June 17, 2008

Greetings from Post 223

The Post hopes that all the fathers had a Happy Father’s Day We wish good health to all. The summer made an early appearance here last week with temperatures in the 90’s.

Post News:

The sad news first, our beloved Past Commander Bob Cline passed away at the Tufts Medical Center a few days before Memorial Day. He did so much for so many. We will miss him.

Post Everlasting

PC Robert A. Cline

PC Robert L. Palumbo

Scholarship Information:

The Eben Briggs scholarship was awarded to Shauna Banzi, granddaughter of Auxiliary member

Pam Dolan. The Earl Torrey Memorial Scholarship was awarded to Graham Carr, grandson of Auxiliary member Ann Reid. The first annual Veterans Club Scholarship was awarded to Stephen Negus, son of Vets Club member George Negus. We wish all of these fine young students the very best in their pursuit of a college education.

The Nathan Hale Foundation is a non-profit organization which has recently received state funded money to provide a new outreach center in Plymouth for our veterans in need of transportation to and from VA hospitals and clinics. For more information: go on line to the following site www.nathanhalefoundation.org

Duxbury High School Juniors Liam Bevans, Robert Cline (the late Bob Cline’s grandson), Kyle Gellatly and Michael Reney attended the Massachusetts Boys’ State at Stonehill College from June 14th through June 20th. These four boys were among the 280 students from across Massachusetts who learned about the ideals and objectives of state and local government. During the week they established their own government, held press conferences and elections, published a newspaper and enjoyed sports on the campus. Boys’ State is an annual program coordinated by The Massachusetts State Department of the American Legion. Duxbury Post 223 has been a proud sponsor of this program for over 50 years. Congratulations to Legionnaire Dick Whitney. Dick was chosen as the Volunteer of the Year in the Town of Duxbury for his work with the Finance Committee, the Council on Aging and the Duxbury Beach Preservation Society. Dick joins fellow Legionnaires Tom Corn and M. J. Wakefield who have won this prestigious award in the past.

Memorial Day weekend found the post’s volunteers very busy decorating the hall, the two monuments at Mayflower Cemetery and picking up the geraniums at Flowerland in Kingston. Paula Valencia and her Girl Scouts along with the Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts placed the flags and geraniums on each and every veteran’s grave. We always think we have covered all the vets in Mayflower but, each year we find some that were never decorated.

On Memorial Day we had our annual parade which wound its way though Hall’s Corner and down Depot St. to the First Parish Church. Each year it appears that there are more and more people lining the streets to wave on the marchers. At First Parish Church we held our 131st tribute to those who have fallen in all our wars. National Guard Staff Sergeant and Legionnaire Sarah Lansing, our guest speaker, spoke eloquently of her experiences in Iraq and other places where she saw duty.

We would like to remind Legionnaires and Vets club members that the dues paying season will be upon us very soon. Legionnaires should be expecting renewal notices next month.

This is a repeat, Club Manager Larry Urbani s fund raising idea which will add money to The Vets Club Scholarship Fund is doing very well. This involves a daily drawing. Each member of the Legion, Auxiliary or Vets Club has been assigned a number and when they come into the club and they want to participate, they deposit $1.00 in the drawing box and sign the book along with their number. Each person that signs the book and pays their dollar must be a paid up member. Drawings will be held daily at 6:00 PM. You do not need to be present to win. You only need to have been in and signed the book between 6:00 PM one night and 6:00 PM the next night. You may begin signing up for the next day after the number has been drawn at 6:00 PM. If the number drawn is not a winner, all monies are carried forward to the next day. If a member’s number is drawn and his/her dues have not been paid they do not win and the number will be drawn again. You cannot pay after the fact. The pool distribution will be as follows:

80% goes to the winner.

10% goes back to seed the next drawing.

10% goes to the Vets club Scholarship Fund.

You are not allowed to sign in for anyone other than yourself. So come on down and help support the Vets Club Scholarship Program.

To end this newsletter, we would like to report that the vets from the Brockton VA Hospital came down for a visit on May 29th. They were fed and entertained and they left with smiles on their faces and asking if they could return next year.

Have a great summer.