Issued Bi-Weekly from State Headquarters at Watertown, SD 57201
Ron Boyd – Department Adjutant – Public Relations Officer
www.sdlegion.org Email sdlegion@dailypost.com
No. 2887 December 29, 2004
The American Legion annually honors The American Legion Eagle Scout of the Year at its National Convention. The winner of the competition receives a $10,000 scholarship and the three runners-up each are awarded a $2,500 scholarship.
Forms for nominating Boy Scouts for The American Legion 2005 Eagle Scout of the Year are now available from State Headquarters. State Headquarters must receive nominations no later than March 1, 2005.
BOYS STATE PACKETS TO BE MAILED
Brochures, registration cards and other pertinent information related to the 2005 South Dakota American Legion Boys State will be mailed next week to all high schools and Legion Posts in the state. Please be on the lookout for these packets.
Two important items to remember are the April 1 registration deadline and the $130 per boy registration fee. Fees and registration cards for boys selected to attend South Dakota American Legion Boys State must be sent to the Boys State Registrar, SD American Legion, PO Box 67, Watertown, SD 57201.
Journalism City applications are also being distributed by Registrar Ron Boyd to all schools. Completed Journalism City applications must also be sent to Boyd at the above-listed address. The deadline for Journalism City is Saturday, February 2, 2005.
Do Not send the $130 registration fee with the Journalism City applications. If the boy is selected, his registration fee will be collected later.
VETERANS’ FORUMS
In keeping with Commander Schumacher’s VA&R plan for 2005, we have been making great progress with our Veterans’ Forum program.
I would like to provide you with a progress and update report of the outstanding results we have experienced thus far with our SD American Legion VA&R Veterans’ Forum outreach program.
ADDITIONAL VETERANS’ FORUMS COMPLETED:
· District #11, Dec 8, 2004, Eagle Butte, SD. 22 veterans & spouses attended.
ADDITIONAL VETERANS’ FORUMS SCHEDULED:
· District #7, Jan 10, 2005, Post Home, 7-9 PM (CST), Corsica, SD.
· District #6, Jan 11, 2005, Post Home, 7-9 PM (CST), Kimball, SD.
· District #3, Jan 18, 2005, Post Home, 7-9 PM (CST), Castlewood, SD.
· District #7, Feb 1, 2005, Community Building, 7-9 PM (CST), Springfield, SD.
· District #12, Feb 15, 2005, Post Home, 7-9 PM (MST), Piedmont, SD.
· District #13, Mar 22, 2005, 7-9 PM (MST), Pine Ridge, SD.
· District #4, Mar 24, 2005, 7-9 PM (CST), Sisseton, SD.
· District #10, Mar 28, 2005, Post Home, 7-9 PM (CST), Onida, SD.
· District #10, Mar 29, Town Hall, 7-9 PM (MST), Hayes, SD.
· District #1, Mar 31, 2005, Post Home, 7-9 PM (CST), Lennox, SD.
We are currently in the planning and coordination stages to conduct Veterans’ Forums in Districts 2, 5 and 8. The dates, times and locations of these Veterans’ Forums will be announced as soon as the preparations are finalized.
The Veterans’ Forum presentation consists of information packed briefings of VA benefits that lasts approximately 2˝ hours. The briefings are all based around a computer Power Point slide presentation that consists of 72 slides that covers 19 VA benefit topics. The briefings are conducted by The American Legion Department Service Officer Warren Aas and several guest speakers that include representatives from The SD Division of Veterans Affairs, the VA Medical Centers from Sioux Falls or the Black Hills VA Health Care System, SD Career Center Veteran Outreach Representatives and the local and surrounding County and Tribal Veterans Service Officers.
We would like to thank all the District Commanders for their hard work coordinating and scheduling their veterans’ forum.
The schedule for the 2005 Midwinter Conference, which will be held February 11-13, 2005 at the Cedar Shore Resort in Oacoma is outlined below. The format is changed slightly this year; there will not be separate breakout sessions. Following the Joint Opening Session, all Legionnaires will remain in the same large meeting room for all presentations. The Auxiliary will adjourn to a separate meeting room at the completion of the Joint Opening Session. It is hoped that this new format will expose more Legionnaires to more topics during the Saturday session.
10:00 a.m. Administrative Committee
12:00 noon Registration Desk Opens
1:00 p.m. Executive Committee
6:00 p.m. Go-Getters Reception
6:30 p.m. Go-Getters Smorgasbord
7:00 p.m. PDC Social and Dinner
8:00 a.m. Registration Desk Opens
8:30 a.m. Joint Opening Session
VA&R and C&Y
10:30 a.m. SAL Meeting (separate)
10:30 a.m. Americanism
11:30 a.m. National Executive Committeeman
12:00 noon Lunch (on your own)
1:00 p.m. Employment
1:30 p.m. Foreign Relations
2:00 p.m. National Security
2:30 p.m. Public Relations
3:00 p.m. Membership & Post Activities
Membership Awards
6:00 p.m. Social Hour/No Host Cocktails
7:00 p.m. Joint/Legion/Auxiliary/SAL Banquet
8:30 a.m. Legion Family Memorial Service
10:30 a.m. State Oratorical Contest Finals
The Cedar Shore Resort’s new addition will be completed by the time of our Midwinter Conference. The meeting rooms will be much larger and the banquet facility will accommodate a much larger gathering.
