The Fargo
Fargo Legionnaire
Fargo, North Dakota
January - February  2008

Commander Message 
Ron Matthews

Happy New Year.

I hope everybody had a chance to enjoy the holidays with your friends and families. I also hope that some of you remember to keep in your thoughts and prayers the troops that are deployed around the world.

There are always things happening at the club and post so please stop in and find out what is going on. Don’t forget bingo on Mondays and Saturdays, Beer bust on Fridays, Poker on Wednesdays, and of course meeting nights on Tuesdays.

Mid Winter conference will be held in Dickinson this year on February 8 – 10. See you there.

For those people who have not been to the club for a while a lot has been done with a lot more needed to be done. While the outside of the building was cleaned last summer and the lobby was redecorated and a lot of other improvements were made. There is still a lot more projects that need attention. One of the main problems that needs attention is the roof…I don’t think it will last another year. If anybody has any ideas how we can take care of it please let me or any person on the executive committee know.

Membership has been slowing down. Our goal for the year is 1475 and at last count we are at 1230, so if you haven’t renewed please consider. Thanks goes out to all the people on the membership teams who have called and renewed and have gotten new members to join our great organization.

Don’t forget to give the ones you love a hug on Valentines Day.

Ron Matthews, Commander, Fargo American Legion

Auxiliary President's Message
Mavis Goodroad

Happy New Year!

What happened to the past year? It sure went by fast.

I hope everyone has had some very memorable holidays.

January, we will be enjoying the joint meeting with the post. Please try to attend it will be a great evening.

Keep our troops in your prayers this coming year and also your veterans, friends, and family.

Bless you and may your year be a happy and eventful one.

Mavis Goodroad, Auxiliary President, Unit #2

Chef de Gare Notes
Dave Rice

The 40 & 8 Sweet Heart Banquet has been scheduled for Saturday evening, February 16th at the Fargo American Legion; the KC’s will be serving the meal again this year. We will be providing more details in the invitation but please put this date on your calendar for now, let’s have a good turn-out.

The next Promenades will be January 22nd and February 26th, please try to attend. 2008 is here; if you have not paid your 40 & 8 dues please do so soon. We are always looking for new members, if you know of any Legionnaires who are deserving of membership please let me know. Voiture 240 is currently revising our Constitution and Bylaws, not a real exciting process, but necessary to keep up-to-date. Congratulations and thank you to all who helped make our Nursing Scholarships successful again this year, especially Carl Anderson who headed it up. Look for a summary in this newsletter.

Hope to see you at the American Legion Winter Conference in Dickinson, February 8th – the 10th. There will be a 40 et 8 Grand Cheminots Meeting in the Evergreen Room of the Quality Inn at 3:30pm on Saturday, February 9th. I believe all 40 & 8’ers are invited to attend.

Chef de Gare Dave Rice
40 et 8 Voiture 240 Fargo

Adjutants Additions
Bob Jacobson

Happy New Year.

Welcome to 2008. Post #2 is still on the mend, but the improvements have been in all areas (Post, club, community involvement, service to veterans, membership), but the outlook could be bleak.

While numbers have been going up in all areas, one area is in dire need. Our building needs a good magician. The Capital Campaign was initiated several years ago to replace the roof first and do energy saving improvements to cut expenses. Many of our cosmetic improvements were funded with money donated for that specific project and our new windows and doors are a good energy saver. Our energy saving roof replacement project is becoming critical since it has now developed leaks. All our cosmetic projects are for naught when the building can’t be comfortably and safely occupied. Several years ago, we on the Executive Committee allowed work to progress on the repeated promises of money coming in rather than insisting on having the money in hand first.

Commander Ron’s big desires for this year are to replace the roof and pay down our Capital Campaign debt. I talked to three companies about patching the roof and then replacement bids. The two responses on patching said it was beyond that point and one has given a replacement bid. I am looking for additional bids. We are also considering going to a hip roof, rather than flat. We did replace our water heater and are looking at a substantial update on the heating system. I am open to suggestions and will gladly accept contributions to either of Ron’s major projects.

We considered selling the building about four years ago because of costs, but the membership voted not to sell. The Post has a great building, but it is of an age where band aid fixes can’t continue. Proper repairs and maintenance are needed. They cost money and can not be covered by the dues in Post operating funds nor from gaming money. I wish we had a trust or endowment fund that would take care of our facility, but we don’t and it would need years to build one up. For now, we need to solicit money to cover expenses as they occur.

Your support for your organization and facilities is greatly appreciated by all.

Don’t forget the Winter Conference being held in Dickinson the second weekend in February. The secretary does have a block of rooms reserved for Post #2. Call her and put your name on the list. Using a bus has not been ruled out, but some members will need to arrive earlier and stay later than others.

Robert (Bob) Jacobson, Adjutant
Gilbert C. Grafton Post 2

New Adjutant, Department of North Dakota

Hello everyone! My name is Mitch Olson and I have been selected as the new Department Adjutant for the State of North Dakota American Legion. I am very honored and proud to serve in this new venture.

