Let me begin by reporting that Ohio did very well this year at the National Convention:  On the legion side, Ohio won the Randolph Hearst Trophy for Americanism (the most prestigious award given in this program) as well as the Garland Murphy Award for Child Welfare.  The Auxiliary came home with the Udie Grant award for Child Welfare and three (3) of the National President's Award for Excellence (the highest award you can receive on the Auxiliary side) in Children and Youth, National Security, and Legislation.

    On the last day of the convention, Ohio proudly sat in the front and saw one of our own (Desi Stoy from Ashland, Ohio) installed as the American Legion Auxiliary National President.  Desi is only the 3rd woman from Ohio to be elected to the highest office in the American Legion Auxiliary; Edith Hobart in 1921 and Letha Zeller in 1956.

    WE can all be proud of these awards and achievements; it is you, the blue cap Legionnaire and the card carrying Auxiliary and SAL member, who make it all possible by your membership and your participation.  CONGRATULATIONS to all of us!

    Now, on a more somber note; at the next regular meeting (Tuesday October 7th) Post 221 will honor those members who went to Post Everlasting during the past year.  This special program, which begins at 7:00 P.M., will be an occasion to honor and remember Post 221 members who passed away between September 2007 and October 2008.  Please attend and greet the family members at a short reception following the ceremony.

    Looking ahead, the 10th District Fall Conference will be held at Coshocton Post #65 on Sunday October 12th.  After Post and County meetings, the District level is where the work of the Legion is conducted.  We need to have more Legionnaires step up and participate in the activities of our organization.  It is a good thing to get to know how things work and who makes it work.  Just meeting people and socializing with Legionnaires from other Posts is a good place to start.

    On the back of this newsletter is the Post 221 calendar for October.  Check it out and see if you find anything you would like to do; do you play cards - we have Euchre every Monday night, are you interested ins pending $25 to attend the Reverse Raffle supper and have a 1 in 100 chance to win $1,000, what about the Beat McKinley Breakfast - this is an opportunity to wear your Orange and Black and eat a great breakfast for a very inexpensive price.

    If any of these ideas appeal to you and you want to know more, call the Post at (330) 833-4545 with questions and plan to participate.  We'd love to see you!

For God and Country,
-C. Richard Thatcher, Commander

    Thanks to the Gold Star Mothers for their large donation of items used in our care package program for the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.  It has been used already and the packages have been sent.

    We are getting some response to our call for members to pay their 2009 Legion dues; thanks to all who have sent in their payment.  However, we still have a way to go before reaching our quota.  So if you haven't sent in your dues as of yet, please do so.  It will help your Post reach its goal for 2009.

Serving Our Country:

SPC Moore, James
Delta Troop 6-4 CAV
FOB Bostick
9997
APO AE 09354

SPC Crandell, Cliff
Delta Troop 6-4 CAV
FOB Bostick
APO AE 09354

CW2 D'Anniballe, Justin
C Troop 4-6 ACS (1-1 AVN)
COB Speicher
APO AE 09393

Brian Godfrey
332 EMXS/CC
APO AE 09315

J. Knoblauch
ACO 834th ASB
APO AE 09330

PFC Ritenour, Eric
194th M.P. Co.
Camp Ramadi
APO AE 09396

REMEMBER 9-11-2001
-Bill Matthews, 1st Vice Commander

    September didn't start out very well this year.  We lost one of our members.  Not only did we lose a member, bit he was my brother Rick.  He was 59 years old and lost his fight with cancer.  I would like to thank a few people for their cards and kind words.  They are SAL 221, American Legion Riders, and Legion Post 221.  I would also like to thank Detachment of Ohio Chaplain Steve Honigfort.  Thanks to everyone.

    Now on a brighter note, I know I thanked everyone for coming to the steak fry but I didn't know that it turned out so well.  We sold out of steaks.  The race was good and everyone had a good time.

    As of this writing, we have 97 paid members with a quota of 217 for 45%.  If you have not sent in your dues for 2009, please do so as soon as possible.

-Bob Lunsford, SAL Commander 221

    The 2008 National Convention of the American Legion was held this year in Phoenix, Arizona at the end of August.  Hundreds of AL Riders (members of the Legion family who ride motorcycles) massed together to ride from Indianapolis, Indiana to Phoenix to raise money and show our support for the Legacy Fund.  It was announced at the Convention that more than $516,000 was raised for the Legacy Fund this year.  That's over half a million dollars raised by the AL Riders across these United States.  Who says that "bikers are bad?"

