American Legion Family:
BOG elections were held to replace the position left vacant by Mike Hall. I am honored to announce Bill Foster, Post PR officer and now Board member, has been chosen in a close three way vote. Our thanks to Ron Herndon and Tom Knight for also stepping forward to fill the void.
5th District Oratorical will be held this Sunday, Feb. 11, at 1pm. The contest will be at Andover Central HS and Post136 is sponsoring Cassie Foster, a Jr. at Mulvane H.S. If you want to see the proud future of this country at work, please attend and give your support.
Post Work Day is scheduled for Sunday, Feb. 18, at 2:00pm. This will not take long if we have some good participation. On the list is touch up paint in club room, scrape some glue and wax the new floor section, and general clean up. The more we have, the less time it will take. Please help for a couple of hours. We will need some paint pans and small rollers, cleaning supplies and some of your time. This would also be a good time to begin work on the new display case if plans are completed.
Beer Mugs were even discussed at the Monday meeting. Personalized mugs are being considered so you would have your own personal mug when you come to the post. Due to health dept. concerns over how they must be stored, this project is dependent on a solution. If none are acceptable, it will be dropped.
Dedication Bricks for the stone in front have all been received and there are at this time no outstanding orders. Once the weather warms, they will be placed. Remember, this is an ongoing project, so if you wish to purchase a brick, there are order forms at the Post.
Post Election of Officers:
At the general meeting on April 3, we will be nominating, electing, and inducting officers to lead Post 136 for 2007. A nominating committee, chaired by 1st Vice Commander Bill Willis, and consisting of Dave Williams and Chuck Barshney, has been appointed. All officer positions and two at large Executive Board members are up for you, the members, to decide. This is the best opportunity you will have to help decide the direction of this Post. If you or someone you know is interested in any office, please talk to one of the nominating committee or one of the officers.
As a Post officer, you are automatically on the E-board. This is the group that sets the agenda for the Post. While only three or four positions take an extraordinary amount of your time, all positions require the personal commitment to perform. If you know you cannot make the general meetings, E-board meetings, ceremonies, Conventions, etc., due to work or personal commitments, (other than unplanned, unexpected events), please reconsider a run for office. The members of this Post should expect, and deserves an officer team that will be there to perform the duties required.
Another change beginning next year is the term. We will, beginning 2008, hold the next elections in January, 2008, instead of April. The reason is to help the new officers take control prior to Mid-Winter Forum in Feb. It will also help them to be in place and running prior to District Convention and Memorial Day. Keep this in mind if you run for an office this year, your term will be 9 months long for this one time only.
John Thomas, 5th District Vice Commander announced his intention to run for Commander 5th District, at the District Convention, to be held April 27-29 in El Dorado. He received the endorsement of the Post and we will support him in his endeavor.
A Legislative Hotline has been set up that will allow anyone to leave messages for their State Legislature or Senator. It will also give updates and status on Bills. The number to call is 800-432-3924.
Hero’s to Hometown Program: This new program of the American Legion is now in full force. The program is spelled out in the last and present Sunflower, so details will not be repeated here. Our Post H2H chairman will be Co-chaired by Rick Babinger and Tom Knight. We will be asking for people to be on a H2H committee and would like to have someone from the SAL, AUX and ALR on the committee. Please see me or Tom if you are interested.
Auxiliary News: The Valentines dinner and dance, scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 10, has been cancelled.
Beginning in March, the Auxiliary meeting will be moved back to its original time of 7:00PM and will run concurrently with the monthly American Legion meeting.
SAL News: Membership in Post 136 SAL is now over 90%. Please renew you dues as soon as possible. This is above national averages and we want to get to 100% as soon as possible. Good work.
ALR News: Cregg Hanson gave his report on the state of the Kansas ALR, at Mid-Winter Forum. No other group at the Forum had a more up beat and positive message as the ALR. There are now 39 chapters in Kansas with three more on the way. Members grew from 688 at the end of 2005, to 1573 at the end of 06. Over 800 new members have joined the American Legion Family in Ks. to be a part of the American Legion Riders, and there is no indication of slowing down. What a story!
Post Membership: Post136 is over 90% in its membership goal. We have had over 50 new members join last year. With over 50 new members, the only reason we are not over the 100% mark, is because of renewals. Please get your 2007 dues in as soon as possible. If you know someone that has not renewed, please talk to them. Keep this in mind: We do not need new members or renewals because we need the dues. The Post only gets a few bucks out of the dues that come in. What we need at the local, State, and National level, is numbers to present to Congress. Our power to help Veterans and their families, (and make not mistake, this is the purpose for our existence), is primarily controlled by Congress. We can dictate the agenda only if we have the influence. We are ‘Veterans Still Serving America’, and we can only do that effectively by keeping the largest and finest Veterans organization in the world in a position to act. Thanks to all of you that have actively recruited.
BOG Meeting Note: The next BOG meeting will be on Thursday, Feb. 22, instead of the normal Wednesday due to Ash Wednesday.
Calendar: Instead of the monthly calendar, I will post the yearly calendar each month with any additions or changes highlighted. Due to time constraints, it is easier to update the same calendar than create a new one each month. If anyone knows of events or has something they need to add, please contact me.
