Post Talk

North Branch Post #85

April 2023

• Membership Meeting: April 11th @ 7:00PM
• Auxiliary Meeting: April 11th @ 7:00PM
• SAL Meeting: April 18th @ 7:00PM
• Legion Riders Meeting: April 6th @ 7:00PM
• Coffee Talk with the CVSO: April 18th @ 9:00AM

Rick Hals, Commander

Greetings to all. The midsummer prep is moving along quite well. We have received some large donations which will help Post 85 to put on a nice parade. There will be karaoke in the club room on April 14th starting at 7P M. Remember that, if you read this article and mention it at the bar you will receive 1 free drink.

Nominations for the upcoming elections will start this month, so please think about throwing your name in for any officer position that would work for you.

Remember to send your membership dues in if you have not done so already. The next membership meeting is April 11th at 7:00pm in the upstairs meeting room.

Michelle Still, Auxiliary President

The Auxiliary is hosting its annual Mother’s Day/Memorial Banquet for auxiliary members on May 3rd at 6:00 pm. We have invited a few neighboring units and our District President, Lorinda Kies, will be joining us. Our members and guests enjoy our program and meal. The meal is provided and we exchange small “white elephant” gifts. (Limit $15). Questions? Call Michelle at 651-295-7260

Camille Wentz, Legion Riders Director

The Riders continue to plan for summer events and are looking ahead to a busy and fun riding season. Our Christmas in July Rideis gaining momentum and we have collected a lot of donations so far. This past weekend many of us attended and worked at the American Legion Riders booth at the Donnie Smith Show. We were able to promote the North Branch American Legion and our Christmas in July Ride. It was a great networking opportunity.

The Riders have been busy with work in the Legion Hall including hanging the TV in the meeting room and facilitating the purchase and install of the new Legion emblems above the restrooms in the Hall. Special thanks to our Assistant Director and Road Captain Andy Specht for his work on this.

I would also like to thank the North Branch American Legion for the Meritorious Service Award I received in January. It was such an honor to be recognized and very unexpected.

Randy Koivisto, Sgt at Arms

• Veterans Memorial Update
  • We have met with a representative of the City’s engineering firm, WSB, along with city officials, to go over our plans for the memorial. We are currently waiting for their response. The site selection is confirmed, now we just need them to approve our plans and assist with some last minute details, after which we will transition into the fundraising campaign.
• Color Guard
  •  I will be holding a meeting with the new SAL color guard members on every Wednesday in April to help prepare for our upcoming Memorial Day events. We’ve decided that it may be more harmful than beneficial to put them through basic training. We recently stripped and cleaned the M-1 rifles in preparation for our Memorial Day events.
• Scholarship Committee
  • The scholarship committee met recently and we chose the 5 recipients of our $1,500 Scholarships. There are many deserving students and it’s tough to select from such a great group of candidates. They are to be presented on May 10th in the high school auditorium.
• Air Force Jr. ROTC Program
  • We will be presenting awards to two outstanding cadets at the High School on May 24th
• Boys State
  • Sad to say, but there weren’t any North Branch boys interested in participating in the Boys State program once again this year.
• Cemetery Headstone Project:
  • Once again it will be time in April to visit 10 local cemeteries to treat the head and foot stones as needed, and last year we also asked permission to straighten up some that were in danger of falling over in select cemeteries. There are many that need attention, but currently we are only doing the ones that are in urgent need. The post has purchased a large amount of the chemical D/2 that is working miracles on those old crud infested stones from the civil war and more recent eras.

Members of Post 85 recently visited local veteran, Willis Stewert, at the Ecumen of North Branch to help him celebrate his 100th birthday.

Bob Egan, SAL 1st Vice Commander

The SAL held our yearly member appreciation pizza dinner followed by our regular meeting on March 21st. I had the honor of presenting continuous membership tacks to the following members.

• 5 years
  • Mitchell Egan
  • Keith Towle
  • Harry Fleming (not present)
• 15 years
  • Chris Fedun
• 25 years
  • Jim Boatman
• 40 years
  • Tom (Tilly) Linder

Congratulations once again to these members on their milestones and thank you to all our members for their continued membership.

Mike Johnson, Gaming Manager

In March we had a Booty Chaser Bingo winner of almost $12,000! Congratulations to the big winner! Booty Chaser Bingo is the linked bingo played on the Electronic Pull tab tablets. Bars and restaurants across the state of Minnesota are all linked to the same game. It is becoming more and more popular across the state, which leads to bigger jackpots and jackpots hitting more often. Booty Chaser Bingo offers a regular game prize for every game that is played, along with three progressive jackpots that are based on the ball count.

