The Henry G. Fix Post 23 meeting opened on Thursday, December 5th at 8:00 pm. The meeting was opened by Commander Jon Schmidt with a salute to the Colors, POW/MIA observance, the Pledge of Allegiance, and Preamble to the American Legion Constitution. Chaplain Lampe offered the prayer. 18 members were present.
The minutes of the previous meeting were presented and approved. The finance and social reports were approved. Bills were approved for payment.
Brian Siemonsma gave the Service Officer report and stated that an anniversary card was sent to Gary Winterton.
The membership report had our 2025 goal at 201 members. We currently have a total of 159 renewed members (79%) at this point. Our December goal is 75%.
Bob Bennett gave the Americanism report. He said the Veterans Day program at the school on Veterans Day was very well attended. Over 20 Veterans had lunch with the students that week. Paul Evenson gave the Legislative report. The American Legion has concerns about education credits earned in the military being honored at higher education facilities. Also there are concerns about funding for the education of service members at our state facilities. The Honor Guard performed at the Veterans Day Program at the school.
Brian Siemonsma reported that the Legion is not saying much yet about the restructuring of the baseball programs to line up with SDHSAA.
Our Post will host the December 14th Hometown Christmas from 9 am to 1 pm with French toast on the menu. A motion passed to donate all proceeds to the Garretson Food Pantry, Garretson Ambulance, Garretson Fire Department, and Midwest Honor Flight. We will have the Post set up to watch the Army Navy game from 2 pm to 5 pm.
The next Post meeting will be January 2nd with the meal at 7 pm and meeting at 8 pm. The next County meeting will be held at our Post on February 25th. The next District meeting will be held March 30th in Garretson. The Department Mid-Winter Conference will be in Oacoma February 14th through the 16th. Commander Schmidt shared a thank you note from the Garretson students thanking our Veterans for attending the Veteran’s Day program and for their service.
The monthly raffle drawing took place. There were 4 drawings for December. Winners were: Jack Annis, Hunter Myers, Betsy Howe, and Cory Buchholz. Each will receive $150! A special $500 drawing took place with Dan Lenz and Marie Peterson as the lucky winners!
Commander Jon Schmidt closed the meeting with the usual ceremony at 8:46 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
-Mark Wiesner, Post 23 Historian
