A lot of business was conducted at Monday’s meeting. Below are the details.
Officer Elections: Your elected officers for the next year:
· Commander – Jake Defrees
· Vice Commander – Rick Babinger
· Adjutant – Warren Johnston
· Finance Officer – Dianna Nelson
· Chaplain – Monta Plank
· Sgt. At Arms – Steve Coberly
· Service Officer – Ron Herndon
· Historian – Rob Brown
· At Large E-Board – John Metz and John Wise
Not only do we owe a great deal of gratitude to those willing to give of themselves for our Post, we also do not want to forget those who served this past year, especially our Adjutant of ten years, Terry Knight. She has served us honorably in the most demanding position in the Post and we are forever grateful.
Ladies Auxiliary Elections:
· President – Pat Johnston
· 1st Vice – Barb Giovanni
· 2nd Vice – Asonjia Stewart
· Treasurer – Beth Nye
· Chaplain – Jean Horstman
· Secretary – Jo Ehrlich
· Sgt. At Arms – Leah Beale
· Historian – Lorie Metz
And One More Election: Greg Bauer was elected to the Board of Governors. This is Greg’s second term on the board and with the remodel project in the works, this is a great add.
5th District Convention will be held Apr 28 and 29 in Wellington at the American Legion Post. Delegates have been selected and all are invited to take part.
New LED Sign: Membership has given the OK to have a new LED sign added to our sign display sign. It will sit on top of the existing sign and will be a 3 color, 2 line (8”/line) scrolling sign. This will allow all to easily see and read any upcoming events and will draw your eye to the American Legion every time you pass by. We have a vendor lined up and they have been notified.
Wi-Fi at the Post: With new Point of Sale software that will streamline our accounting and inventory systems, the need to add Wi-Fi has come. The BOG has been given permission to pursue Wi-Fi and we will soon be wired. This will also serve as a benefit to our membership as you can now bring in a laptop or i-pad and connect. Will keep everyone informed on the progress as it comes in.
Canteen news: A few months ago we were losing money while only having the kitchen open for one night and one morning. Now, thanks to the efforts of our manager Amy Houston, we are open 5 nights for dinner, 5 days for bar lunch, and breakfast on Sunday, and we are now making money. We still have a long way to go, but are starting to turn it around.
Cemetery work day: In preparation for Memorial Day and our Ave. of Flags, we will be having a work day at the Mulvane Cemetery in order to dig more holes for the flags. Date has not been set however; it will be within the next few weeks. Will be looking for people to help cut PVC pipe, drill the holes and pour the cement. I know your all looking forward to this, but its not as bad as it sounds. We need to do about 15-20 holes which should hold us for the next couple of years.
PLEDGE AND REMODEL PROGRESS: Total pledge and contributions: $40,217. This sounds good until you realize we only gained about $500 in the past month. We are planning a public auction on Sept 22 and are soliciting for items to auction. If you have anything or know of a service or item that you can acquire, we need it. Do not unload junk though. If we can gather a lot of high quality items we can get a lot closer to our goal. A team is planning a letter writing campaign to celebrities and sports teams to solicit auction items, but this will not be enough. We need the membership, businesses, friends, etc to help solicit and gather auction items.
We also need to keep pushing for pledges. I you have not yet pledged please consider doing so. No money is due till year end and even a small amount adds up. We have a good start but if we stop now, all the work is for nothing. Just this last month we have had pipes collapse and the need to remodel is growing. In addition, we have to look to the future and make our post ADA compliant as well as accommodate the needs of the membership.
A lot of people are doing their best to add service and accommodate our membership but we need every one to get financially invested to make this happen. A simple reply to this e-mail with your name, phone number and amount, will get you added to the pledge tracker and get us closer to the reality.
Rick-Vice Commander
