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 Commander
Message
Ron Matthews
Thank you for putting your
confidence in me as your Commander.
I have a few hopes and expectations for this upcoming year.
Hopefully my fellow Legionnaires will help me through the next year.
One of the major things we need
to work on is paying off the loan we have had for two years.
To remedy this, we need to raise money that will stay in the Post.
To me, this means getting the Capital Campaign back on track.
We need to set our priorities and stick with them.
Another issue to tackle is
membership; getting new members and retaining our
current members.
So, if anybody knows of someone who has served, ask them to join us.
The renewal notices will be coming out this summer.
Please send yours in as soon as possible.
If you send your renewal in early, you won’t get the letters and phone
calls later on in the year!
I would like to see us continue
to work on two extensions of our Legion Family – Sons of the American Legion
and the Legion Riders.
Please check out what they are doing and if anyone is interested, contact Chad
Rice for the SAL and Doug Craik for the Legion Riders.
With the State Department
Convention here the weekend of June 22nd,
23rd,
and 24th,
I hope you will plan on attending.
If you happen to see Dave Johnston, stop and thank him (and his committee) for
all their hard work at putting the convention together.
There will be a few things going on that weekend.
Come on down to the Club when you can.
Ron Matthews,
Commander, Fargo American Legion
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2007-2008 Officers
Commander: Ronald Matthews
First Vice
Commander: Dave Johnston
Second
Vice Commander: Doug Craik
Third Vice
Commander: Scott Porter |
Adjutant:
Robert Jacobson
Finance
Officer: Virgil Estenson
Historian: Will Hebert
Chaplain: Linda Whaley
Sgt-at-Arms: Bill Schlichting
Asst.
Agt-at-Arms: Al Zimmerman |
Executive
Committee
Jack Barrows
Hank Deyle
Mike Haugen
David Rice
Bruce Holtan
Keith Kerbaugh
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 Auxiliary President's Message
Barb Nash
Greetings –
I have just completed one of my
last official duties by participating in the Memorial Day ceremony.
What a touching ceremony!
Thank you to those of you who attended.
To those who did not, add it to your list of things to do next year.
You won’t be disappointed.
We now have a full slate of
officers to be sworn in on June 12th.
President – Mavis Goodroad, 1st
Vice President – Vetta Loveland, 2nd
Vice President – LaVonne Matthews, Secretary – Lori Askew, Treasurer – Barb
Nash, Chaplain – Adelle Salveson, Historian – Marcy Schmidt, Sergeant-at-Arms
– Brenda Kerbaugh. Please keep
these officers in your hearts and prayers throughout the 2007-08 year as they
carry out their duties.
We are still short some
renewals. These memberships allow
us to continue supporting our very important programs.
I would ask you to please renew your membership.
This will be my last
newsletter. Thank you to everyone
who has been of assistance in the last couple years.
The work everyone does is nothing short of amazing.
I’d like to give a special “shout out” to the “Two Betty’s” (Stone and
Hughes) for being on the Board and just being the kind of people to turn to
when questions arise. Besides
being great volunteers, they provided historical background for different
things but also said it was okay to not do things as we have always done just
because “that’s the way it’s always been done”.
Many of our officers and volunteers have day jobs, which make it
difficult to do some of the work during the day, but we
do manage to get things done.
My last words of wisdom to share
– “Whether or not we realize it each of us has within the ability to set some
kind of example for people. Knowing this
would you rather be the one known for being the one who encouraged others, or
are you the one who inadvertently discouraged those around you?
Josh Hinds.
Barb Nash,
Auxiliary President, Unit #2
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 Chef de Gare Notes
Dave Rice
Greetings to my fellow
Voyageurs
Another year in Voiture 240 has come and gone and a new slate of officers
have been installed. Larry Lein did an outstanding job as our Chef de
Gare last year as did all our 2006-2007 officers. A big thank you to
everyone who contributed to our successful year.
My name is Dave Rice and I have been elected as your Chef de Gare for
2007-2008. It is an honor to serve you in this capacity. I must
admit I´m a bit intimidated in that I have so much to learn and we have so
much experience and expertise in our Voiture. Many of you
have been our Chef de Gare, some of you Grand Chef de Gare. I appreciate
your support, many of you have said you will help me keep my nose clean this
coming year.