I was born and raised in the western part of North Dakota around the Powers Lake and McGregor area. I come from a farming background and we still have the family farm. Most of my relatives also farm in that area of the state. I headed east and attended the University of North Dakota and joined the North Dakota Army National Guard in December of 1980. I went active duty for the guard in September of 1985 and retired October of 2005 with almost 25 years of service. My active duty time in the military included numerous deployments to Honduras, Panama, Jamaica, Australia, South Korea, Germany, Kuwait and Iraq (in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom/Enduring Freedom).

My American Legion experience includes Post #2 Commander, Adjutant, Finance Officer and Post Historian. I was also the 1st District Vice and District Commander. You may also have seen me as a musician with the ND State Legion Band and the Red River Valley Veteran’s Concert Band.

I bring to the Department Office a Business Management Degree and accounting background, experience as a Veteran’s Benefit Specialists from the ND Department of Veterans Affairs and on the federal side, from the Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office.

Mitch Olson
Department Adjutant

Eastern Region

Congratulations to Mitch Olson, Past Commander of Post 2, on his selection to Department Adjutant! Mitch will do an outstanding job for the Department; he served as our Post Adjutant and Finance Officer so he has the experience and is well qualified for the job.

The 1st District Oratorical Contest will be held at 11:00am Saturday, January 5th at the Mayville-Portland-Clifford-Galesburg High School, let me know if you would like to attend. The Regional Competition will be held in Maddock on January 19th.

Please consider heading West to the Department Conference in Dickinson February 8-10, 2008. We need a good showing of us Easterners as our comrades from the West travel this way for our conferences and conventions.

Dave Rice, Eastern Region Department Vice Commander

1st District

The Posts in District 1 are working hard on membership and their programs.  It is very enjoyable visiting the Legionnaires in the District and see their programs and activities.  I have learned that every Post is different in the way they approach community service and Legion programs.  Two of the highlights so far were my visit to the new Galesburg veterans memorial and the Veterans Day ceremony in Valley City at the elementary school.

Keith Kerbaugh, 1st District Commander

The WDAY Honor Flight Committee has decided to take one more trip in the spring of 2008, called a "Bonus" trip, to Washington, DC, to take our World War II Veterans to see the Memorial created in their honor.  We started this project in the fall of 2006 and anticipated making one or two trips.  Our estimate of 300 veterans wanting to go was soon shattered; we ended up with about 750.  We have taken nearly 600 World War II Veterans to DC thus far on three trips.  The Bonus trip will attempt to take the remaining veterans who have already applied and are on our waiting list.

The WDAY Honor Flight application process has officially closed.  World War II Veterans still wanting to go can still apply on the National Honor Flight Web page.  We hope other communities in the Dakotas and Minnesota launch their own Honor Flight projects to accommodate WWII veterans in their communities. See: www.honorflight.org

Our community has been very generous to our WWII Veterans, thus far we have generated over $475,000 in donations.  We estimate we will need an additional $50,000 to finance the final trip.  We need to do this for our WWII Veterans, but we don't want to raise too much money either (have you ever heard that before?).  Thus, we need to have everyone coordinate their fundraising efforts with Lance Akers, our Honor Flight Fundraising Coordinator.  Please contact Lance if you would like to raise some money for the Bonus trip, you can call him at: (701) 238-9298 or send him an e-mail addressed to: adoptavet@loretel.net

Contributions can be dropped off or mailed to the Fargo American Legion or any State Bank and Trust location.  The Honor Flight Web page has pictures, trip summaries and additional information on the WDAY Honor Flight project.  Honor Flight Web Page:  www.wdayhonorflight.com

Dave Rice, WDAY Honor Flight Committee Member
commander@tristateveterans.com
On behalf of Tracy Briggs, WDAY Honor Flight Chairperson and Lance Akers, Honor Flight Fundraising Chairperson

Band Schedule

See the RRVVCB Web page at:

http://www.rrvvcb.org/

Have Your Wedding, Anniversary, Christmas or Any Party Here

The American Legion has rental space available for a wide variety of events at a very reasonable price. 
To Schedule an Event please Contact our Office at 701-293-3930.  Click here for additional information. 

Rental Space is Booking Up Fast

The Legion has rental space available for any size party or occasion up to 250 people. Please see Mona at 505 3rd Ave N, Fargo, ND or call her at 237-4013 for booking details. Catering is also available through the KC’s. Please give Jon a call at 232-6386 regarding catering. The space is booking fast so give Mona a call to book your space and don’t forget, Legion, Auxiliary, Social and SAL members get a discount off the hall rental.

Reunions, Office Parties, Private Parties, Any other special occasion you may be celebrating, Birthday Parties, Anniversary Parties, Weddings, Retirement Parties, Christmas Parties

Attention: In accordance with North Dakota Charitable Gaming Regulations, American Legion Club notifies its membership that the organization's cash profit; cash long or short; net proceeds expenses, if any; reimbursement of excess expenses, if applicable; and a list of eligible use contributions is available for review. The information is available at the American Legion Club, 505 3rd Ave N,. Fargo, 8am - 4:30pm, Mon.-Fri. (701)237-4013