WASHINGTON CONFERENCE:  The annual Washington conference will be held March 1-3, 2010.  Tuesday March 2, 2010 has been designated as “HILL DAY”, the day those members attending the Conference visit the Congressional Delegation. All meetings will be held at the Renaissance Hotel 999 9^th St. Washington DC 2001. Call (202) 898-9000 to reserve a room. Rooms are $184.00 + 14.5% Tax. Rollaway beds are an additional $25.00. Please let the Adjutant’s Office know if attending.

CPR’s (Consolidated Post Reports):  THIS IS A CHANCE FOR YOU TO BRAG ABOUT WHAT YOU DO AS A POST  FOR YOUR COMMUNITY! Start thinking about what you want to brag about on your CPR!

Mid-winter Conference: The conference was  held January 30^th 2010 at the Laconia Middle School, 150 McGrath Street Laconia, NH. The morning session was a joint opening meeting attended by the Legion, SAL and Auxiliary. The afternoon session was be held at Post 1 for Legionnaires and featured Dr. Mark Levinson, Director Manchester VAMC. A wonderful Roast Pork dinner was the highlight of the Mid Winter Banquet. Thanks Charlie and crew for a job well done.

Adjutants Packets:  We are mailing out those packets not picked up at the Mid Winter Conference. Please read them when you get them.

COMMANDER’S PROJECT:   Commander William R. Roy has selected as his project, the “Veterans Fund”, that our Service Officer Gary Wayman oversees. This fund is established as a last resort where our other programs don’t apply.  It is a very worthy cause for our New Hampshire Veterans. These are Veterans that are down on their luck. We need to provide this fund with additional monies. You may present checks at any of our Conferences or when our Commander comes to your events.  Checks should be made out to Department of NH The American Legion and in the memo section write “CDRs Fund 2010” .  Checks may be mailed to “The American Legion Department of NH, Commander’s Fund 2009, 25 Capitol St, Room 431, Concord NH  03301-6312.

Testimonial for State Commander Bill Roy: The testimonial will be at Henry J Sweeney Post 2 on Sunday May 23,2010 from  2:00-5:00  PM---Prime Rib Dinner!

 Tickets are $15.00 each. Make checks payable to:

                                                                 Sweeney Post

                                                                 C/O Mike Lopez

                                                                 251 Maple St                                                           

                                                                 Manchester,  NH 03103

LETS GET REAL PEOPLE

We, in this Department, need to take a really good look at ourselves!

The following is a letter written anonymously and sent to a Post Commander that I will not identify.  It was also sent to the National Organization, who sent it back to me. This is an example of things that should never, repeat, never be sent to National because all they do is send it back to us, probably after they've have had a good laugh at this Department’s expense.

The letter, complete and with all the spelling and grammar errors, reads as follows:

“We are writing to complain about how the post is run. The sons of the legionaries have more priority then the veterns do. We had a good karaoke DJ for two and a half years.The manager let him go, without notice, right before the holidays, They hired someone else who has no idea what she is doing. There are at least twelve of us that showed up every single week. Now we don’t want to go at all. Since the sons of legionaries seem to be more important , maybe you should change the name of this legion to the sons of the american legion. Since they let the good DJ go we have since found another place that treats everyone with more respect.

Sincerely, ex-patrons

Cc: The American Legion National Headquarters.

Two things came to mind when I read this. First-- is this a joke? The second is, Get Real People! This is a canteen issue and should have never left the Post. It should have been handled at the local level, either through the Canteen Committee or through the Post Canteen Manager. How about approaching your Post Commander? If you feel your Sons are taking over, then confront the problem at the general membership meeting. Do you “ex-patrons” attend your posts general membership meetings or are you the types who just sit at the bar and complain? You can affect change! You need to be proactive! Get involved by attending general membership meetings; volunteer to work on a committee (Canteen Committee comes to mind) and by voting in your Post elections. These apply to all local Posts, not just the Post talked about in this letter.

One important thing we all need to remember; for the most part, National and Department do not get involved in local Post issues unless it involves a conflict between the Post Constitution and Bylaws and those of National and Department. The Department and the National Organizations do not recognize the Post Canteens. The Department and National organizations exist to promote the aims and goals of our organization as outlined in the preamble of the American Legion Constitution: 

For God and Country we associate ourselves together for the following purposes:

To uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States of America;

To maintain law and order;

To foster and perpetuate a one hundred percent Americanism;

To preserve the memories and incidents of our associations in the Great Wars;

To inculcate a sense of individual obligation to the community, state and nation;

To combat the autocracy of both the classes and the masses;

To make right the master of might;

To promote peace and goodwill on earth;

To safeguard and transmit to posterity the principles of justice, freedom and democracy;

To consecrate and sanctify our comradeship by our devotion to mutual helpfulness.

This is what the American Legion is all about

Go online to www.legion.org and scroll down to the bottom of the page. you will find these American Legion program listed. Click on each title for information on the subject program. Maybe you can find a good project for your Post to accomplish or learn something about a program that will not only benefit you, but your community as well.

PLEASE POST ON YOUR POSTS BULLETIN BOARD