AMERICAN LEGION POST 626 1125 BURTON HILL ROAD FORT WORTH, TX 76114 [email protected] txlegion626.org JANUARY 2015 H A P P Y 2015 N E W Y E A R COMMANDER SEZ: Happy New Year! Wow…we know all the clichés, but really, where has the time gone? Speaking of time flying, on December 7 th I attended a Pearl Harbor Day Remembrance wreath laying at the main gate of the base. It has been 73 years since the attack on Pearl Harbor! We had a pretty good steak night 13 December. Michael Cote provided us with excellent entertainment. Thank you for coming out and supporting this monthly get together. Your attendance is greatly appreciated. As always, I encourage you to join us every second Saturday of the month. Our next steak night will be 10 January 2015! Entertainment will be provided by Rodeo Clown Dropouts! The American Legion Oratorical contest ran through 15 December. District level judging will be held 11 January at Post 838. It is a wonderful contest and the presentations are amazing! The oratorical contest is open to students in grades 9 through 12. The judging will begin at 1400. A big thank you and congratulations to Vice Commander Owens for signing up six new members while attending a MAG resource fair on 15 December onboard the NAS. At our regular membership meeting 17 December, we had a guest speaker. Mr. James Jones, M.B.A. Health Care Management. James is attached to the brand new Vet Center, located at 6620 Westworth Blvd., directly behind the Wells Fargo Bank. We are so fortunate to have our own Vet Center on this side of the Metroplex. He discussed services rendered etcetera. No appointment is needed. Their number is: 817-921-9095. Not only did he provide us with valuable information, his wife sent along some fabulous homemade cookies! The 20th was the Canteen Christmas Party. There was plenty of good food, but a disappointing turnout. The 21st of December was the official start of winter! On the 22nd of December we traveled to Hill Villa Senior Center and presented the 25 veteran residents there with lovely handmade lap blankets for Christmas. Thank you to our unit for all the effort in making the blankets. A special thank you goes to Christine Willesen for her diligence in putting the whole project together! The annual Armed Forces Bowl will be held at Amon Carter Stadium 02 January. Army was supposed to be the service academy at the bowl, but because they failed to be bowl eligible, they are not playing. The teams are Houston and Pittsburg. Tickets are provided to all veterans; active, retired or reserve for only a $2.50 service charge. You may get up to four tickets! Go online at www.armedforcesbowl.com. And another good deal for Active or Retired veterans is “Military Day” at the annual Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo. Our special day is February 2nd. You can get free tickets for the immediate family to attend the 1400 or 1930 rodeo. This also includes grounds admission. Just present yourself and your ID at the Will Rogers ticket office beginning December 1, 2014. Our membership is continuing to move forward. Current target is 75% by 03 December. Januarys target is 85% by the seventh. We currently stand at 77.7% as of 16 December! We need your continued support! Please renew your dues, recruit new members and reinstate former members! Our next regular members’ meeting is 21 January at 1830. Please join us. For planning purposes, the Post will close at approximately 2000 New Year’s Eve, and will be closed New Year’s Day. Our Post web site is: www.txlegion626.org. I encourage you to visit our site regularly to keep up with post happenings. I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas, and/or a Happy Hanukkah to round out 2014. And I wish you all the best for 2015! Arthur McAvoy, Commander CANTEEN HAPPENINGS: New Year Eve we will have a new band coming in to entertain; ‘TRINITY RIVER’. We will follow the tradition that has been set for the past 10 plus years of starting early. The band will start approx. 5pm and play til we are through! This gives us the time to have fun and go home early or be prepped up early to go elsewhere and stay late, your choice. Come have some fun, dance and enjoy blackeyed peas and ham later. BAND PLAY 5PM – 9PM (??). DEC 31 – NEW YEAR EVE JAN 03 - TBD JAN 10 - STEAK NITE, Music by JAN 17 – SHRIMP DINNER JAN 24 - AUXILIARY FUNCTION JAN 31 – GERMAN CLUB PARTY AUXILIARY NEWS: From the President: Happy New Year from the Auxiliary!! We hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and wish you all a great new year. Coming up in January we will have our 3 rd Annual Chili Cook-Off on January 24th…get your recipes ready. Rules and sign-up sheet will be up at the Post early January. Our next meeting will be January 20th at 6:30, come join us and help us plan for a great 2015. Membership: We’re excited to welcome four new members: Maria Cruz, Exie Mooney, Mandy Sickels, & Gladys Valesquez! We currently stand at just 57.02% though, so we have more work to do in order to reach the 2 nd membership milestone of 70% by Feb. 14th. Please send in your 2014-2105 renewal if you haven’t yet, and let’s all commit to recruiting at least one new member… together we will achieve 100% this year! 3rd Annual Auxiliary Chili Cook-Off: It’s that time of year folks - join us this month on Saturday, January 24th from 5–7 pm for another exciting Chili Cook-off Dinner, with cornbread & salad and of course yummy desserts. Be sure to get a copy of the CookOff Rules so you can enter your famous chili and be eligible to win…1st, 2nd, 3rd Place Prizes will be awarded! Dinner proceeds will be earmarked for the Past President’s Parley program which awards medical scholarships in Texas. Please come out and lend us your support. We look forward to this year’s tasting and judging…and serving some of the best chili in around! Burton Hill Elementary Christmas Cards: We want to give a very special thank you to the 5th graders at Burton Hill for the beautiful Christmas cards they made for us to include in our Christmas bags for the MAG-41 forces and other military near & far. They clearly gave great care to their art and heart-felt messages for our troops, thank you 5th graders! Veterans Industries: There continues to be an immediate need for sheets, pillow cases, towels, and wash cloths (any size, new or used), and warm clothing for fall & winter. In-kind or monetary donations can be dropped off at the Post; items are delivered every Wednesday. Please see Camille Chandler or Christine Willesen with any questions. From our Chaplain: Our thought and healing prayers are with Eloise Page who is recovering from recent surgery. “If we don't know, we can't care." Please call the Post Chaplain Bill Butler, ph: 817-470-1017, and Auxiliary Chaplain Lisa Hoote, ph: 817-983-1428, email: [email protected] regarding members who are ill, in hospital, or have passed away. Next Meeting: COME & BE INVOLVED with your Unit’s ongoing & charitable activities – we look forward to seeing you TUESDAY, January 20th @ 6:30 pm.  . JANUARY 2015 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 31 NEW YEARS EVE MUSIC BY TRINITY RIVER BAND 5PM TIL 1 OPEN AT NOON COLLEGE FOOTBALL 2 3 TCU At Noon 4 BREAKFAST 8 - 11AM 5 TBD GO BAMA 6 7 COME LISTEN TO 8 SPECIAL $$ DRINKS 9 EACH FRIDAY 10 STEAK NITE 5-7PM MUSIC BY RODEO CLOWN REJECTS 7- SPECIAL $$ DRINKS 11 BREAKFAST 8 - 11AM 12 SPECIAL $$ DRINKS 13 14 15 SPECIAL $$ DRINKS 16 COME BY ENJOY 17 SHRIMP DINNER 5 – 7PM 18 BREAKFAST 8 - 11AM 19 SPECIAL $$ DRINKS 20 EXEC MTG 6 PM POST MEETING 6:30PM 21 EXEC MTG 6 PM POST MEETING 6:30PM 22 23 A COOL BEVERAGE 24 AUXILIARY CHILI COOKOFF 25 BREAKFAST 8 - 11AM 26 SPECIAL $$ DRINKS 27 28 29 30 AND HOT CONVERSATION 31 GERMAN CLUB PARTY