May 2008
Commander's Comments -
The election of new officers will be on Wednesday May, 14th. See the adjutant's report for the list of nominees and voting schedule.
Memorial Day, Monday May 26th at Cottonwood Creek Park at 11:00 am The American Legion, Post 416, will be conducting a memorial day service, followed by the MIA/POW ceremony at the post. Guest speaker will be Jack Kelly, Col. USMC Ret. We will have after the ceremony refreshments for adults and children of sandwiches, punch, coffee, cookies and so on.
For those who may have missed the last general meeting Jenna Jones has been ratified as the bar manager, so we now have a full staff for our club portion of our post
A very important event is upcoming for our post, there will be our annual open golf tournament which will be on Sunday June 1st at Lake San Marcos at the executive course, we ask you sign up for your tee times now (well asap) near the kitchen of our post or call Shirley Reeves at (760) 943-1528 or Kris Gary at (858) 792-5159,for those who cannot form a foursome we will be assigning teammates for you. It will be a fun day and the public is invited to attend.
A special thank you for all of those of you who have helped and supported me through this last year.
Bob Wilson, Commander
1ST Vice Commander's Report -
Our renewals
for membership now stand at approximately 331 members. This leaves us only
approximately 15 members short of reaching our goal of 100% for Commander Bob.
If you have not renewed your membership for 2008, please do so now. Thanks to
all who have made this year a success thus far. Dennis McGrory, 1st Vice Commander 2nd Vice Commander's Report
- No Report Kris Gary, 2nd Vice Commander Chaplain's Report -
Bobby Magie, a longtime member of the Post 416 and generous benefactor, passed
away 30 March 2008. Memorial services were held at Encinitas Elks Lodge. Our
heartfelt sympathies are extended to his widow Johana and her family; as well as
to his son Randy, daughters Shelene Braustein, and Diane (Steve) Meister. Also
to his siblings, brother Jerry (Shirley) Magie, sisters Lynn (Bob) Howard and
Mildred Reynolds; and the grandchildren and great-grandchildren and his many
friends.
I would like to extend my personal thanks to Elks Exalted Ruler Roger Shaw and
his secretary Ed Przybysz for allowing me to participate in Bobby's memorial
service at the Lodge. Also a big thank you to Jerry Sova of captain Keno’s for
furnishing the food for the after-service reception after Bobby McGee's
memorial.
33 year veteran Commander Paul Scanlan, USN, retired, passed away 1 April 2008
at Encinitas Scripps Hospital from a rare form of cancer. Services were held
Saturday, April 19; the following day a memorial was held aboard the USS Midway
with ultimate burial at sea. Our sincere and heartfelt sympathies are extended
to his widow Jackie, the Scanlan family and friends.
Kent MacNeill's father passed away 17 April 2008. Our
sympathies are extended to Kent and his wife Melinda.
Sickness and health: Auxiliary President Mary Culhane was recently hospitalized
at Scripps La Jolla (back surgery). Hopefully, at this printing, she will be at
home recuperating. Your prayers for a complete recovery are appreciated.
My wife Opal Comeau, recently spent five days in I.C.U. at Encinitas Scripps
followed by five days in re-hab at the same hospital suffering from C.O.P.D..
She is now home recuperating. Thank God for her son Eric who flew in from
Colorado to help me. Again, your prayers will be appreciated.
Auxiliary Chaplain Connie Lou Caldwell, wife of longtime member Chuck Caldwell
was recently hospitalized with various physical problems. She too is home
recuperating and of course, needs your prayers.
Fred Caldwell, son of member Chuck Caldwell has been hospitalized with serious
heart problems. We wish him a full and complete recovery.
Brothers and sisters: seems to me that the main “problem” with our Post is that
somewhere along the way, we have forgotten the purpose of our mission as
veterans and members of an American Legion Post.
We are not here to insult each other, not here to harass the bartenders, bar
manager or club chairman; not here to speak ill of fellow legionnaires or go off
on our own volition and break the chain of command - those of us who have
actually served in the service know what that means. Our main mission is to
help and assist our fellow veterans and their family! How many of you have done
that lately? Try it; you may find it solves a lot of the aforementioned.
Wednesday, May 14, is Election Day for new officers for your legion year
2008/2009. Please be sure to note that on your calendar and come to the Post
and vote.