I am a 34-year Legion member of Post # 2, Past Commander of Post # 2 and
am currently serving as 1st District Commander. I am running for Eastern
Region Department Vice Commander for 2007-2008 (as if I´m not in enough
trouble already). I´d appreciate your support at our Department
Convention June 22-24.
Please keep supporting our Monday Spaghetti feeds and Bingo over the
summer months. These activities
help support our Nurses Training and other programs. Put August 26th on
your calendar for the Voiture 240 annual picnic. We will be sending out
an invitation with more information later this summer. Have a great
summer.
Chef de Gare Dave Rice
40 et 8 Voiture 240 Fargo |
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 Adjutants
Additions
Bob Jacobson
Convention, Convention, Convention
Clean
Up Week is much longer than Fargo’s Spring Cleanup.
Our building is taking on a new personality.
Stop in, check us out, help out with the changes.
A lot of cleaning, painting and fix-ups are in progress.
We are moving quickly in preparation for hosting the 2007 Department
Convention on June 22-24. Our hope
is to have much better participation this year since we are it.
As hosts, we are holding as much as possible at our Post, both inside
and out. Some activities are at
the Civic and the Auxiliary is utilizing the Radisson facilities.
Don’t forget the parade Friday night at 8:30.
The
schedule of events is in your
Department Newsletter, on the department website at
www.ndlegion.org
and at Dave Rice’s website at
www.tristateveterans.com.
Anyone interested in being a Post 2 delegate or registering for the
convention should contact Sarah at 293-3930.
The deadline for Delegates is June 18 so we can submit the information.
We are working hard to make this a good and productive time for all.
Post 2 endorsed our own Dave Rice for East Region Department Vice
Commander.
Congratulations
to all those elected or reelected to fill our Post Officer and Executive
positions. Two new people in the
ranks are Third Vice Scott Porter, who has been calling Bingo for some time,
and Major General Mike Haugen, Retired, sitting on the Executive Committee.
Dr. Roger Kerns installed our officers at the June Post Meeting.
While I
am probably worrying over nothing, we are still looking for buyers and sellers
of the remaining TV Raffle tickets.
We will be holding the drawing during the Saturday night dance at the
Convention.
Note
Date Changes: The June Exec meeting will be held June 26 in the Meeting Room
at Jack Williams
Stadium. The July
Post Meeting will be held July 11 so people can have an unfettered 4th of
July.
Robert (Bob) Jacobson,
Adjutant
Gilbert C. Grafton Post 2 |
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 American
Legion RidersI would first like to
thank everyone for the support in getting this program started. Keith
Kerbaugh and Dave Rice have given the A.L.R. a great kick start, and have
helped me during the last few months. I would like to report that we did
have four new members join in our first month and do have some
applications out waiting to come back. I would like to introduce the new
members for May. My name is Doug Craik and have served on the executive
committee for the past year, and have been elected 2nd vice commander for
this coming year. I am a 28 year United States Navy Vet. Having served
active duty in Pearl Harbor (boy was that tough) and Naval Reserves in
Fargo. I own and operate my own ATM business, and also do credit card
proccessing. My wife Gayle is the manager at Jenny Craig in Fargo and is
on her 15th year there. We have 2 children at home Dag 13 and Nixon 9.
(They named a President after her, if you don't believe me just ask
her.) Our next member has been a legion member for 17 years. Dr. George
Ulseth is our most experienced rider, just turning 89 years young on the
29th of May. HAPPY BIRTHDAY DR. GEORGE. He is also a WWII vet and is very
active riding his motorcycle on quite a few charity and benefit runs, we
can learn a lot from him. Our newest member is ENC(SW) Russ Foster who is
the Leading Chief Petty Officer at the Navy Operational Support Center
Fargo. He is on his 19th year of active duty , including ships and shore
duty stations. He has supported us in the Persian Gulf war from 1991 to
1993. He and his wife Mary Jo live with their two children Blake 14 and
Nathan 11 outside of Glyndon MN. He has been a Legion member since 03. We
had a busy week last week escorting our 2 fallen comrades with the other
motorcycle groups from our area. It is sad to see these young people come
back in caskets, but I know the families appreciate the support we all
show and the respect of our communities that we display when we escort
them to their home towns. While on our escort runs it brought tears to my
eyes to see people stop their vehicles on the side of the highways and
salute or place thier hands over their hearts as we passed by. If anyone
has any questions or needs information on the American Legion Riders
please call me at 701-388-2883 or email at
dngcraik@hotmail.com . or Web
info at
www.americanlegionriders.net We are still looking for riders for the
run from Fargo to Watford City on June 21st & 22nd for the Legacy run to
raise money for scholarships for children of fallen serviceman and women.
