Post Talk

North Branch Post #85

  • Membership Meeting: Jan 11th @ 7PM
  • Auxiliary Meeting:  **No January Mtg**
  • SAL Meeting: Jan 18th @ 6:00PM
  • Coffee Talk with the CVSO: Jan 18th @ 9:AM

Jim Hunt, SAL Commander

Happy New Year everyone! I hope in 2022 we will see the end of this pandemic.

The SAL was very active in 2021.

  • We began January attending the final Snowmobile Rally. 8 members of the North Branch Legion Family (5 SAL, 2 Auxiliary, and 1 Rider/Legion) assisted in collecting membership in the Northeast corner of the 10th district. It was truly enjoyment to see our post so well represented.
  • We had an omelet breakfast in February. We experimented with menus and serving meals at the tables. The feedback was so positive, we did the same for the following breakfasts in June and September. Thank you all for your support!
  • We had a membership awards night in May with pizza served from Domino’s.
  • Midsummer Days came in June and was a great event! People were ready to get out and enjoy all the festivities after being shut in for most of 2020.
    • The SAL ran a raffle, bingo, pull-tabs, and paid for the police security.
    • They also paid for the porta-potties with the help of a nice donation from the Auxiliary. Thank you for the teamwork!!!
  • In August we installed a changing table in the women’s restroom.
  • In September, the Sons of American Legion joined forces with the American Legion, American Legion Auxiliary, and a member of the American Legion Riders to present our Detachment programs and to seek membership at the Fall Harvest Festival in Central Park.
  • In November, for Veterans Day, we served a free ham dinner to the veterans and their spouses. It was a great turnout! Thank you to the Boy Scouts and the ROTC for helping to serve our country’s veterans!
  • December brought membership appreciation night for the SAL. A chicken dinner from The Fuse was served and enjoyed by everyone.
    • A special congratulations was given to Mike Johnson on 40 years of continuous membership.

If any of this sounds attractive to you, come and join the fun. We have many openings to work side by side with Sons of all ages in the many activities throughout the year. Contact me and come and join us. Your idea could be our next fun activity.

Randy Koivisto, Past Commander

The January 11th membership meeting will be our annual awards and community supporter recognition meeting.  Please join us for a spaghetti dinner, which will start with a social gathering at 6pm, followed by dinner at 6:30, and the meeting starting at 7pm. We will be honoring those that have reached milestones with their years of membership, and thanking those in the community that support veteran’s and their causes.

A mass mailing was sent out to local members on Thursday, December 30th, regarding the North Branch Veteran’s Memorial project. It gave a brief history of the effort, along with the current status, and with the urgent need for members to fill out the online parks survey, and to attend the community meeting that the city is requiring before rendering a verdict on our project. Should you have questions, you can reach me at Rkoi@midco.net

Our next Red Cross Blood Drive is coming up soon. It is scheduled for Friday, February 4th, from 9am-3pm. Blood supplies are at their lowest point in recent memory. Please consider donating. We had many first time volunteer donors at our last drive. It is by appointment only, and can be scheduled by calling 1-800-733-2767, or visit RedCrossBlood.org and enter Sponsor Code : North Branch.

Veteran’s Memorial update:

The following is a letter that went out to all members:

Ron Rollins, Adjutant

Happy New Year!! I hope everyone had a joyous Christmas and a Happy New Year. This will be an exciting year for our Post, provided this Covid stuff stays out of our way.

I attended MyLegion.org training provided by Department trainers in a zoom meeting format, last month. This was a great experience to help explain the program that has confused a lot of people and plagued with problems since the new version rolled out.

It has been a good thing for the members to have, and be able to see their membership status as well as other features for each member. This also is a benefit to our leadership in helping us with accuracy and EASIER updates.

**It should be noted that each member must re-register to be able to utilize the new system.

If your email has changed since you last registered let me know before you complete your registration or you may not have access to all the features available in the program. The problem is National will have you registered with one email address and you happen to register with a different on your registration cannot synchronize and all features will not operate correctly causing frustration for the member.

Our Post is still looking to fill the following positions:

  • Chaplain
  • Judge Advocate
  • Sgt. At Arms
  • Post Service Officer
  • Historian

If you may be interested and become involved in Post operations contact me and I can describe full duties of each.

I will highlight the Chaplain here:

Chaplain:

The chaplain need not necessarily be a clergyman, but must be a person capable of moral and intellectual leadership and one who gives dignity and respect to the office. The chaplain should be in close touch with the commander and other post officers, and should attend all meetings of the post executive committee. The leadership in many post activities belongs by right to the chaplain, and when this office is filled by the right person, the post’s usefulness to the community greatly increases. The Manual of Ceremonies (see page 34) gives an important place to the chaplain in the conduct of meetings, the observance of patriotic occasions, funeral services and dedication ceremonies. At all these events, the chaplain is the moral leader. The chaplain should work with the post historian on grave registration work and inspire the post to decorate veteran graves, especially on Memorial Day. Besides officiating at post members’ funerals when requested, the chaplain can serve their bereaved families. The chaplain may also chair the post’s Veterans Administration Voluntary Services (VAVS) Committee, which coordinates volunteer work at nearby VA facilities. The American Legion Chaplain’s Handbook, available online and through department headquarters, offers guidance for the post chaplain and religious emphasis committee.

This is the technical job description from the National American Legion handbook. Our Post duties are slightly different.

***New Feature***

Beginning with the February issue, the Post Talk will be introducing Legion employees, Legion Officers, as well as members of the American Legion Family of Post #85. This will be voluntary by each featured person and hopefully a fun way to get to know someone new in our post.

My goal is to make our newsletter informative and fun. If you have any other suggestions, feel free to contact me.

Upcoming events:

  • Jan 8th: Mid-Winter Conference- Anoka
  • Jan 11th: Membership Spaghetti Dinner/Awards Night. Dinner served at 6:30pm.
  • Jan 18th: Veteran’s Memorial Community Meeting 7-9PM at Lakes Region EMS (40245 Fletcher Ave., North Branch) **VETERANS PLEASE ATTEND**

Remember, YOU Are the Legion.