The Major Jackpot starts at $10,000 and has grown all the way up to over $80,000 before being hit. With the game becoming so popular, that Major Jackpot is hitting on average about once a week somewhere in the state of Minnesota. Wouldn’t it be fun to hit that Major Jackpot here at Post 85?

I am currently putting the finishing touches on the new bingo programs for our Thursday and Saturday nights here at Post 85. Pending any setbacks, the new programs should be implemented during the month of April. The last thing to report for this month is that the gambling permit for the SAL Squadron 85 has been approved by the city and has been sent into the state. Once the state approves it, we can move forward with planning our gambling events for Midsummer. For the most part, things will be very similar to what has been conducted in the past, but there may be some minor changes to keep things interesting.

Hope everyone has a Happy Easter!

Ron Rollins, Adjutant

April’s Employee/Member introduction:

Hi, my name is Sheri Specht. I belong to the North Branch American Legion Auxiliary and a Legion Riders member. I am currently the Secretary for the Riders.

I live in Sunrise Township with my husband Andy and our two dogs, Trigger and Sinatra, and our cat, Twitch.

I work at a credit union in St. Paul in the investments area. I have been there for 17 years and love the work I do!

I have two grown children, Nicholas and Caitlin, and one grandson, Mikko, (who is four). We will be welcoming another grandbaby this October! In my spare time I love to be outside soaking up the sun, swimming with my grandson, or watching/feeding the birds!

I love the newfound family that I have found here at the Legion. I have made many friends since joining this group, and I hope to make more. You can never have too many friends!!

Reminder

We have elections coming up within the next couple of months. If you have the urge to serve please ask questions about the position that interests you
now before nominations this month. We really need all our positions filled.

• Leadership Positions:
  • Legion:
    • Commander
    • 1st Vice Cmdr
    • 2nd Vice Cmdr
    • Chaplain
    • Sgt. At Arms
    • Historian
    • Judge Advocate
    • Service Officer
  • Auxiliary:
    • President
    • 1st Vice President
    • 2nd Vice President
    • Secretary**
    • Treasurer
    • Chaplain
    • Sgt. At Arms
    • Historian
  • SAL:
    •  Commander
    • 1st Vice Cmdr
    • 2nd Vice Cmdr
    • Treasurer
    • Sgt. At Arms
    • Chaplain
    • Historian
  • Legion Riders:
    • Director
    • Asst. Director
    • Membership Director
    • Road Captain
    • Secretary**
    • Treasurer
    • Sgt. At Arms
    • Chaplain
    • Historian

**Normally the Adjutant (Secretary) are appointed positions by the top leader. Check with your own entity if you are interested in that position. At Post #85 it is appointed in the Legion, but the others may be elected.

CONGRATULATIONS to all our membership award winners this year!! Also, a congratulations to all our special award winners for your contributions to the American Legion and our community!

Volunteer Opportunity!

We are looking for volunteers for Midsummer events. We could sure use some more help. Even a couple of hours on any day would be very helpful. Set-up, Clean up, helping the Auxiliary cooking in the park and/or at the dance, security or many other duties that need to be covered to pull off this celebration. If you have any time to share please contact Commander Rick Hals, or Club manager, Carene Johnson to see where you can fit in.

Upcoming events:

• April 1st – Online Chaplain training 12-1PM (register at kladelsman@gmail.org)
• April 1st – Dist. Membership Rally sponsored by 10th Dist ALR- Fridley.
• June 1st – Dist ALR Mtg/Elections St Michael #567
• Jun 2-3rd – District Convention/Elections- St Michael #567
• June 10th – Believet Ride- Lino Lakes #566
• June 14th-18th – MIDSUMMER DAYS
• June 23-24th – SAL Detachment Conference- Anoka Squadron #102
• July 8th – Christmas in July Ride- North Branch Chapter #85
• July 26th – Legacy Ride Kickoff Party- North Branch #85
• July 27-30th – Legacy Run leaving from North Branch – Statewide.
• October 12-15th – Legion College- Camp Ripley
• October 26-28th – Department Fall Conference- St. Cloud

Remember, YOU Are the Legion

Ron Rollins, Adjutant

Post #85

North Branch, Mn.