The Fargo
Fargo Legionnaire
Fargo, North Dakota
  March - April 2009

Commander Message 
Dave Johnston

Someone told me that the year would go by fast and before you knew it the Nominating Committee would be working on 2009-2010 slate of officers. When you receive a call give it some serious thought, as we need you to be an active member in our Post and carry out the mission of the American Legion.

I want to take this opportunity to thank the Past Commanders who meet at noon on the second Tuesdays for their advice and concerns that they show in the Post operations. It is a great asset to a new Commander to have the expertise and past experience to support you in this position.

The year has been a touch and go operation as we have experienced the decline in patrons due to the non-smoking law that went into effect in Fargo and now with the economy hitting all of us. We have been maintaining our operation with the entertainment and the patrons that have been loyal to the Club/Post. We are currently working with the Procurement Assistance Center who is working with veteran organizations in developing web sites and business plans. We will have a business plan the first part of March and intend to present it to the membership.

Status Meeting of Gilbert C. Grafton Post 2

Legion members, Post 2 has fallen on hard times. The national economic downturn coupled with the resignation of two key employees and the high-energy prices have taken the Post financials on a downward spiral.

We ask that you all take the time to come and meet with the Executive members as we discuss the current financial status of your Post. It is important that you come and hear what we are working on and provide your input.

We plan to hold the following meetings:

                March 11, 2009 at 11:00 AM & 7:00 PM in the Patriot Hall

Dave Johnston, Commander, Fargo American Legion

Greeting to all Auxiliary Members:

Our meetings are held the second Tuesday of each month. Put this date on your calendar, as it would be wonderful to have a bigger attendance. We need your input for projects and your support at the Legion and Auxiliary.

Our projects for March are “slipper socks” for veterans at the VA Hospital and preparing Easter bags for children at different daycares. We need volunteers on March 14 @ 1:00 PM for the slipper socks and March 21, 2009 @ 9:30 AM. We will meet at Post 2.

Our district meeting will be March 30, 2009 in Finley.

April is the month of the military child of a parent who is deployed. Please contact me at 701-232-9356 if you have a name of a child.

It is nomination time for new officers for 2009-2010. We ask that you be thinking about who would qualify for an office and say “yes” when you are called.

Have a great two months and see you at the meetings.

Mavis Goodroad, Pres Unit 2

Adjutants Additions

The club business that is necessary to sustain our facility has been decreasing for some time. We “borrowed” $25,000 from the principal we have in the FM Area Foundation to make some necessary repairs in the boiler room. We capped the bid work at $21,000 to ensure a reserve for those surprise additions. We had a new leak show up from the roof that will need attention. I encourage everyone to search hard for some money you can donate to capital improvements.

Our membership numbers need a boost. Anyone not yet renewed is delinquent on their membership for 2009. We need about 220 more to meet our goal for the year.

We have changed the format of this newsletter to save some money. There will be more changes coming. We have discussed sending this out as an email or just providing a link. I encourage all to attend the meetings and partake in the discussions of the information we are trying to get out. Doing things because it has always been that way doesn’t work anymore. Change is necessary to continue our existence.

Bob Jacobson, Adjutant

Fellow Voyageurs

The 2009 Winter Conference was held February 6-8, 2009 in Jamestown and was well planned and well attended. Being new and my first conference, I had a meeting on Friday and then 40 & 8 meetings on Saturday. We had 38 in attendance and the Grand Chef de Gare was looking for a correspondent and Bob Lechner volunteered for the task. The banquet was Saturday night and National Commander David Rehbein was the guest speaker.

If you have not paid your dues please remit them soon.

Don Wangrud, Chef de Gare

The Legion will be trying out some new bands in the Lounge for the next few months. Some of the bands are Boom Town playing March 19 - 21, The Legionnaires playing April 4th, The Inside Out Strings on April 11th and Grand Forks Fire which is very popular in Grand Forks playing on April 18th.

The Legion is trying to have a little more variety in bands in the hopes more customers may enjoy these bands and to help with the Legion’s bottom line. We hope to see as many members coming down and supporting the changes the Legion is making to help the club succeed.

