Volume 17 - April 2015 Commander – Post 534 I would once again, like to thank Neil Brown for stepping up and assuming the duties as our Post Finance Officer. Neil is always there when the Post needs a hand, I am positive we can rely on Neil to do a great job for us in the future! A Big thanks to Dave Maher and Neil Brown for taking some personal time in assisting the Post in some recent construction. The old wooden printer box was demolished so additional room could be made for our juke box and new T.V. It really looks good! Reminder - Nominations for Delegates and Alternate for our State Convention will be held and noted on our next Post meeting on April 8th. The first nominations for elected Post officers will also be held at our April 8th meeting. Second nominations and elections will be held at our May 13th Post meeting. All electable offices are open so please consider running for a Post office. We can use everyone's help even if you can't be an officer get involved; it's your Post so help us run it. The State Convention will be held in Ontario, Calif. June 25th thru the 28th. So please try and make it. You'll have a great time. "Semper Fi" Dennis Maher Commander, American Legion, Orcutt Post 534 First Vice-Commander The future of our Post lies within the responsibility of every member. Let’s make the month of April a BIG membership drive month. Talk with your friends, neighbors, Family etc., and get those who proudly served our nation signed up in the American Legion Orcutt post 534. Find out who you know is still undecided with Post 1000 and try to convince them Post 534 is worth a visit. Remember we are only as strong and our weakest link. Kerry Brooks, First Vice-Commander Sgt-at-Arms A new flag fund-raiser is in the works. We are talking with the shop owners up and Clark Ave. about donating funds for our cause. With their donation, the business owner will receive a signed tax donation letter from the Post and a custom made sticker the can proudly display in front of their business. I have also been approached by the American Committee about putting together a “Flag Retirement Ceremony” sometime in June. There will be more to follow with this. A Horseshoe Tournament is also in the works for POST 534 to host. The original date of June 6, 2015 has been canceled. A new date will be announced once one has been established. Thanks, and may the Good Lord keep and Bless you all! Dave Maher AMERICAN LEGION RIDERS On Sunday, March 1st, the ALR Biker Breakfast proved to be another successful but almost a rainy event. Those who helped, really worked there, you know what off! It would not have happened without the super efforts of Gene Baird in buying all the food beforehand, Ty Olivar, Grant Meyers, Rick Pieprzycki, Neil Brown, Anthony Torres, Keith Mason, Joe Spegele and yes, even myself. To all those that came down to make it a great success, THANK YOU! We split the breakfast profit with the Post who received $47.00 at the March Post meeting. Thank you to all that helped, as well as those that supported this breakfast. Linda Olivar, aka “Bloody Mary” added $156.00 plus, $24.25 in tips she generated at the bar that morning, for a total of $180.25. The Post made over $100 profit there. The ALR State Convention is April 17, 18, 19th at the “Clovis Veterans Memorial” building. This will be hosted by the Sanger ALR Chapter 23. All hotel and other vital information is available on the ALR State website: www.alrdoc.com. Be sure and click on “Convention 2015”, the starting times for Saturday & Sunday are 9:00 a.m. Please ensure you have a beret or your Legion cover! Saturday is a full day and Sunday is a half day. We will be staying at the Best Western Clovis Cole. We will fine tune things at our April meeting. Please meet at Post 534 that Friday at 8:00 a.m., with KSU at 8:30 a.m. At our last meeting we set Saturday, July 25th as the date for our 11th Annual Fallen Warrior Legacy Poker Run. The proceeds go to the National AL Legacy Scholarship Fund for scholarships benefiting the surviving children of those who gave their lives in Iraq & Afghanistan since September 11, 2001. Wednesday, April 8, 2015, will be the ALR monthly meeting at 7:00pm. We will open nominations for ALR officers for the coming year. So please plan to attend so you can be a part of this process. We will also start collecting 2015-16 dues which are due by June 1, 2015. The general Post membership meeting starts at 6:00pm, so please plan to attend both. I attended the Spring AL DEC meeting Mar. 14-15th at Post 56 in Santa Maria. An AL resolution was presented, which passed. This addresses issues concerning the ALR. Here is a summary of the resolution. The ALR DOC Commission will provide direction & oversight of the ALR program. No Department Officer, President or elected officer of an ALR Chapter can hold the office of Post Commander at the same time. No patches shall be affixed to the back of the vest/jacket other than the ALR Emblem & top/ bottom rockers. As far as the front items worn, no military rank patches may be worn including a number of other items. No ALR member shall wear an exposed weapon, club or fixed blade knife while representing ALR in their vest/jacket. No ALR member may affiliate or associate with Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs while wearing ALR vest/jacket. All ALR DOC bylaw changes or additions will be reviewed by the ALR Commission & DOC JA before becoming effective. Until next month, get the wind in your face but ride safe! Jim Banakus President – Orcutt Chapter 534 / District 16 Veteran Service Officer The Post received a check from the VAFB Thrift Shop for $18.75. Our total since we started in