Happy New Year Legion Family members! As we enter 2011 there are some very important issues before us. Membership is our lifeblood! Efforts to retain and recruit members are of utmost importance for our posts, our Department and our National organization. We must stop the decline in membership! Our posts are the window through which our communities view The American Legion. We encourage all our readers to assist our posts in meeting their membership goals. As we’ve said many time before “membership is everyone’s business!” Get involved in making your post 100% this year.
An area of concern for our members, and especially our post homes, is what is happening with the “small games of chance” legislation. Department Commander Pete Wasco has met with Governor Elect Tom Corbett’s transitional team and discussed the need to address some real changes in the current small games of chance laws. The current law is 30-years old and falls short on realistic limits on prizes and how or what those funds can be legally expended on. The expectations are very high; we will see new legislation passed this year. We will keep you apprised of the process as the new legislation is introduced. We would appreciate if you would contact your local legislator and get them to support this needed change. For those with Internet access the information is on our website at www.pa-legion.com.
Another Pennsylvania General Assembly issue is increased funding for Act 66 (the service officers initiative). Our Pennsylvania American Legion should be very proud of the performance of our Department Service Officers. Collectively, in a twelve month period, our service officers have served over 6314 veterans, with new federal benefits awarded to these veterans totaling $68,426,503. We have also served at least one veteran in all 67 counties within Pennsylvania. One of the pillars of The American Legion is service to our veterans and we set the standard for maintaining this important legacy!
Posts should have contacted local schools for candidates in our Oratorical Contest. Contestants should already be working on their oration. We would like to see a large turnout for the Department finals in Harrisburg. These young men and women compete for more than $16,000 in scholarship money and the level of preparation at this level clearly establishes this program as the premier event of its kind. The contest is held in the Forum Building, a beautiful historic facility located in downtown Harrisburg, March 5, 2011 at 10 AM. It is the absolutely perfect venue for our event. Another plus is attending this contest it’s free! Try and be present at this event. You will be glad you attended.
The National Commander’s Tour is March 7 in the East at Lehighton; March 8 in Middletown and March 9 at Avalon. Dinner ticket and ad book information have been sent out and is also on our website. Let’s show National Commander Jimmie Foster that we are “Pennsylvania Proud”. Please plan on attending when the banquet is in your area. Also please support the ad booklet as this assists the sponsoring posts in offsetting the costs of planning this dinner.
Legion College was again a great success! Thanks to all committee members who made both events such a complete triumph! Thanks also to our Legion Family members who attended or helped get the word out about these events.
Our annual Holiday Hospital Tour went extremely well this year. Thanks to Hospital Entertainment Chairman Ed Connell for working so closely on the scheduling. We traveled 1328 miles without any glitches as we visited all six State Veterans Homes and ten VAMC’s across our Commonwealth. Thanks to all three of our Vice Commanders - Alex Dombrowsky, Earle “Spanky” McCarney and Joe Cocco - as they accompanied our Department Commander Pete Wasco when we were in their section. Thanks also to Department President Beverly Reinhard, Art Hollerman, NECman Richard Coccimiglio, and our own Past Department Commander Jim “Sammy Claus” Hales, who traveled to each stop and contributed to making the lives a little brighter for the residents and patients we visited. Last, but certainly not least, a “special thanks” to all our VAVS Representatives and all the volunteers who make the days a little brighter for our veterans and for representing our goals so well - we salute you!
A few 2011 dates to remember: The annual Allegheny County Youth Achievement dinner will be held at the Pittsburgh Soldiers & Sailors Hall April 10; February 2 is our 80% membership target date; March 3 is our 85% membership target date; April DEC will be April 1-3 at the Holiday Inn Harrisburg East; Department Commanders Testimonial Dinner will be at the Holiday Inn Harrisburg East April 2 and Department President Reinhard’s Testimonial Dinner will be in Allentown April 9. All testimonial dinner flyers have been mailed out and are on our website. Until next time…
Let me start by wishing everyone a Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a great Christmas. Speaking of Christmas, I would like to thank everyone that traveled with us on the Department Christmas Tour and a special thanks to our Department Hospital Entertainment Chairman Ed Connell for making sure everything went smoothly.
By the time you read this article, I will be into my sixth month as you Department Commander and it’s been a very busy six months. I have been blessed to have met so many great people during my travels and I am looking forward to meeting many more during my next six months. I attended both Legion Collages East and West and would like to thank both committees for doing an outstanding job. Both colleges were well attended and very successful.
Well it’s the start of a New Year with some of our programs beginning, such as our Oratorical and Essay Contests. I hope all our districts have been out in the schools pushing these and our other programs.