Rick Babinger
Commander-Post 136
BOG elections were held to replace the position left vacant by Mike Hall. I am honored to announce Bill Foster, Post PR officer and now Board member, has been chosen in a close three way vote. Our thanks to Ron Herndon and Tom Knight for also stepping forward to fill the void.
5th District Oratorical will be held this Sunday, Feb. 11, at 1pm. The contest will be at Andover Central HS and Post136 is sponsoring Cassie Foster, a Jr. at Mulvane H.S. If you want to see the proud future of this country at work, please attend and give your support.
Post Work Day is scheduled for Sunday, Feb. 18, at 2:00pm. This will not take long if we have some good participation. On the list is touch up paint in club room, scrape some glue and wax the new floor section, and general clean up. The more we have, the less time it will take. Please help for a couple of hours. We will need some paint pans and small rollers, cleaning supplies and some of your time. This would also be a good time to begin work on the new display case if plans are completed.
Beer Mugs were even discussed at the Monday meeting. Personalized mugs are being considered so you would have your own personal mug when you come to the post. Due to health dept. concerns over how they must be stored, this project is dependent on a solution. If none are acceptable, it will be dropped.
Dedication Bricks for the stone in front have all been received and there are at this time no outstanding orders. Once the weather warms, they will be placed. Remember, this is an ongoing project, so if you wish to purchase a brick, there are order forms at the Post.
Post Election of Officers:
At the general meeting on April 3, we will be nominating, electing, and inducting officers to lead Post 136 for 2007. A nominating committee, chaired by 1st Vice Commander Bill Willis, and consisting of Dave Williams and Chuck Barshney, has been appointed. All officer positions and two at large Executive Board members are up for you, the members, to decide. This is the best opportunity you will have to help decide the direction of this Post. If you or someone you know is interested in any office, please talk to one of the nominating committee or one of the officers.
As a Post officer, you are automatically on the E-board. This is the group that sets the agenda for the Post. While only three or four positions take an extraordinary amount of your time, all positions require the personal commitment to perform. If you know you cannot make the general meetings, E-board meetings, ceremonies, Conventions, etc., due to work or personal commitments, (other than unplanned, unexpected events), please reconsider a run for office. The members of this Post should expect, and deserves an officer team that will be there to perform the duties required.
Another change beginning next year is the term. We will, beginning 2008, hold the next elections in January, 2008, instead of April. The reason is to help the new officers take control prior to Mid-Winter Forum in Feb. It will also help them to be in place and running prior to District Convention and Memorial Day. Keep this in mind if you run for an office this year, your term will be 9 months long for this one time only.
John Thomas, 5th District Vice Commander announced his intention to run for Commander 5th District, at the District Convention, to be held April 27-29 in El Dorado. He received the endorsement of the Post and we will support him in his endeavor.
A Legislative Hotline has been set up that will allow anyone to leave messages for their State Legislature or Senator. It will also give updates and status on Bills. The number to call is 800-432-3924.
Hero’s to Hometown Program: This new program of the American Legion is now in full force. The program is spelled out in the last and present Sunflower, so details will not be repeated here. Our Post H2H chairman will be Co-chaired by Rick Babinger and Tom Knight. We will be asking for people to be on a H2H committee and would like to have someone from the SAL, AUX and ALR on the committee. Please see me or Tom if you are interested.
Auxiliary News: The Valentines dinner and dance, scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 10, has been cancelled.
Beginning in March, the Auxiliary meeting will be moved back to its original time of 7:00PM and will run concurrently with the monthly American Legion meeting.
SAL News: Membership in Post 136 SAL is now over 90%. Please renew you dues as soon as possible. This is above national averages and we want to get to 100% as soon as possible. Good work.
ALR News: Cregg Hanson gave his report on the state of the Kansas ALR, at Mid-Winter Forum. No other group at the Forum had a more up beat and positive message as the ALR. There are now 39 chapters in Kansas with three more on the way. Members grew from 688 at the end of 2005, to 1573 at the end of 06. Over 800 new members have joined the American Legion Family in Ks. to be a part of the American Legion Riders, and there is no indication of slowing down. What a story!
Post Membership: Post136 is over 90% in its membership goal. We have had over 50 new members join last year. With over 50 new members, the only reason we are not over the 100% mark, is because of renewals. Please get your 2007 dues in as soon as possible. If you know someone that has not renewed, please talk to them. Keep this in mind: We do not need new members or renewals because we need the dues. The Post only gets a few bucks out of the dues that come in. What we need at the local, State, and National level, is numbers to present to Congress. Our power to help Veterans and their families, (and make not mistake, this is the purpose for our existence), is primarily controlled by Congress. We can dictate the agenda only if we have the influence. We are ‘Veterans Still Serving America’, and we can only do that effectively by keeping the largest and finest Veterans organization in the world in a position to act. Thanks to all of you that have actively recruited.
BOG Meeting Note: The next BOG meeting will be on Thursday, Feb. 22, instead of the normal Wednesday due to Ash Wednesday.
Calendar: Instead of the monthly calendar, I will post the yearly calendar each month with any additions or changes highlighted. Due to time constraints, it is easier to update the same calendar than create a new one each month. If anyone knows of events or has something they need to add, please contact me.
Rick Babinger
Commander-Post 136
