The Henry G. Fix Post 23 meeting was held on Thursday, July 7th at 8:00 pm. The meeting was opened by Commander Nancy Grandy with a salute to the Colors, the Pledge of Allegiance, and preamble to the American Legion Constitution. Chaplain Tara Hough offered an opening prayer. 21 members were present. No special guests were present.
The minutes of the previous meeting were presented and approved. The finance and social reports were approved. Bills were approved for payment. Service Officer John Schmidt reported that a get well card was sent to Owen Wiese. A card will be sent to Rex Tollefson.
The membership report was given by Beth Welch. She reported that we finished the 2022 membership year with 205 paid members. We do not have our 2023 goal numbers yet. We currently have 25 Paid Up For Life members, and 3 paid annual memberships received at the meeting.
There was no Americanism Report. Paul Evenson gave the Legislative Report. The Honoring Our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act passed in June. This has been a priority for the National Commander and will give benefits to Veterans who served overseas in several countries.
Thanks was given to those who participated in the Jesse James Day parade. Post 23 will post the colors for the “Pack the Park” fundraiser for the Benton Howe Memorial Scholarship. A motion was passed to donate $100 to the scholarship.
Commander Grandy gave a huge thanks to those who helped with the fireworks. The community was very generous with contributions to the “pass the hat” at the gates. The show was elaborate with many positive comments. It lasted 36 minutes, much longer than the past.
The special committee has met and is working on proposals for options on the lower wall paneling. They will have a full briefing at a later meeting.
Joe Vandersnick reported that the initial work has been done for drainage improvements to the east and south of the building. There are still some issues with runoff. Additional heavier rock will be added. The grass should continue to improve once the heavy rains subside.
The last Legion Breakfast was done with a “freewill offering”. The donations went very well for the number of folks attending. We had a low turn out for June. There was discussion on increasing marketing for future breakfasts.
The Post received a significant donation from The Combine and The Gulch businesses for our help with the street dance event during Jesse James Days. A thanks was given to those who worked the event.
The 2022 South Dakota Department Convention was held June 16th through 19th in Watertown. The Post had 7 members attend. Presentations for Cody Linnweber and Kris Frerk went great. Second Leading Candidate Daniel Seehafer provided an excellent speech. The theme for the next 3 years will “Be the One”. He stressed how suicide prevention is everyone’s responsibility. The Post received a Go-Getter and Americanism Award. Commander Grandy discussed that no post histories or scrapbooks were submitted for the state competition. South Dakota Department is creating a Legion College. Commander Grandy encouraged members to complete training on MyLegion and possibly attend the Legion College as it is developed.
The Minnehaha County meeting was held on June 28th in Baltic. Commander Peters indicated that the Veterans Affairs Asset and Infrastructure Review (AIR) Commission will be dissolved. This stops reductions/changes that had been announced that would close/reduce services to multiple VA facilities in South Dakota.
Post 15 submitted and passed a resolution at State Convention that mandates counties have full time paid Veteran Service Officers based on Veteran populations. (1 for every 4000 veterans).
Our next Post meeting will be Thursday, August 4th, with the meal at 6:30 pm and the meeting following at 8 pm. It will be our annual Chicken & Corn Dinner. The Adjutant will send out invites to those encouraged to attend. Our next Post breakfast will be August 7th with pancakes and sausages served.
Commander Grandy presented information on our Post considering a Veteran of the Month program. Information was also provided on starting a Post Newsletter. There was discussion on our options and the use of our webpage and social media to get this information out to Post members.
A thank you note was received from Darcy McGee, the Post 23 Teacher of the Year.
The monthly raffle drawing for July took place. Winners were: Alan Snyders, Mark Zweep, Mitch Monen, and Polly Wolforth. Each will receive $150.
Commander Nancy Grandy closed the meeting at 9:11 pm.
-Respectfully submitted,
Mark Wiesner, Post 23 Historian