Tickets for the Legion, Auxiliary and SAL Joint Banquet are now on sale from the Chamberlain American Legion Post. The banquet will be held on Saturday evening, February 12, 2005 at the Cedar Shore Resort in Oacoma during the Midwinter Conference. Tickets are $20.00 each.
Major General Mike Gorman, South Dakota Adjutant General and Secretary of the South Dakota Department of Military and Veterans Affairs will be the keynote speaker at the event.
ALL TICKET SALES WILL BE IN ADVANCE. THERE WILL BE NO TICKETS SOLD AT CEDAR SHORES DURING THE MIDWINTER CONFERENCE. YOU MUST PURCHASE YOUR TICKETS IN ADVANCE.
Tickets may be ordered by contacting Gene Harmon, PO Box 53, Oacoma, SD 57365. His telephone number is 605-734-5240.
Posts are reminded that those Posts interested in hosting the 2006 sporting events for The South Dakota American Legion have until Saturday, January 15, 2005 to submit invitations to State Headquarters.
The State Bowling Tournament will be held during three or four weekends in March and/or April 2006.
The State Golf Tournament will be held either the second or fourth weekend in June 2006. (2006 Dept Convention is scheduled for June 15-18, 2006 in Brookings).
Tentative dates for the Class “B” State Baseball Tournament are July 26-30, 2006.
Tentative dates for the South Dakota American Legion State Championship Baseball Tournament are August 2-6, 2006.
To ensure that participating baseball teams take home some money to help defray expenses, the State Athletic Commission requires that bidders for the baseball tournaments guarantee a split of $2,500 in the State “B” Tournament and $7,500 in the Championship Tournament.
NOTE: The Athletic Commission will not meet during the Midwinter Conference. The South Dakota American Legion Athletic Commission is scheduled to conduct its winter meeting Saturday, January 22, 2005 at the Pierre American Legion Post Home. The meeting will convene at 10:00 a.m.
All Posts that have submitted bids for 2006 Department athletic events are encouraged to send a representative to speak in support of their bids. Posts hosting 2005 Department athletic events must make reports on their preparation for those events. Representatives of Posts hosting 2005 Department athletic events are also expected to be present to sign the contracts for their event.
This is a reminder to Posts that nominations for The American Legion Department Law Enforcement Officer of the Year and Firefighter/Emergency Medical Technician of the Year are due at State Headquarters in Watertown by January 16, 2005.
These individuals will be recognized at the SD American Legion Department Convention in Sioux Falls in June 2005.
Information and nomination forms are available from State Headquarters in Watertown.
Local Oratorical Contests are supposed to be completed by January 9, 2005. Following shortly behind the local contests are the District Contests which will be held in accordance with the following:
· Dist 1 – Jan 16 at the Beresford American Legion Post at 2 p.m. Storm date – Jan 23.
· Dist 2 – Jan 16 at the Arlington American Legion Post at 2 p.m. Storm date – Jan 23.
· Dist 3 – Jan 16 at Lake Area Vocational Technical School, Watertown at 2 p.m. Storm date – Jan 23.
· Dist 4 – Jan 16 at Sisseton American Legion Post at 2 p.m. Storm date – Jan 23.
· Dist 5 – Jan 16 at Wolsey Elementary School at 2 p.m. Storm date – Jan 23
· Dist 6 – Jan 16 at Mitchell VFW Post at 2 p.m. Storm date – Jan 23.
· Dist 7 – Jan 16 at Wagner American Legion Post at 2 p.m. Storm date – Jan 23.
· Dist 8 – Jan 16 at Gregory American Legion Post at 2 p.m. Storm date – Jan 23.
· Dist 9 – Jan 16 at White River High School 2 p.m. MST. Storm date – Jan 23.
· Dist 10 – Jan 16 at Gettysburg American Legion Post at 2 p.m. Storm date – Jan 23.
· Dist 11 – Jan 14 at Lemmon High School at 10 a.m. Storm date – Jan 21.
· Dist 12 – Jan 16 at Bell Fourche High School at 2 p.m. Storm date – Jan 23.
· Dist 13 – Jan 16 at Rapid City American Legion Post #22 at 2 p.m. Storm date – Jan 23.
· Dist 14 – Jan 16 at Leola American Legion Post at 2 p.m. Storm date – Jan 23.
MEMBERSHIP UPDATE
2005 membership stands at 23,051 or 88.26 percent of the Department’s 2005 membership goal.
IMPORTANT REMINDER: Department Commander Schumacher has pledged attainment of 91.8% of 2005 membership by February 9, 2005 to the National Commander for the annual Big Twelve Competition. 91.8% equates to 23,974 members and would result in the Department winning $2,000. We need 923 more members to reach that pledge. Therefore, we are requesting that you DO NOT HOLD MEMBERSHIP TO TURN IN AT THE MIDWINTER CONFERENCE. WE ENCOURAGE ALL POSTS TO FORWARD ALL MEMBERSHIPS TO STATE HEADQUARTERS ON A WEEKLY BASIS AND PLEASE ENSURE THAT ALL MEMBERSHIP IS FORWARDED TO STATE HEADQUARTERS TO ARRIVE NO LATER THAN MONDAY, FEBRUARY 7TH. The Department of South Dakota has captured this $2,000 prize every year for the last four years – WE CAN DO IT AGAIN THIS YEAR WITH EVERYONE’S HELP.
Happy New Year 2005