Greetings fellow Legionnaires...

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1 Volume 87, Issue 2 FEBRUARY 2016 DAVID A. GRIFFITH, COMMANDER BARBARA LEAPHART, AUXILIARY PRESIDENT dgriff4726@aol.com WEB: Cell no Greetings fellow Legionnaires... February 6 Lunch at noon see page 2 for menu and back of newsletter for reservation details. Auxiliary will meet at 11:00 am. FEBRUARY SPEAKER WILL BE MR. BILL DUKES WITH THE SC HONOR FLIGHT PRO- GRAM. WE HOPE YOU LL MAKE A SPECIAL EFFORT TO ATTEND THIS MEETING AND BRING A FRIEND WITH YOU WHO MIGHT BE IN- TERESTED IN GOING ON A FLIGHT IN THE FUTURE. Just a few things from last month Legionnaire Schreiber has become our Finance Officer. Most of you know after the passing of Legionnaire Sons, I was handling the finances until a replacement could be named. Doug graciously said he d be happy to serve. Thank you, Doug, and please give him your full support and patience. Also, please if you receive a notice about your dues and you have paid them, contact Adjutant Atwater to see if she received the payment and posted it. Department and National are very slow in posting our dues and if we have received the money from you, please disregard the notice. Please keep in your prayers several of our members who continue to have health issues and the families of those who have departed. Please make every effort to make our February meeting because we are having a special guest speaker, Mr. Bill Dukes who puts together Honor Flights. Remember to call and let us know if you are coming so we will have enough food. The Auxiliary is preparing lunch again. We are working on putting together a plan for baseball and should have news by March meeting. Happy Valentine s Day! For God and Country, David A. Griffith Commander 1

2 Legionnaire Contacts: (PO Box 421, Lexington, SC 29071) Commander David A. Griffith (h c ) Vice Commander Ernie Hall (h c ) Finance Officer Doug Schreiber (h c ) Adjutant Terry Atwater ( c) Auxiliary Contacts: (PO Box 1802, Lexington, SC 29071) President Barbara Leaphart ( h c) NO Sr. Vice President Dot Tunstall ( h) dottun57@gmail.com) Secretary Nila Ballentine ( h c) ndballentine@windstream.net Treasurer Linda Roemer ( h c) teachlex1@gmail.com ATTENTION Ladies of Unit 7 Auxiliary. UNIT 7 DUES ARE $30. Be sure to mail them to Treasurer Linda Roemer for Unit 7/American Legion Auxiliary, PO Box 1802, Lexington, SC January 2016 is about over, can you believe it? February 2016 will be one day longer as it is a Leap Year. Remember, February is called the Sweet month, as Valentine s Day in on the 14th. Remember to show your loved one you care. It s also President s Month with Abraham Lincoln s and George Washington s birthdays respectively. The Auxiliary provided the meal in January which consisted of vegetable soup, congealed salad, sandwiches, cake, crackers, and tea. Thank you to Linda Roemer, Nila Ballentine, Linda Griffith, Jean Testruth, Dot Tunstall, Mary Hazelton and me. February s menu we will have bean soup (Linda Roemer), pimento cheese & chicken salad sandwiches (Nila Ballentine), sandwiches (Marge Carter), cherry dump cake (Barbara Leaphart), tossed salad (Linda Griffith), congealed salad, tea, lemonade and crackers (Jean Testruth). If you are willing to help provide something for the meal, please call me at Thanks ladies for providing your time and the food. We had our first meeting in three months in January. Twelve members were present. Our members are working on their committees. Our Unit continues to collect certain items. Brown medicine bottles are taken to Pets, Inc., in West Columbia as they use them for pet medications. Remember, brown bottles ONLY. Cancelled stamps are taken to St. David s Lutheran Church for God and Country. Last count for Box Tops for Education was 168, Labels was 43, Labels for Education was 83. The items listed above were taken to Red Bank Elementary School. Soda can tabs 5.43 lbs were taken to Ronald McDonald House for our sick children. The new house will have the roof on very soon. Thank you to all those who help with these projects as it is most appreciated. PLEASE NOTE: VAVS at Dorn VAMC will no longer take magazines. Please remember our Legionnaires and Auxiliary members who are in need of cards, calls, and also, last but not least, your prayers. Our sympathy is extended to the family of Walter Todd Dooley who passed away Monday, December 20th. The funeral was held on December 26th. He was the stepson of Legionnaire A.J. Dooley. Remember to hold up in prayer his mother, wife, daughter, brother, sisters, and other family members. Our American Legion Auxiliary National President Sharon Conatser will be in Columbia on February 28th. This is all the information I have at this time and I will post further when I am notified. Take care and I look forward to seeing you at the February 6th meeting. For God and Country, Barbara Leaphart, President Unit 7 NOTE: Prior to Barbara s departure to visit her son in Missouri, she had a slight accident. She was told she could make her trip so keep her in your prayers. 2