    Remember that "The Legacy Fund" was established to assist in the college education of the children of American servicemen and women who have died defending our freedom since the attacks of September 11, 2001.

    As always, the Legion Riders of Post 221 thank you for all of your support!

-Sam Polstlethwait,
Director Post 221 AL Riders

    Help... Ladies I need your ideas and input.  As many of you are quite aware, life is getting tougher all the time - with money and time becoming increasingly precious.  We need fundraising ideas and a little extra help to enable us to continue to serve our veterans and our community facing difficult hardships.  There is no greater feeling than the ability to offer a helping hand to someone in their hour of need.  Not to mention that helping others gets your mind off your own problems for a while.  You don't have to attend the meeting to participate; although it would be nice to see your smiling face.  You can call or even write me a quick note.

    Through the years I have had the opportunity to deliver food and gifts to local needy families.  It is a heart-warming experience, but can sometimes be heart-rendering as well.  Once, I went to a house and was greeted by a cute little 5 year old boy who seemed more than interested in a box of Mac and Cheese than the 2 huge bags of brightly wrapped gifts; he was that hungry!  This family had been hit with more than their fair share of hardships while still holding their heads high.  My heart filled with pride for the Auxiliary and our ability to help this appreciative family.  Remember, Christmas is just around the corner.  We need to start fundraising now so we can help meet the increasing number of requests we receive each year.

Thanks for your consideration,
-Gail Miller, Unit 221 President

    For many years, no one is quite sure how many, the Post 221 Color Guard has presented the colors at every Massillon High School home football game.  Last year, we offered the same service to Perry High School on a trial basis, and presented at three of their home games.  We received a warm reception, and many of their fans expressed their appreciation that we were willing to do this.

    Based on this reception, the members of the Color Guard have agreed to present the colors at every Perry home game.  Enough members have volunteered that we will be able to cover all the home games of both schools, even on the two nights that both teams have home games.  We felt this was quite appropriate since many of our members are Perry Township residents.  I would like to personally thank the members of the Color Guard for stepping up and making this possible.

    On a sad note, I regret to note the passing of Gerry Stanko on September 10th.  Gerry has been a very active and enthusiastic member of the Color Guard and Honor Guard, and we will miss him greatly.  Our prayers are with his wife Alice and the rest of Gerry's family.

-Mark Weldon

    Museum activity this summer has been slow - not too many items received; so I started digging in my closets.  I found the following for the museum:  8 white Navy caps plus a pair of shoes WWII, many WWII pictures and several large beautiful picture frames.

    You can't believe the number of "clean and gently used" items "brought into the post for distribution to the veterans at the Brecksville VA Medical Center.  These items are both needed and greatly appreciated.  Do the same as me, go through your closets and bring in all that stuff that you don't use or need.

    Did you know:  (Question) I know that the earth rotates on its axis and that we also revolve around the sun; just how fast are we travelling?  (Answer) At the equator, the earth is spinning at about 1,040 MPH, the earth orbits the sun at 66,660 MPH and beyond that, the entire solar system travels around the galactic center (once every 225 million years) at about 450,000 MPH.  And, the entire milky-way galaxy is moving (relative to nearby galaxies) at 1,342,262 MPH.  Are you dizzy yet?  You probably knew all of that anyhow, didn't you?

-John Tsocheff

    We can only imagine what the people along the Texas coast were made to deal with as a result of powerful hurricane Ike.  Our hearts and prayers go out to them.  We also felt the fury of the winds from Ike this past weekend.  The winds knocked out power to many local homes and businesses including Post 221.

    Due to the lack of power, the appreciation dinner for Boys State and Girls State participants and their sponsors to be held September 16th had to be cancelled.  The dinner has been rescheduled for Tuesday, October 21, 2008 at 6:30pm.  Please call the American Legion at 330-833-4545, and let us know if you can attend on that date.  We are sorry for the inconvenience this may have caused.  As of this writing, Post 221 still has not regained power.

ATTENTION MEMBERS!  YOU MUST HAVE YOUR MEMBERSHIP CARD WITH YOU TO BE SERVED ALCOHOL.  NO EXCEPTIONS!
NO CARD -- NO SERVICE!
THE LEGION IS A NON-SMOKING FACILITY