Riders interested can call me for more details on getting rooms and
schedules. The riders can be anyone as long as they make any donation to
the cause.
Doug Craik, Director, American
Legion Riders, District 1 Post 2. |
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WWII Veterans on the WDAY WWII Honor Flight at the WWII
Monument in Washington DC |
The first WDAY WWII Honor Flight is now history! We had
a great time escorting more than 100 WWII veterans to the WW II Memorial in
Washington, D.C. Thanks to the generous donations of our communities the trip
was completely free to the veterans. We had a great time visiting the sites of
Washington. Four of our veterans, Hubert Taylor, Alex Sahr, Charles Walker and
Victor Gelking had the honor of representing their branches of the military by
laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery. The
group also had the chance to watch the ceremonial changing of the guard. Our
North Dakota and Minnesota Senators and Representatives hosted the group at a
Capitol Hill reception with Hawaiian Senator Daniel Inouye, a WW II Hero. The
weekend trip was capped off with the emotional visit to the WWII Memorial. The
veterans told us it was both emotional and moving. The next trip has been
scheduled for September 7th & 8th and we still need donations to make this trip
happen for our World War II veterans.
See: www.wdayhonorflight.com
for more information and pictures.
Pictures and brief at the Post Meeting July 10th.
Dave Rice, Honor Flight Committee |
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 Sons of the American Legion (SAL)
Well,
the ND Department Convention is coming up June 22-24.
the Dept SAL meeting is at 10 am June 23.
I hope it is a good turn out.
We will discuss who we are, what we do, and where we are going as an
organization. This is also the time to
elect Department Officers. Everyone is
welcome. The whole convention is going to
be a blast. From the parade, to the
banquet, classes, and the
food, it will be fun. I found the best
part of the convention is the between time.
It’s the time that you just get to know your fellow Legionnaires, to
learn about the organizations, and hear stories.
I hope to see you there.
Our
pancake breakfast turned out pretty good. I would
like to thank everyone who helped out and all that showed up for some good food.
It was a good experience. We
learned what we need to do and not to do for next time.
We are planning another one for sometime in September.
Chad Rice, Department SAL Sergeant at Arms
and Post #2 SAL Squadron Member |
 1st
District
My term as 1st District Commander is coming to a close, thank you for
everything you have done for the American Legion. I hope you will be
able to attend the closing ceremonies of the Department Convention June 22-24,
2007, in Fargo. Keith Kerbaugh will be installed as
1st District Commander for 2007-2008, Bob Jacobson will serve as your 1st
District Vice Commander.
I´d appreciate your support as I run for Eastern Region Department Vice
Commander. The election will take place at the Department Convention.
There are about 8,155 Legionnaires
in the Eastern Region and it finished 1st with 97.7% of it's 2008
membership goal. Vern
Houser has done an excellent job serving as Commander for the region.
It has been a privilege serving as your 1st District Commander. Please
continue your support and dedication for the district, region and department.
Thank you.
Dave Rice, 1st District Commander |
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Landscaping Project
Boy Scout Troop 229 has completed the Eagle Project by Casey Peuser.
This included the grading of the east lawn and the southwest corner of
the Legion. The boys installed edging,
mulch, flowers and plants. They also
reworked the bricks on the 164th
memorial and put in three planters. Ryan
Hoss of Baker Nursery consulted as the landscape architect.
S&S Landscaping, Dianne Fischer and Baker Nursery provided additional
donations.
