Post Parade

Commander's Notes

The old wood lettering "Post 221, American Legion" that was rotting away on the front of our building has been replaced with new vinyl lettering that will last for a long time. This lettering was made and installed by Adams Sign.

Randy Dunbar of the American Legion Riders is the person that chaired this project and he did a great job. Got the quotes and saw that it was paid for and intalled. Thanks a lot Randy.

Randy has also arranged to have the cannon in our front yard hauled away to be sandblasted, repaired, and painted. Again a great job Randy. This will make the front of the Post look really good.

We hope to get the new lettering on the building lighted soon.

The Post Everlasting ceremony last meeting, October 5, 2010 was very impressive as always with 31 comrades being remembered. The meeting was very well attended with a small luncheon afterward. And the families who attended the meeting were given small flag cases to take home with them, courtesy of Rich and Martha Lee Thatcher. This is very nice of the Thatchers to give these holders to the families of the comrades whom we honored.

Coming up the month of November will be our Veterans Day program in the front yard of the Post with a luncheon in the dining room directly afterward. Hope to see a good crowd to honor Veterans on their day.

We also will have the Red Cross bloodmobile at the Post on November 24. We all know that they need blood at our local hospitals so if it is possible for you to give please come to the Post that day and donate.

There will be a night at the races on December 4 come out and have a great time I know I enjoy announcing the races and the people who show up to play have a great time.

Then December 11 will be the Childrens Christmas party in the ballroom. This is a great activity that Post does for the Children at Christmas time.

-Bill Matthews, Commander

MESSAGE FROM AUXILIARY PRESIDENT, UNIT 221

Greetings! It is time to plan for the holidays again. Thanksgiving and Christmas is right around the corner and we are busy with all the activities. If you would like to help out, we would love for you to join us. We will have our regular meetings on Nov 2 and Dec 7. Remember to honor our Veterans on Nov 11. Join us at the Post at 11am for services out on the front lawn. On Nov 17, the 10th District will host a party for our inpatients at Brecksville VAMC. Can you believe that Thanksgiving is upon us? Enjoy and count your blessings on Nov 25. On Dec 11, we will hold our Children’s Christmas Party from 2 until 4. Signup starts at 1:30. No one will be admitted until 1:30. Later that evening, join us for some pre hustle fun at our Santa Auction. This is always is great fundraiser and it allows us to continue to our programs. Then comes the big day! Santa is on his way! At our Dec 7 meeting, we will meet to wrap gifts for the children’s party. Bring your scissors’ and a roll of tape! We will meet in the ballroom. We hope that you can join us during this busy holiday season. Please remember our active duty service members during this holiday season. There will be an empty place at many of our tables this year. Remember the families of our fallen warriors. God Bless our troops and God Bless America.

-Janice Stevenson, President, Unit #221

Legion Dinners

When looking at the calendar of the current Post Parade, many of you will notice that we are not having an Early Bird Dinner this year. When putting together the annual calendar we made a decision to eliminate all the dinners except for the Installation/Awards dinner in June. We made this decision due to the declining attendance, expense and waste.

When a dinner comes up, we have asked that those planning to attend call ahead and let us know how many will be in their party, so we can order enough food. The number of people actually doing this has gone way down, forcing Bob to estimate how much we will need. This has resulted in the Post ordering, and paying for, much more food than needed. For the last dinner in June, we ordered over a hundred meals, but just slightly over 60 people attended. Not all of them were Post members. We did try to use some of the food in other ways, but still had to throw a lot of it away.

This pattern has been going on for some time, thus the decision to do away with the dinners. However, we did want to inform you about this issue. If any of our members has a concern about this decision, or has some ideas on ways to bring the dinners back while avoiding the problems we have had, please feel free to come to one of the regular meetings to share your thoughts and ideas.

Help Wanted-Financial Background

Post 221 is looking for volunteer assistance from one or more of our members who have a background in financial issues, such as accounting or bookkeeping. We are seeking some assistance for our Finance Officer, and to help with some transitions that we will be facing in the fairly near future. If you think you can be of help, or want more information, please call Post Adjutant Mark Weldon at 330-844-0288.

John Tsocheff Memorial Museum and Library: November/December 2010

From Post 44: The only name I found was Rommy; one complete uniform pants and jacket, two white shirts, two Legion caps. They are all beautiful, just like new.

