members &
transferees on board with us much sooner. I am happy to
report we recently achieved our goal of 100%, representing
848 members.
I presently am a Business Banking Officer for a local credit
union, in charge of marketing for 4 branches. I have always
been involved in the finance industry and served in
management positions.
Those of you who know me, know that my door is always open &
I am receptive to all ideas on how we can improve our Post.
Those of you that don’t know me yet, please feel free to
call me anytime & I will be happy to discuss my
qualifications. You can reach me at 561-354-8355.
Most importantly, I ask for your vote in June.
membership dues to
increase
I would like to take this opportunity to explain to the
membership a little history on annual dues. I joined the
Post in 1991 and the dues were $20. They remained at that
amount until 1995 when they were raised to $25. The
membership dues remained $25 for the next 12 years. 2 years
ago, National Headquarters raised the dues $4.50 a year at
the local level. thus prompting a $5 a year increase by our
Post.
Well we are now approaching our 2009 dues, & at the State
Convention in July we will pick up the dues cards for the
upcoming year which at that time will include the increase
for the coming year. Allow me to explain how
this increase works. Last October the State of Florida
American Legion implemented a $2 a year increase. At the
time the E-Board did not want to raise the dues so closely
on the heels of the last increase so consequently the Post
absorbed the increase without passing it on to the
membership. It is no longer financially feasible to continue
this way. After much discussion the E-Board has decided to
raise the dues to $35 starting with the 2009 dues. Let me
explain how this $5 breaks down. Two dollars a year will go
to the State of Florida American Legion and the other three
dollars will go directly into our building fund so that as
the Post grows so will our building fund and hopefully
(finger crossed) we will finally get the Post home we all
deserve.
Hopefully this explanation will answer some of your questions
or concerns. If you have any other concerns please attend
the next or any other Post Membership Meeting.
Arnie Thompson, Adjutant
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Auxiliary
President's message
Elections will be held on May 17. Please attend!!
President
- Robin Burk First
Vice - Andrea Pierson
Secretary - Sunny Lavallee
Treasurer - Margaret
Trocki
Historian - Ruth Loudon
Chaplain - Mattie Kelly
Sgt-At-Arms - Rita Woodburn
Assistant Sgt-At-Arms -
Katie Lavely, Delores Thomas
Board - Jodi Murphy, Linda
Keifer, Laura Mastermaker
As of
this writing a bylaw amendment will take place on April 19
which will raise the dues from $20 to $25. This will take
affect as of August 2008. For those of you who have changed
your address or phone number YOU must contact the membership
chairperson or the President of the Aux.
Next time you see Jodi Murphy, Gary Schmitt, Freddie
Mastermaker, Robin Burk, Linda Keifer, Sue Carr, Brian
Pierson, Kim Bowie, Mattie Kelly or Ron Christian please
thank them for all their hard work in fixing up, painting
and redecorating the ladies restroom at the Post. It is
beautiful!!!
Dottie Kearns - we are praying for you.
My “adopted” son Cody Nolan is home from Iraq and will NOT be
going back.
See you at the May 17 Auxiliary Meeting.
ALWAYS A PLEASURE,
Sunny Lavalle, President
Son's -
American Legion
I would like to thank all the members who attended the
memorial service for John Kearns. I would also like to thank
the SAL Members & the Honor Guard for a memorable service
for our departed Son. John was proud to be an American and
proud to be a member of the SAL Post 318. John was a loving
husband and father to his family. He was loved by everyone
and he certainly will be missed by everyone. God Bless John!
We had a great turnout at our meeting. I would like to thank
everyone that attended. I am greatly appreciative for all
the members who accepted nominations for next months
elections. With everyone’s support, together we will have
another prosperous year for the SAL and Post 318.
We had another great turnout for our Wednesday night dinner.
We served 82 lasagna dinners, thanks to all attended. I hope
you all enjoyed it. Thanks to all our volunteers. Our next
dinner will be Wednesday, May 14. We will be serving
lasagna.
We will be having our raffle for the laptop computer
and printer on Saturday, April 26, tickets are on sale at
the Post. All proceeds will go to veterans and their
families.
Don’t forget the SAL
Clambake on Memorial Day weekend, Sunday, May 25.
Andy Saffioti, S.A.L. Commander
Service
officer
On
Saturday, May 3 at the General Meeting of Post 318, Pay
Pierson of the Post Traumatic Stress Clinical Team will
address the membership. If you are or know any veteran who
might need help with this problem, please come to the
meeting and talk to Ray. You may also contact Tom Loudon
@772-873-0337 who will see that you are led to the right
people for help with this insidious ailment.
Tom Loudon, Service Officer Post 318
Sixth Annual Aux. Golf
Tournament
Signup sheet is posted at the Post. Please
make sure to include your phone # so we can confirm your
reservation. We will have putting contest, Texas Hold’Um,
longest drive, closest to the pin and much more.
Commemorative photos for a nominal fee.
Cost will be $55 per person & payment no later than May 4,
two week prior to tournament. Checks made payable to the
American Legion Auxiliary Unit 318 and left with bartender.
Hole sponsorships are available for $100 per hole. They are a
great way advertise your business or to honor a loved one.
Anyone wishing to be a sponsor or make a gift donation
should contact “Mo” Aitken @772-879-4859 for more info.
We hope you will join us for this fun-filled event. It is an
enjoyable day and good way to help our needy veterans.
January
Cruise by Ladies' Auxiliary
There are still some cabins available for the January 17,
2009 seven night ALL INCLUSIVE cruise. NEW Carnival
Splendor sailing to San Juan, St. Thomas, LaRomana and
Nassau. Balcony @$1314/person - Ocean View
@$1124/person. Inside cabins @$1004/person
Price includes round trip from American Legion Post 318. All
your gratuities and your alcohol. Additional information
contact Linda Garaghty at Vogue Vacations 1327 St. Lucie
West Blvd. (Publix Shopping Center) 344-6474.
Texas
hold'em tournament
Our
next tournament will be held on Tuesday, May 20 at 7pm.
Doors open at 6:30. We play from 7 to 11pm if it lasts that
long. In order to play you must be a member of the Post
(Legion, Aux. Or SAL). Any member may bring a guest, but
that member must also play. Kitchen is open to a little
after the 8pm break for your eating pleasure. Come down,
have fun and help your Post to be better.
legion
riders
Hello
Post members,
Due to technical difficulties the Riders newsletter missed
publication last month so I would like to take this time to
thank everyone who attended the Legion Riders Casino Night
on February 22. It was a great success. I would also like to
thank all of those who volunteered their time to help out,
we couldn’t have done it without you.
The Riders will be raffling a wheelbarrow of cheer in June.
Make sure to get your tickets, $1 each or 6 for $5. We are
also planning our Poker Run which will take place in July,
“Giving Vets A Hand.” We hope everyone can attend and join
in on all the fun. Looking forward to seeing you at the
Post.
Greg Emerson, Legion Rider Commander
Dare Poker Run, Saturday, May 17
Dare
Program teaches 5th grade students about the dangers of
drugs, alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, peer pressure, gang
violence and the importance of making good choices and
decisions. Good and bad choices are made way too soon, so
help us get to them before they go down the wrong road.
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At American Legion Post 318
Good Friends, Good
Cheer! |
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