Another calendar note: Memorial Day ceremony, Monday, 26 May 2008, Cottonwood
Creek Park (corner of Vulcan Avenue and Encinitas Blvd.) at 11 a.m... Guest
speaker will be Colonel Jack Kelly, USMC retired; my favorite Marine equal to
General “Chesty” Puller. Please make plans to attend. This is plenty of
advance notice. Perry Comeau, Chaplain
Adjutant's Report - Commander Bob called the meeting
to order at 6:00 p.m. A quorum was present. The Minutes of the past general
membership meeting were approved as printed in the Post Newsletter. The Minutes
for the previous E-Board meeting were not available. The general membership now
stands at 36 transmittals for 331 members. We need approximately 15 membership
renewals to reach our 100% membership renewal quota. The finance officer made
financial reports available to the members and reported that the combined
financial accounts of the Post and Club totaled $51,184. The bar manager gave
a detailed report of the finances of the Club and reported expenses of $2,218
for March, Club checking account of $3,433, and Club Payroll account of $8,270
for total funds of $11,703. The reports were accepted subject to audit. A vote
was taken and the current bar manager, Jenna Jones, was ratified as the
permanent bar manager. Nominations
for officers for the 2008-2009 Legion year were opened. The following
individuals were nominated and accepted the following: Kent Moser, Commander;
Shirley Reeves, First Vice Commander; Bill Hicks, Second Vice Commander; and
Terry Sisson, Finance. The following individuals were nominated for Executive
Committee: Perry Comeau, Kent McNeill, Don Gilbert, Don Tennille, Darrel Hill,
Jack Kelly, Lowell Grimaud, Joe Farrell, and Larry Grabowski. Elections will be
held on Wednesday, May 14th, (our usual general membership meeting
night.) Voting will take place at the Post between Noon and 6:00 p.m. The
results of the voting will be announced at the general membership meeting that
night. You must show your current American legion membership card in order to
be eligible to vote. Post member
Jack Kelly reported on the recent Nice Guys fund raiser which was staged at our
Post. The efforts by the Nice Guys resulted in the donation by them of $1,100
to the Post and Auxiliary for deposit into our Children’s Fund. It was also
reported that Col. Kelly will be the keynote speaker at the Memorial Day
celebration to be held at Cottonwood Park. An update on our Boys State Program
was given by Post Chairman Mac McGrory. Shirley Reeves made a motion, which was
seconded, that the Post renew the program of naming a Post volunteer of the
year. Commander Bob reported that the new doors for the back door of the Club
area had arrived and would soon be picked up and installed. Chaplain Perry
noted the passing of members Bobby Magie and Paul Scanlon. Chaplain Perry also
conveyed our continuing thoughts of Post member John Kentera. Of special
note is the fact that Post 416 enjoyed the attendance of Department Commander
Howard Darter, Department Adjutant Jack Climer, District 22 Commander Diane
DeVries, and District First Vice Commander Ralph Huskey. Our Post certainly
appreciates the time taken from their schedules to attend this meeting.
The meeting
was adjourned at 7:20 p.m.
Dennis
McGrory, Acting Adjutant
SAL NEWS SAL Commander's Report - No Report. Chad Hobbs, Commander AUXILIARY NEWS President's Report -
Winding down the
year is going smoothly. Please come to the next meeting on May 6 to elect, if
possible, our new officers for the new year. As you know, it is only possible
to get everything done in an orderly manner if we have your input and
interest. More and more vets are returning so our help is more sorely needed.
I left a job description pamphlet with Jenna at the clubroom so I know she'll
clue you in on any information you may want to know about the available "job
openings" We will also be electing our convention reps.
Thanks to all
who have remembered me during this time of surgery. This "family" of ours is
truly a blessing to me and all others who have benefitted from your thoughts.
Poppy time is
coming so don't throw those Poppy letters you will be receiving away. They
are hand made and Betsy works very hard to get the word out. Many of our
Auxiliary Programs are funded with that money. If you could send a little extra
this time it would be greatly appreciated.
I wasn't able
to get an appreciation party together this year but you are very much
appreciated for all you do. Volunteering is something you do for nothing, but
for the help you give others. Sometimes they don't always appreciate it but we
know we've done our part and will continue to do so. Please continue to support
Bingo and our Post Dinners-also very important for necessary funds for our
activities.
Thanks Shirley
for all the towels, Louise for her table waiting, Sondra and Encarnita for Bingo
Snacks
and Amy for the parties. Our Donna has really come through for the Aux.