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Alex Stern Family Foundation
The Alex Stern Family Foundation has awarded a $5000 grant in memory of
Post #2 Commanders Bill Stern, 1927 and John West, 1958. A memorial for them
will be placed in the museum. The remainder of the funds were used for the
outside projects at the Legion.
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Kitchen Equipment Donation
Past Commander Jim Kapitan has spearheaded a donation from the Fargo Park
District of some of the used kitchen equipment from the old Clubhouse at
Edgewood Golf Course. This equipment will
be installed in the downstairs off the bar.
It includes a commercial refrigerator, grill, fryer and hood.
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Men’s Bathrooms
The
American Legion would like to thank World War II Veteran Fred W. Mohr III of
Dacotah Paper Company for $1000 credit at Dacotah Paper.
This credit was used for automatic flush valves to refurbish the men’s
bathrooms.
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Picnic
The
annual American Legion Community Picnic will be held on August 2 at 5:00 pm on
the Legion lawn. The community picnic is
open to the public. Free will offering
will be accepted.
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Upcoming Post Meetings
Dave
Rice will be speaking at the July post meeting regarding the first WWII Honor
Flight. The August post meeting will go
over the American Legion Financials.
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TV Raffle
Any sellers of raffle tickets need to turn in their
ticket stubs, remaining tickets and money. If you plan to sell at the
Department Convention, at least touch base with the office. We need to know
where we stand on sales. We still have books of tickets in the office and the
drawing will be Saturday, June 23 during the Convention. Lets get those tickets
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Joe Parmer Day
July 18th is Joe
Parmer Day at the American Legion Baseball Field.
Please come down and watch the game as Fargo plays Moorhead.
Burgers and hot dogs will be served with a suggested $5 donation to the
American Legion Baseball Program. For
more details please call the office at 293-3930
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American Legion Baseball
Past
Commander Joseph Parmer (Commander 1958-1959) was known as Mr. Baseball.
Joe was a great part of building Jack Williams Stadium and three World
Series plus many other tournaments. The
baseball press box will be dedicated in his honor July 2007.
Joe was very active in other post activities as serving on the executive
committee for many years.
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Inside Painting
The
Exec Committee took on the project of painting some of the public areas of the
Legion. The areas included the front entry, upper foyer, all four bathrooms and
Patriot Hall. This committee is headed up
by Jack Barrows and Brenda Kerbaugh. Most
of this will be finished by the convention.
The following individuals and businesses contributed to this effort.
Roger Hauck of Hauck and Buchholz
Craig Tates at Fargo Glass and Paint
Diamond Vogel
Peterson Paint
Sherwin Williams
Scheels Hardware
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2007 Convention
The
2007 Convention is about here and we are prepared for all events—now all we need
is some great weather. Friday will begin
with some training for certain people, DEC and some members will be golfing at
Rose Creek Golf Course.
Registration will be in full swing beginning at 10:00 AM at the Post and will
continue throughout the weekend. We are
excited about the parade that Dave Rice has organized and will be a great
addition to the convention. The dance
Saturday night will be open to the public and we will ask for donations to be
given to the Honor Flight program.
This
has been a learning experience for a number of us and when the convention is
over the committee will meet to critique the planning and outcome of the
convention.
Make sure you check the web site,
www.ndlegion.org
for the current agenda and plan to attend and support your Post and Club.
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State Convention Golf Tournament
Friday,
June 22, 8:30 am shotgun start at Rose Creek.
4 Person Scramble. Entry fee:
$55/person, including green fee, cart, lunch, prizes and trophies.
Open to all Legion, Auxiliary and SAL members registered at State
Convention.
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3rd Thursday
**The
First 3rd Thursday concert of the Summer happens on June 21,
6-10 pm. Music by PAST DUE. Beer
garden and burgers and brats.
**July
19—Patents Pending
**August 16—The GrooveTones
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Outside Building Cleaning and Repair
BRADCO has completed the restoration of the east and
south sides of the Legion building. They cleaned all the bricks, repaired all
damaged areas, removed all the nails from the ivy and repaired the grout. The
final result gives Post #2 a fresh new building for the members and the public.
JDP Electric installed lights for the front of the building and the flag.