I commend the section commanders and the district commanders that have made their last target date of 75%. We still have a long way to go and a short time to get there. Let’s all get out there and beat the streets by going to their homes and asking them why they haven’t renewed their membership. Phone calls can be made as well asking them the same.
I hope that all the districts and posts have been pushing my project, the National Emergency Fund (NEF).
We also have a new governor coming in and a lot of new faces in the house and the senate. Hopefully we can get some of our veteran’s legislative issues passed. I had the privilege of meeting with the new governor’s Veterans Transition Team in early December and it went very well.
I feel it necessary to remind everyone of my slogan, “Pride & Performance”. Have pride in this great organization and perform proudly the duties we all took an oath to uphold.
I hope to see all of you at the January DEC. God bless.
“Pride & Performance” is Department Commander Pete Wasco’s motto this membership year. You interest and participation in the Pennsylvania American Legion is welcome and in fact, needed! This great organization has a myriad of exceptional programs all of which set us apart from any of the other veterans’ service organizations. There is literally something of interest for all veterans and their families in The American Legion! Promoting membership to advancing any one of our programs is essential to the success of any or all of our programs. The task is everyone’s responsibility. Together, with your assistance, we can increase our membership and participation in The American Legion programs. You can be an asset to the success of your post, county, district, section or department. We implore you to be an active component in our American Legion. “Pride & Performance” is a fitting slogan, through your participation we will ALL benefit – ALL being The American Legion, our post’s, communities and this great Nation! Our four pillars are still as important today as they were in 1919.
Legion College is here again. All posts are encouraged to send their commanders, adjutants, SAL officers, Auxiliary, Legion Riders officers and all interested members who may benefit from this day-long training/informational session. The dates are October 30 for the east and central section at Cumberland Valley High School in Mechanicsburg and November 6 at Latrobe High School for the western section. The courses this year are: General Course, Adjutant Course, Auxiliary Course, SAL Course, Service Officer Course, Legion Riders Course, Home Association Course and Chaplain Course. The registration is only $15 for any of these eight courses. Of particular interest this year are detailed instructions on the IRS Form 990, small games of chance updates, a new membership tool that will be useful for the entire Legion family, as well as information offered through each of the scheduled classes. We have had a great turnout over the past three years and we hope you will take time to attend the Legion College most convenient for you and your post’s Legion family members.
Our Department Commander Pete Wasco’s project this year is the National Emergency Fund (NEF). We have instituted the placards that have been used in the past and customized them to reflect our commanders NEF project. These placards are in essence exactly the same as the shamrocks for Muscular Dystrophy, the hearts for the American Heart Association, etc. There is one difference and that is they are supported by our members and they benefit our members. In the past ten years Pennsylvania posts and Legionnaires have drawn from this fund. We support this fund and through the sales of these placards this poses no real burden to any of our posts in pushing this worthwhile program. To support this, a post simply needs to get the placards from your district commander and sell them to your customers. Post 145 in Crafton does not have a bar but they easily sell 100 of these NEF placards at their bingo. We ask you to make a concerted effort to make this a successful campaign. In addition to the NEF our Department is supporting other National programs to include the Legacy Fund, Wounded Warrior Project, and the Child Welfare Fund. All these are very worthwhile programs that deserve our support. With the small games of chance being scrutinized more now than ever before these programs are an excellent way for your post to comply with the letter of the law and support a good cause. When your post is making donations to worthy causes please consider these as they are very worthwhile programs deserving of our support!
Congress has made September 16 The American Legion Day! In commemoration of the day The American Legion was chartered by Congress – The American Legion Day marks the beginning of a three-month period to promote the organization and the good work done to aid America’s veterans, their families and the communities in which American Legion posts are located. This is an opportune time to reconnect with your local community and possibly get some free publicity in your local news media. As I have said many times before, “our posts are the window through which our communities view our American Legion.” Posts should make an effort to reestablish programs in the community and the schools in your respective areas and show we are much more than a bar. Make your community a Legiontown! Making your town a Legiontown can begin on American Legion Day with a ceremony involving city leaders and the public with events and activities continuing through November. Every community interaction is an opportunity to educate the public about the Four Pillars of The American Legion and the services provided by your post. Other opportunities might include a Veterans Service Day, disaster preparedness education, Halloween safety, Heroes to Hometowns troop support events, and other opportunities that directly involve members of your community. The better we educate our communities as to what The American Legion is the easier we will garner participation in our programs and entice new members to join our great organization! Let’s all make our community a Legiontown!
The Oratorical Contest is coming quicker than you think! This is the time to get your local students/schools working on this great program. Every school should have a participant and should have an equal opportunity to compete for the more than $16,500 in prize monies given by our Department at the state finals. This is in conjunction with the contest money that can be won at the district, county and section contests. The student who wins our department contest will advance to the National contest for a chance to win an additional $18,000. With the high cost of higher education today I am sure many students in all our posts communities and their parents would participate in this great program.