Breakfasts as well. Merry Culhane, President 1st Vice President's Report - We are
still 12 short from goal - those that haven't paid, please send your dues to
me ASAP - the books on membership are closing. If you haven't paid, you
will not be updated on the new roster coming out after Convention in a few
months. We have been advised that Renewal Notices will not be forthcoming
from the District. That means, our unit has to send out notices to over
200 of you. That will be pretty expensive with the new stamp price in May. I
expect to send out notices/reminders to all of you during the first two
weeks of July 2008. Our new term runs 7/1/08 through 6/30/09. So, please
start sending in your dues to me, with or without a renewal notice. The
dues for renewal are $15 (new members coming in will be $20 their first
year). Juniors (under age 18) are $5 for their renewal. Let's get a head
start on our goal and have our membership completed by 12/31/08.
Thank you
to all those that renewed this year. Remember, we only get to keep $3 out of
every $15 paid, which isn't much, but it helps us to work the programs in
our Unit, which we are required to do each year. If any of you would like
to volunteer to do a dinner, and/or donate the dinner, that would be
appreciated also. The monies donated are always put to a good use. We need
as much help as we can get, so all you new members out there, please come to
our meetings, they only last an hour or so, and we could use your expertise,
help, and most of all, a little volunteering. Summer is coming and we have
lots of plans for our "Can Do" Unit.
Roxene
McGrory, 1st Vice and Membership
2nd Vice President's Report -
As you know May is our month for Dinners, so please come out and enjoy them with us. Anyone that would be interested in cooking a dinner or even helping we could sure use you. And by the way it does not have to be an Auxiliary member, it can be Post or SAL’s. We are all one big Legion Family, helping each other.
May 10th Don Gilbert and Jim Thom are challenging the ladies. They say they are better cooks. So they are planning to show us. The menu is Roast Pork, with all the trimmings.
May 17th TBA
May 24th the Chicken Fried Steak Gang. Followed by live music with Mikey & Jer
May 31st Last by not Least our new member Deborah Wren & Nancy
fm (Nancy’s Bail bonds) doing Bar-B-Q chicken, beef and more.
Thanks again, Ladies & Gentlemen !
Shirley Reeves, 2nd Vice President
MISCELLANEOUS
Boys State Report:
The following students have been selected to attend the 2008 boys State at Cal State Sacramento: Richie Sapp of Torrey Pines, Abraham Katz of San Dieguito, and Matthew Newman of La Costa Canyon. As usual, we were supplied with three excellent candidates from each high school, and as usual the selection process was not an easy one. All students were extremely qualified and we thank them and their respective schools for their participation. Special thanks needs to be given to our interviewers, Don Gilbert, Jim Crowley, Kent McNeill, Terry Sisson, Drew Cottril, and Commander Bob who graciously stepped in at the last minute.
Mac McGrory - Boys State Chairman
Senior Information Fair:
May 8th, at the Encinitas COMMUNITY CENTER, Annual Senior Fair. This popular event will spotlight Emergency Readiness this year. With the Wildfires of 2007 still in our minds, the Fair will help residents prepare for disaster. The fair will feature a luau theme, with live music, beach atmosphere and have over 60 vendors. The fair is an important way to inform seniors on services available in the city.
Lowell Grimaud
GOLF CHAIRMAN:
I have given you fair warning, so your golf clubs need to be ready. You should have your scheduled cleared and ready to sign up for the Tournament. I need you to go out and drum up some golfers, we really need 60 if possible. This fund raiser is to help defray the cost of our Boy’s State Program. We are also trying to get hole sponsors if you need more info on that program call Kris Gary, he would appreciate your efforts.
Kris Gary & Shirley Reeves, Co-Chairs
Club Manager’s Report:
There will be an open house fund raiser (for the club) on Sunday, April 27 from 11:00 AM until 4:00 PM. We will have Hamburgers, Hot Dogs, Baked Beans, & Macaroni Salad. The burgers and dogs will be prepared on a grill in the parking lot.
This event will be open to the public and should be a convenient stop off for anyone attending the Encinitas Street Fair. Tell your friends! Better yet, bring them in!
Jenna Jones, Club Manager
OPEN HOUSE & 75TH BIRTHDAY PARTY
Just a reminder that we need everyone to put this on their calendar for July 12th 2008. And plan on bring your favorite potluck. There will be a list on the board to sign up with your items. If you want more information or volunteering to help contact one of the Committee Members: Merry Culhane; Roxene McGrory; Bill & Kate Steinauer; Jenna Jones; Donna Beaulieu; Bill & Chris Hicks; Terry Sisson.
Merry & Shirley