A deck and lawn shed have been added outside. The deck
is a great addition to the east lawn and will be used for concerts, meetings,
and various gatherings. The old storage trailer has been removed from the
property giving a more open look to the lawn.
This project was paid for by the following individuals
and businesses. Blue Cross Blue Shield $5000, West Acres $2500, Boulger Funeral
Home $2000, Hanson Runsvold Funeral Home, $2000, Virg and Betty Estenson $1000,
Jim McLaughlin $200, Roger Gress $100, a grant from the City of Fargo for $5000
and a grant from the Alex Stern Foundation for $5000.
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United Patriotic Bodies
Thanks to everyone who participated or attended our Memorial Day
activities. We had very moving ceremonies at Holy Cross, Riverside and
Sunset cemeteries. The FM RedHawks
Baseball organization conducted a Military Appreciation Night on June 19th.
We auctioned off camouflage jerseys to raise money for the Veteran´s Memorial Bridge signs for the main avenue bridge.
Additional donations are still needed for the signs. Please attend the
4th of July ceremonies in Fargo/Moorhead or in your community, and remember to
proudly fly your flag!
Dave Rice, United Patriotic Bodies
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2007 Convention
The North Dakota American Legion will be holding its
Annual Convention in Fargo June 22nd- 24th, 2007.
The Convention is hosted by the Fargo American Legion, Gilbert C. Grafton
Post #2. There will be a parade in
downtown Fargo Friday evening at 8:30pm.
The parade starts at the old train depot on 5th Street
North and 4th Avenue
North. It will pass the Fargo American
Legion at the intersection of 5th Street
and 3rd Avenue
North and proceed to Broadway. There it
will circle the U.S. Bank Plaza and head to the Civic Center on 2nd Ave
North. The best viewing areas will be on
the lawn of the Fargo American Legion and at the U.S. Bank Plaza.
Participants in the parade include North Dakota
Goveneor John Hoeven and his wife Mikey, Fargo Mayor Dennis Walaker.
Past National American Legion Commander Sparkey Gjerke and Bob Hanson,
the North Dakota Commissioner of Veterans Affairs, will be in attendance as will
the North
Dakota Commanders of the American Legion, VFW and
AMVETS. You will also see Navy vehicles,
an Army Armored Transport Carrier, a Humvee and several classic cars.
KFGO radio along with Ed Milligan, host of the Veterans Hour, winners of
the American Legion Press Award, will also be riding in the parade.
A number of marching units from veterans
organizations will be marching and firing a “four corners salute” honoring our
service members serving around the globe.
Several of our World War II Veterans that attended the recent Honor Flight to
Washington D.C. will also be riding or marching in the parade.
Come downtown Fargo for a relaxing Friday evening,
enjoy a parade and show your support for our active duty, guard and reserve
service members and our nation’s veterans.
Dave Rice, Parade Coordinator, Fargo American Legion
commander@tristateveterans.com
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Charity
Donations
May/June 2007
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Funerals $1,280.00
VAVS $65.00
Bike Shop $290.72
Baseball $2,000.00
RRVVCB $400.00
Flags $85.16
Boy Scouts $750.00
Wrestling $146.15
Roger Maris $1,000.00
FM Chamber $375.00
ND Vet's Home $1,000.00
Joe Parmer Memorial $1,100.00
Navy Family Support Group $500.00
Peace Officers/Jail Chaplains $150.00
Total $9,142.03 |
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Band Schedule
The Red
River Valley Veterans Band will be playing at the ND American Legion State
Convention. After the Convention the band
will be taking the summer off .
See the RRVVCB Web page at:
http://www.rrvvcb.org/ |
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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.
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The Fargo Legionnaire
Official bi-monthly publication of the Gilbert C. Grafton Post No. 2 The American Legion, 505 3rd Ave N., Fargo, ND 58102.
Commander: Ron Matthews
Editor: Bob Jacobson
Club Manager: Mona Arnold
Legionnaire Staff: Boots Anderson, Sarah Kim, Vetta Loveland, Barbara Useldinger
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
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Fargo American Legion Home Page
E-mail:
legionoffice@ideaone.net
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Go to www.tristateveterans.com Home Page |
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