Remember Veterans Day is November 11th that may be an opportune time to reconnect with your community. An open house may be the ticket. Inviting prospective new members to attend is a great idea!
The Department of Pennsylvania American Legion annual Christmas Tour will be December 3-9. The Department Commander, Adjutant, National Executive Committeeman, Auxiliary President and the Hospital Entertainment chairman will travel across our Commonwealth and visit each state veterans’ home and VA hospital. We encourage all interested members of our American Legion family to join us when we are in your area. The residents and patients truly appreciate it, so come out and help bring some joy to our veterans’ lives.
Our Department Executive Committee meeting is January 14-16, 2011. The annual Housing for Homeless Veterans Corp. dinner will be held Saturday, January 15th. Make plans to support this important program by placing an ad in the program book and attending the dinner. Dinner tickets will be $25, ads will run $70 for a full page, $50 for a half page and $40 for a quarter page. Make sure you get ads approved early so you can send them in and show your support for this great program.
The National Commander’s tour of Pennsylvania will begin in the east on March 7, continue to the central section March 8 and conclude in the western section on March 9th. Make plans to attend the banquet when it is in your area and hear the message from National Commander Foster and show him we are Pennsylvania proud!
Finally, I participated on a 9-11 Memorial Pennsylvania American Legion Riders run. This was well attended, well run, very organized and the camaraderie was second to none. I wish to thank the Pennsylvania American Legion Riders for their support and for the good things they are involved in! Until next time…
I would first like to thank you again for electing me as your Department Commander. When I was elected I spoke about change, and how we need to re-think the way we do certain things.
One of those changes is our American Legion Riders (ALR) program. We did have our first open election for our ALR and they are out there getting old chapters re-chartered and starting up new ones. I want to congratulate Charles Oakley on being elected State President and wish him well this year.
Other areas we need to look at are our programs. We need to get out into our communities and promote all of them: Keystone Boys State, State Police Week, Oratorical and Essay, the list goes on and on but it’s up to each and every one of us to get out and promote them.
My motto for the year is “Pride & Performance”. I have pride in this great organization and perform proudly the duties that I took an oath to uphold. That’s one way we can increase membership and help each of The American Legion programs.
Speaking of membership, we lost 11,000 members last year. I don’t know about you, but I am very proud of the fact that I come from the largest department in the world. If we don’t stop letting older members slip out the back door we will no longer be the largest department. So I urge you to make contact with all your members and ask them to renew, or find out why they are not renewing, it could be a simple fix.
Another thing that needed looking at was our employee retirement plan. I would like to thank all members of the DEC for making necessary changes so that we can not only take care of our employees but stay financially secure in the future.
My project for this year is the National Emergency Fund (NEF). I feel this is a very important program in which members and posts can and have used in the past when there was a natural disaster. All district commanders were given 1000 NEF placards at the September DEC. I hope they are being distributed to all our posts.
I hope to see and meet many of you at one of our Legion Colleges, either Legion College East on October 30th at Cumberland Valley High School or Legion College West on November 6th at Latrobe High School.
Please keep up the good work. Keep in mind Veterans Day is November 11.
God bless
Resolutions that will be brought before the January DEC at the Holiday Inn, Moon Township from January 8 - 10, 2010.
Resolution 1024 - 15 to 35 Members
Resolution 1026 - Legion Riders
Resolution 1027 - Doc Sebastianelli
Resolution 1028 - VA Hospitals
Resolution 1029 - Highland Drive Restoration
The DEC for January 2010 will be January 8 - 10, 2010 at the Holiday Inn in Moon Township, Pennsylvania. Deadline to register is December 12, 2009.
Click Here for the DEC hotel reservation form
Time is also running out to buy an ad in the Housing for Homeless Veterans program book or t buy your tickets for the dinner.
In order for the American Legion to finance this Housing for Homeless Veterans, we are asking for your support. We will be sponsoring a dinner on January 9, 2010 at the Holiday Inn Pittsburgh Airport, moon Township. There will be a cash bar beginning at 5:30 pm with dinner following at 7:00 pm. Dinner tickets are $25.00 per person and include a program book. Ads can be placed in the program book at the following prices:
Full Page $70 (of which $50 can be used for a tax write off)
1/2 Page $50 (of which $30 can be used for a tax write off)
1/4 Page $40 (of which $21 can be used for a tax write off)
Please make checks for dinner tickets and ads payable to: PA American Legion Housing for Homeless Veterans. mail to: Ron Conley, 709 Hope Street, Pittsburgh PA 15220.
We need your support
Click Here for printer friendly version of Housing for Homeless Veterans Dinner
Click Here for the ticket request to the Dinner January 9, 2010