From Mrs. Ella Smith & Louis Weigand: memorabilia from 1944-1946, American Legion Auxiliary; one delegate badge Cleveland State Convention 1946, Auxiliary 1946 convention dinner booklet listing Auxiliary Presidents from all 11 districts plus many other papers and Legion cards from Louis Weigand.

From Frank Hart: 419 page book “U.S. Navy- An Illustrated History” by Nathan Miller from American Heritage and the U.S. Naval Institute.

DID YOU KNOW?
Look on the funny side of life,
Don’t miss a chance to smile a smile.
Don’t pass up any laughter.
Don’t forget those anecdotes you’ll love to tell years after….
Look sideways as you walk along,
Look up and down and out for noticing life’s trivia
Is what good fun is all about.
You may be blinking back a tear
Because sometimes things go wrong,
But if you learn to laugh through life
You’ll always get along.

-John Tsocheff

Care Package Mailings:

There were care packages sent to the following four service personnel:

Cpl. Daniel Heitger
3/25 I Co.
Unit 44550
FPO AP 96427 4550

S/Sgt. George Feghely
ATrp/uNIT 1-33 cav
APO AE 09314

SPC Randolph, Michell A.
CJTF 101 Force Protection
APO AE 09354

SPC Marks, Christopher
UCO 1-101 AVN Reg T.T.F.
No Mercy
FOB Ripley APO AE 09380

POST 221 AL RIDERS

Greetings fellow Legionnaires! Well another riding season has come and gone. The Riders have been busy this year. Randy Dunbar, our Assistant Director, worked with the Commander and the House Committee to replace the legion sign on the front of the Post. They did a great job!

It was a great honor for the Legion Riders to escort one of our fallen heroes, Staff Sergeant Kevin Kessler. We escorted the body from Massillon to his memorial service in East Canton where we stood guard. Then we escorted him back to Calvary Cemetery for the final internment. The full military funeral was extremely moving and many tears were shed that day.

The Riders also escorted the 4th Degree Knights of Columbus from Massillon to the Western Reserve National Cemetery recently for their memorial dedication service. We are now working hard on raising money for the Legacy Fund. You will see us around the Tavern and at the Nite at the Races each month. I want to thank each and every one of you for your support!

-Sam "Big Sam" Postlethwait, Director Post 221 AL Riders

S.A.L. NEWS FOR NOV/DEC 2010

A special thanks to Bob and Vickie Zorger, and Alice Stanko who helped with our trip to Rising Sun. It was a huge success. Watch for our next trip in the spring.

We would like to thank all of our members who have sent in their 2011 dues. If you have not sent yours in, please due so as soon as you can. Be an early bird and sent them in before November 11th. Regular dues are only $15, dual members $8, and under 18 $10.

We will be helping the less fortunate again this year for Thanksgiving and Christmas. If you know of a family in need, please let us know.

Your Squadron will be ringing bells for the Salvation Army on Saturday December 11 from 10am to 8pm. There will be a sign up sheet on the bulletin board. Please sign up to help.

We also will be having our “Wagon of Cheer” raffle again this year. The drawing will be held on New Year’s Eve. Please purchase a ticket our sell some for your Squadron. Tickets can be obtained in the tavern. Remember, all funds raised are donated to American Legion and Sons of the American Legion charities.

-Jack Dedmon, Commander

MAY/JUNE TAVERN NEWS

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

EVERY MONDAY - 4PM-8PM
CONEY W/ GRILLED BUN AND FRENCH FRIES $2.50
EXTRA CONEY $1.00 - SORRY NO TAKE HOME

THURSDAY: WING DINGS 25 CENTS FROM 3 P.M. - 7 P.M.
(MINIMUM ORDER OF 6/TO GO REGULAR PRICE)

SUNDAY SPECIAL - "12 OZ MUG OF DRAFT" $1.00 - 3 P.M. TO 7 P.M.

22 OZ DRAFT - $1.75

FOOD AVAILABLE MONDAY - SATURDAY NOON - 8 P.M.
FRYER FOOD AVAILABLE STARTING AT 2 P.M. MON-FRI & NOON ON SAT

Bob, Mike, Denise, Ryan, Char, Deb, Alice, Dan, Merrie Ann, Stephen, Andrew, Cheryl, Leanne, Toni, & Smiley