The Legion will be having their St. Patrick’s Day celebration on Tuesday March 17th. The Legion will be serving green beer and Irish stew. Irish music will be played in the lounge. There will also be additional drink specials. Come on down and celebrate St. Patrick’s day at the Legion and remember everyone is Irish on St. Patrick’s Day.

Spaghetti and Bingo

The Legion serves Spaghetti every Monday night at 5:30. Black out bingo is played on Mondays at 7 pm. Nine games of bar bingo and four games of blackout bingo are played on Saturdays at 3 pm.
 

1st District Oratorical Contest

Post 2 was the host of the 1st District American Legion Oratorical Contest on January 13th, 2009. Five High School juniors and senior in our district participated in the contest.

Ryan Capouch, sponsored by the Portland American Legion, Post 93 was our first place finisher and received a $300 savings bond. John Mitzel, sponsored by the Fargo American Legion Post 2 was our second place finisher and received a $200 savings bond. Mathew Budke, sponsored by the Fargo American Legion Post 2 was our third place finisher and received a $100 savings bond. Also participating in the contest was Daniel Baldwin of Hope and Scott Ecker of Fargo.

Dave Rice, 1st District Oratorical Contest Chair

Doris Johnson has worked at the Fargo American Legion for the past 28 years. In those 28 years Doris has developed many close friends at the Legion and will be greatly missed in the office. The Legion would like to wish her luck in her future endeavors.

The Legion will be holding a party for Doris to thank her for all she has done for the Legion on Saturday March 28th at 7pm. All Legionnaires are encouraged to come down to the Legion and thank her for her dedication to the Legion and the all the hard work she has done. Doris will be greatly missed by all who have known her.

Flags for First Graders

The 40 & 8 “Flags for First Graders” is well underway. Voiture 240 members tell the first graders about the history of our Flag, how to take care of the Flag, how to show respect for the Flag and try to instill some patriotism in their young minds and hearts. Over 1,500 Flags will be distributed along with a 40 & 8 brochure about displaying the Flag and the Why You Should Belong To The American Legion brochure.

Dave Rice, Voiture 240

The Fargo American Legion, Gilbert C. Grafton Post #2, and its Auxiliary, recently donated $6,000 to support Family Readiness Groups in the Fargo area.

Sergeant-at-Arms Al Zimmerman presented Raina Askin, Family Readiness Group volunteer, with a check for $3,000. The money will be divided among the five Fargo companies that are preparing for a yearlong deployment to Kosovo later this year. Those units include Companies A, B and C of the 231st Brigade Support Battalion, the 426th Signal Company and Headquarters and Headquarters Company of the 141st Maneuver Enhancement Brigade.

Zimmerman also presented a $1,500 check to Penny Jacobson, the lead volunteer for the 1-188th Air Defense Artillery RAID-III Family Readiness Group satellite in Fargo. RAID-III (Rapid Aerostat Initial Deployment) mobilized last week and will deploy to Afghanistan once completing training at Fort Hood, Texas.

Finance Officer Dave Rice presented Lori Johnson, 119th Wing of the ND Air National Guard Family Readiness Program, with a check for $1,000. The Happy Hooligans welcomed home several airmen returning from Iraq and Kuwait in January and continue to augment our active duty forces.

The Navy Reserve Family Support Group, lead by Mary Jo Foster, was also presented a check for $500 for their family support operations. The Navy Reserve has mobilized several Seabees, Medical personnel and other sailors to Iraq and Afghanistan in recent years.

North Dakota Guard and Reserve Family Readiness Groups offer support and information to any military family member - whether Guard, Reserve or active duty, and whether here or deployed overseas. One Pillar of the American Legion is “supporting our troops” and doing what we can to help the families of the men and women we deploy will benefit our service members.

Most of these funds were generated from the Post 2 “Military Appreciation Ball” held each year in October. Legion and Auxiliary members, volunteers and a very generous community made these donations possible.

Dave Rice, Finance Officer

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