Mark Wiesner, Post 23 Historian
The Henry G. Fix Post 23 meeting was held on November 7th with 21 members present. The meeting was opened by Acting Commander Andy Lyngen. No special guests were present. The minutes of the previous meeting were presented and approved. The routine financial reports from the Finance Officer and from the Social Chairman were presented and approved. Bills were approved for payment.
The Service Officer was not present. Members reported that Dean Lerdal had passed away. Funeral services will be at 2 pm on Wednesday, November 13th at First Lutheran Church in Sherman. Mary Ann Swenson recently had knee surgery. Vicki Kooistra Arndt, daughter of Clarence Kooistra, passed away on October 28th. Cody Linnweber lost his infant son on November 1st.
Tony Grady reported that the membership goal is the same as last year at 220. We now have 168 paid memberships putting us at 76% of our goal and well on track! We are well on our way to meet our January goal of 80%! We should be able to hit the 220 total by March, but when calculated out, need 3 new Legion members.
Americanism Officer Bob Bennett reported that the school is inviting Veterans to eat with students the week of November 11th through the 15th. The school Veterans Day Program will be on Monday, November 11th at 2:15 pm. The Legion District Oratory Contest for our District is January 12th at 7pm in Humboldt. We are excited to have 3 potential students for this event!
The flag retirement ceremony went very well with Legion members and Boy Scouts helping out. They will continue this ceremony with a second ceremony on December 14th during the Garretson Old Fashioned Christmas. Andy Lyngen reported that the south side sidewalk is fixed. A special thank you to Joe Vandersnick for removing the old concrete. Crete Pros put in the new concrete. We still have 100th Anniversary books available for sale at the Treasure Chest or by contacting Owen Wiese or Marty Luebke.
Next post meeting will be December 5th with the meal at 7 pm and the meeting at 8 pm. The next Legion breakfast is December 1st from 9 am to 1 pm. We will be serving pancakes and biscuits and gravy. The next county meeting will be in February. The 2020 Mid-Winter Conference is February 21-23 at Oacoma, SD. The Post approved $3000 to purchase fireworks for the Fourth of July. This is the same amount as last year. By buying before the end of the year we will get 20% more product.
The Veterans Day program is all set! We will meet at the Post on Monday, November 11th, with a social beginning at 5 pm and dinner at 6 pm. Featured speaker will be Captain Ross Rollinger from the South Dakota Air Guard 114th MXG.
Paul Evenson reported on the Color Guard. They have been very busy and helped Sioux Falls Post 15 with three committals. The Sioux Falls Post has done 110 committals this year and has asked our Post for help on several occasions. Dave Sorenson, Randy Megard, Josie Scholl, Marty Luebke, Jim Kurtz, Andy Lyngen, Gary Lyngen, and Paul Evenson have helped with these ceremonies. They will also participate in the Veterans Day program at the school and Dean Lerdal's funeral. The Post was given a $40 check from the Moe family as a thank you. Acting Commander Lyngen mentioned that post officers require additional training for their duties. The post will make plans to accomplish this training.
Owen Wiese started a discussion about our commitment to the local community and our Post wanting to help with the Garretson Food Pantry and Day Care Center. The Executive Committee will meet with those organizations and find our how we can best assist. Their recommendation will be brought before the post. A thank you note was received from the museum for the use of our facility and our bingo equipment. We also received a thank you note from the South Dakota American Legion Foundation for our recent $5000 donation. Our brand new Raffle Officer is Beth Welch, taking over from Don Dorsman. She has tickets for sale! The raffle drawing was held. Winners this month are: Tom Godbey, Lyle VanHove, Risty Grandkids, Vonnie Hanson and Dwayne Jacobson.
The meeting was closed by the usual closing ceremony at 9:15 pm.
