By Brian Siemonsma, Immediate Past Commander
As you are all aware the last few weeks have been interesting to say the least. The Garretson Legion has had to accommodate changes to scheduling just as other organizations have around the country. As announced a couple of weeks ago, the May meeting had to be canceled due to Covid-19.
Our constitution and bylaws state the nominations and elections of officers are to occur in April at a post meeting. It has been tradition at Henry G. Fix post #23 to have these elections in April each year during what we call our Steak Feed. All new members are invited to join. This year all of these activities had to be canceled. At the National, State, and District levels, leadership has made the decision to keep current officers in place for another year. It has also been tradition at Henry G. Fix Post #23 to have our officers move forward in progression each and every year. As long as there is someone to follow, a Commander will only hold his/her position for 1 year.
An executive committee meeting was called by Commander Brian Siemonsma on Tuesday, April 28 at 7:00pm via teleconference. The executive committee has decided to move forward in tradition and allow our officers to continue forward in progression as planned. For 2020-2021, Rob Meyer (Commander), Tony Grandy (Adjutant), Nancy Grandy (First Vice), Bob Bennett (Americanism), and Jim Kurtz (Finance Officer) were unanimously selected as Post #23 officers for the coming year. A very small swearing-in ceremony was held on Thursday, May 7 at the post. Congratulations to our newest officers.
Initially, on May 9, 2020 the South Dakota Activities Association met to discuss the upcoming baseball season and approved the season with safety conditions. The South Dakota American Legion Department Executive Council also met and approved the Commission’s decision. On May 10, National elected to suspend the remaining 25 states from play, which equates to the season being canceled for 2020. There will be no American Legion baseball this year.
Boys state in Aberdeen, SD was also canceled. The Junior boys from Garretson high school that were planning to attend include Rave Uhlich, Caden Bunde, Matthew Rattenborg, Brady DeBates, Evan Bly, and Sam Konechne. Post #23 thanks these young men for their interest in appreciating and wanting to understand the American system of government. The SD Department of the American Legion is looking at options for these men to attend Boys State in June 2021.
Post #23 is still planning to host a Memorial Day program this year, although it will be a little different. The firing squad will do the graveside service with taps outside the Legion at 7pm on Monday, May 25. The entire service will be completed outdoors to ensure we are as socially distant as possible.
As we try to live our lives as normal as we can we will continue to publish updates in the Garretson Gazette as well as our Facebook page – American Legion Garretson SD.