3 ADJUTANT S CORNER Terry Atwater, Post 7 Adjutant My first order of business will be to get some important information out to you all. 1: As of January 15 th 2016 our dues increased to $ While I hope I don t see a loss in members, both National, District and myself know this will happen. At the same time, I am also hoping that Post 7 will be the exception. 2: National Commander arrives February 28, March 2 nd 9 am at the Columbia Marriott a meeting will be held for all members of the American Legion family. Around 12:00/12:30 he will address the SC State Legislature. All are invited. At 3:00 pm, this same day, there will be a social. I would like to stress, that in order for us to pass the torch to the next generation regardless of our yearly membership fees, we must embrace change and we also must all work together with a positive attitude in creating the change needed to ensure the livelihood of our Post. Everyone can recruit new members. That being said, there are pocket size forms that you should be carrying on your person so when the opportunity presents itself, you can take advantage of it. It is time for all of us together to step up to the plate. I know all of you have given so much for so long. You re tired and there are many other life commitments. But I ask you, who do you plan to pass your torch to? Help me help you. Faithfully, T. Atwater FEBRUARY IS HEART MONTH REMINDER The VAMC Dorn has a food pantry. Any veteran in need may participate in the program. He or she must contact Voluntary Services and they will direct you to the food pantry. To contact Voluntary Services call (803) extension

4 AUXILIARY UNIT 7 MEMBERSHIP REPORT Dot Tunstall, PhD., Chair The American Legion Auxiliary, Unit 7, now has seven new members. That puts us at 82%. We still need to make 100%, so keep those memberships coming in. Send $30 for Senior membership and $5 for Junior membership. Send it to Linda Roemer, 183 Emanuel Creek Drive, West Columbia, SC Thank you! Dot Tunstall, membership chairman 2015's winning Lexophile submission: "Those who get too big for their pants will be totally exposed in the end." AUXILIARY EMERGENCY FUND Jean Testruth, Chair Each month at the Legion meeting, a cup (either red or blue) is placed on the end of each table. Allow me to refresh your memory about the reason for these cups. The AEF provides temporary financial assistance to eligible members during times of financial crisis or weather-related emergencies and natural disasters, and promotes awareness and knowledge of the program. It increases brand loyalty and helps us retain members. The concept of Members Helping Members encourages members (and Legionnaires) to help fill with coins the aforementioned cups. American Legion Auxiliary Unit 7 makes a contribution to the AEF in memory of all our members who pass away. The coins dropped in the cups at each meeting also go to help in times of financial hardship for members and allows AEF to assist with educational financial assistance as well. We appreciate all that has been given in the past and hope that those present at the meetings will continue to be generous. DO YOU OR SOMEONE YOU KNOW NEED A WALKER/ ROLLATOR just like the one in this picture. We have access to two so contact Commander Griffith (lv mess) and he ll call you back. It is free! 3

5 INFORMATION REPRINTED FOR VA JANUARY-FEBRUARY NEWSLETTER 5

6 Hope you ll try to come. We need support from our South Carolina Legionnaires! NOTE: Portions of this newsletter have been copied from the Lexington County Veterans Affairs Office. A special thanks to them for sharing it with us for distribution. 6

7 FEBRUARY 2016 Birthday & Anniversary OOPS...Donald Poindexter s birthday is in March not January 8th.THAT WAS DARLENE S BIRTHDAY. Happy belated birthday to Darlene Poindexter!!!! 2 ALA Betty Carson ALA Debra Rowe 3 ALA Jr. Makayla Foster 5 Anne Workman 11 ALA Evelyn Moss 12 Virginia Hook 13 ALA Debra Pate 14 Legionnaire Gene & Rebekah Tinman 15 Legionnaire Tim & Glenda Duggan 17 Pauline Garner 18 Legionnaire John Testruth 19 ALA Jackie Mayers ALA Emma Wingard 22 Legionnaire Wes & Lois Buffington Legionnaire Robert & Fran Fekel 24 Legionnaire Murray Price 25 Legionnaire John Smith 27 Legionnaire Clarence Lockhart Legionnaire John W. Parrish Don Horton 29 Legionnaire Tom & Marie Comerford If your name and/or your spouse s name has been omitted, please let us know. Also, since so many of our WWII veterans are getting up in age, please let us know if you have turned 90 yet as we would certainly want to make sure you are recognized. ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY IN FEBRUARY February 3, The 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified, guaranteeing the right of citizens to vote, regardless of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. February 6, Legendary baseball player George Herman "Babe" Ruth was born in Baltimore, Maryland. February 8, The Boy Scouts of America was founded by William Boyce in Washington, D.C. February 12, Author and naturalist Charles Darwin was born in Shrewsbury, England. February 15, Susan B. Anthony was born in Adams, Massachusetts. February 17, Fort Sumter in South Carolina was returned to the Union after nearly a year and a half under Confederate control. February 17, Apache Chief Geronimo died while in captivity at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. February 21, Former Black Muslim leader Malcolm X was shot and killed in New York City. February 27, The 22nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified, limiting the president to two terms or a maximum of ten years in office. Fort Sumter 7

8 FEBRUARY 2016 HOPE TO SEE YOU ON February 6, 2016 for LUNCH AT NOON. SUGGESTED Meeting dates for 2016 Lunch Meetings at Noon* February 6 March 5 (Daylight Savings Time begins March 13) April 2 Evening Meetings at 7 PM* May 7 June 11 (Convention is normally first weekend) July 2 (4th of July weekend) August 6 September 3 (Labor Day weekend) October 1 November 5 (Daylight Saving Time Ends November 6) December 3 (Depending on Commander) *Auxiliary meeting usually meet one hour prior to meal. 8 The Commander set a rule back in 2014 to call and make a reservation for lunch/dinner by the Wednesday BEFORE the meeting. We had only 16 reservations for January only 12 as of Wednesday and 32 showed up to eat. Now help us out, we do need to know if you ll be coming as there might not be enough food at some point. Hope you all understand. Thanks so much.