January, 2011 is $1,639.10. We have 2 bundles of clothing left. However, the Thrift Shop does not allow more than 10 articles of clothing per list and no more than 5 items of 1 kind on the same list. Members: please bring in a variety of items. Also, on the table at the Legion Post are copies of the Non-VA Emergency Fact Sheet and on the other side is a copy of the Veterans' Choice Program. Veterans have received their copy of the new choice card and the sheet has information about it. The director of the VA Clinic mailed those copies to me after I left a note that I could not attend the VA Open House that night. The VA director contacted me about questions that several veteran had about the GI Educational Bill. As it was explained to me; if a veteran was in the military prior to Post 9-11 2005, he or she had 10 years to use that benefit. After Post 9-11, 2005 the veteran has 15 years to use it or lose it. Thanks, George Torbert Sons of the American Legion (S.A.L.) On Friday, April 3, 2015 the S.A.L will be hosting an “All You Can Eat Fish Fry” at the Post. The dinner will start at 5:00 p.m. and will continue till 7:00 p.m. The cost is $12.00 per person. It should be a great event for all to enjoy! Sal Cruz, S.A.L. Commander Americanism Committee Oratorical Scholarship Competition Our Post's speech competition winner, Derek Sportsman, also won the 16th District competition and a $350 scholarship award "by default" as your Post was once again the only Post in our District to have conducted the Oratorical Competition. As the District winner, Derek went on to compete at the Area 6 competition held at Hollywood Post 43 on March 1st, which I attended to show support for our Oratorical winner. The competition was tough, and the 1st and 2nd place winners were high school seniors. Derek is only a sophomore, but still took 3rd place and a $200 scholarship award. Derek has already indicated that he wants to compete again at our Post's competition next year -- if the Post supports the event. Boy Scouts Our Post's Cub Scout Pack 91 has a Den of 3 boys who earned the Arrow of Light award -- the highest award the boys can earn as Cub Scouts. This coming May, these boys will be "bridging" (graduating) to a Boy Scout Troop, which will most likely be our Troop 91. The Pack's leaders and the Den leader have done a great job in preparing these boys to move on the Boy Scouts. Our Troop's Scouts performed a flag ceremony for the NRA / Santa Maria Valley Sportsman’s Association's fund raiser held at the Santa Maria County Fair Park auditorium on March 14th. The comment received from John Hotchkiss, the event's coordinator, was that the Scouts did an "excellent presentation" honoring the U.S. Flag. It’s nice to know the Scouting program is instilling in our youth an appreciation for our Flag, and the sacrifices made to ensure our freedoms that it represents. The American Legion has a Flag Education program designed to be used in the schools to give our young people a better sense of what the Flag, and what it represents, is all about. Maybe your Post can give support to conducting that program under the "Mentoring Youth" pillar of The American Legion. Both Troop 91 and Pack 91 had exhibits at the Scout-O-Rama event conducted at the Town Center Mall on March 28th. Hopefully you took the opportunity to visit their exhibit during this event that showcased the Scouting programs of the Los Padres Council and Live Oak District. Alan Munch Americanism Chairman Santa Maria Community Based Outpatient Clinic 1550 East Main Street Santa Maria, CA 93454 Phone: 805-354-6000 Parent Facility: Los Angeles VAMC (GLA) Phone: (310)478-3711 Hours: Monday - Friday 8:00 am - 4:30 pm Santa Barbara County Office Rhonda Murphy, County Veterans Service Officer 511 E. Lakeside Parkway Rm. 47 Santa Maria, CA 93455 Phone: 805-346-7160 Fax: 805-346-7158 Hours: Monday – Thursday, 6:30am – 5:00 pm 315 Camino Del Remedio, Bldg. 2, Room 251 Santa Barbara, CA 93110 Phone: 805-681-4500 Fax: 805-681-4501 Hours: Monday – Friday, 8:30 am – 4:30 pm 401 E. Cypress Ave. Lompoc, CA 93436 Phone: 805-737-7900 Fax: 805-737-7901 Hours: Monday – Friday, 8:00 am – 5:00 pm Voting Members of Executive Committee Commander Dennis Maher 480-558-6956 [email protected] Adjutant Keith Mason 805-345-7538 [email protected] 1st Vice Commander Kerry Brooks 805-714-5452 [email protected] 2nd.Vice Commander Ron Eickholt 805-878-0450 [email protected] Finance Officer Bob Bumann 805-344-2172 [email protected] Sergeant-at-Arms Dave Maher 805-714-7027 [email protected] Judge Advocate Larry Thomas 805-934-5985 [email protected] Veteran Service Officer George Torbert 805-937-3960 [email protected] Junior Past Commander Jim Keleman 805-260-0136 Exec. Committeeman Derrell Stagner 805-934-2355 None Exec. Committeeman Don Alt 805-937-8286 [email protected] Non — Voting Member of Executive Committee Americanism Chair Alan Munch 805-937-8598 [email protected] Auxiliary President Gloria Alvarez 805-934-1218 [email protected] SAL Commander Sal Cruz 805-710-1878 [email protected] ALR President Jim Banakus 805-714-9630 [email protected] Other Post Leaders Highwayman Grant Meyers 805-657-7232 None Newsletter Editor Dave Maher 805-714-7027 [email protected] Orcutt Post 534 — April 2015 — Activity Calendar Sun 5 12 19 Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 1 7 pm meeting S.A.L. 2 3 4 8 9 10 BBQ Burgers Post 534 11 16 17 18 6 Darts 7 13 Darts 14 20 Darts 21 Executive Meeting 22 23 24 Fiesta Night “TACOS” 25 Newsletter Due 6 pm Post Meeting 7 pm A/L Riders Meeting 15 7 pm Auxiliary Meeting 26 27 Darts 28 29 30 1 2 3 4 Darts 5 6 7 8 9 BBQ HAMBURGERS FOR ONLY $7.00 BEST TACOS IN TOWN!
© Copyright 2024