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. 2902 July 27, 2005
MINUTES ENCLOSED
Enclosed for Post Adjutants and members of the Department Administrative and Executive Committees are the minutes of the July 23rd meeting of the Executive Committee. The Executive Committee met at the Watertown National Guard Armory for the purpose of finalizing the 2005-2006 Department budget.
DEC ADOPTS BALANCED BUDGET
The Department Executive Committee met Saturday, July 23, two weeks after the Administrative Committee, and proceeded to complete the work of adopting a balanced budget for the Department for the 2005-2006 Legion year.
The work of the Department Executive Committee was eased by the recommendations it received from the Department Administrative Committee which met earlier. Among the recommendations from the Administrative Committee that were adopted by the Executive Committee were:
· The addition of a new line item in the budget that provides funding for a $200 stipend to National Convention Delegates who attend the National Convention in Honolulu, HI and are not entitled to any other form of financial support from the Department or National Headquarters. The Administrative Committee had recommended funding for this line item at $5,000. After careful examination of the delegate list for the 2005 National Convention, the Executive Committee determined that $3,000 would provide adequate funding for this year.
· Increasing the per diem rate for reimbursement of expenses within the Department. (The proposed increase reported in the last Up To Now was incorrect on the proposed increase in mileage – it should have been reported as recommending an increase from 25¢ to 30¢.) The recommended per diem increases were adopted thus future expenses will be reimbursed at the rate of 30¢ per mile for travel, lodging will be reimbursed up to $40 per night and meals will be reimbursed at the rate of $4 for breakfast, $6 for lunch and $9 for dinner.
· Decreasing the Rehabilitation Committee Expenses from $500 to $100.
· Increasing the Employment Committee Expenses from $0 to $100.
· Decreasing the DSO Expenses from $6,500 to $5,000.
· Increasing the DSO Salary from $26,500 to $28,500.
· Decreasing the Americanism Expense from $2,300 to $1,800.
· Increasing the District Americanism Expense from $1,200 to $1,400.
· Increasing the Legislative Committee Expense from $500 to $750.
· Increasing the Vice Commander Expense from $3,000 to $4,000.
· Decreasing Special Activities from $2,500 to $2,000.
· Increasing the Executive and Administrative Committee Expense from $12,000 to $17,000.
· Increasing the Historian Expense from $500 to $600.
· Decreasing the Cemetery Committee/Memorial Day Expense from $800 to $250.
· Increasing the Adjutant’s Salary from $36,200 to $37,000.
· Increasing the Secretary and Bookkeeper’s Salaries from $26,740 to $27,540.
· The Executive Committee funded for two nominees for the National Legion College this year, increasing the Legion College funding from $1,000 to $2,000.
· The Executive Committee placed a new line item in the budget for the Department Legion College and placed $1,000 in start-up funds in that line item.
Overall, the Department Executive Committee, although shifting some of the funds between line items, came up with the same bottom line total for the 2005-2006 Department Budget as had been recommended by the Administrative Committee. The total of the adopted budget is $328,880. This reflects an increase of 5.66% over the previous year’s budget.
TWO NOMINATED FOR NATIONAL LEGION COLLEGE
This year The American Legion Department of South Dakota has nominated two Legionnaires to attend the National Legion College in Indianapolis, IN.
Ron Kazmeirczak of Rapid City (member of the Hill City American Legion Post) and Rick MacDonald of Rapid City Foothills Post 320 have been nominated to attend the college. The applications, with endorsements from the Department, have been forwarded to National Headquarters and will be reviewed by a panel of Past National Commanders during the 2005 National Convention in Honolulu, HI.
The Department and the candidates will be informed of the outcome of the Past National Commander’s panel shortly after the conclusion of the Honolulu convention.
MEMBERSHIP INCENTIVES ANNOUNCED
Department Commander Phil Anderson of Piedmont and Department Membership Chairman Mark Weinmann of Canton (member of the Hudson American Legion Post) announced several new membership incentives at last Saturday’s Department Executive Committee meeting. Included in the new incentives were:
· Two Ceremonial Bugles will be given away this year. All Posts that have 100% or more of their 2006 membership in by February 11th will be entered in one of the two drawings. One bugle will be awarded to a Post in the 15-200 goal size category and one in the 200 and above goal-size category.
· Anyone who purchases a new PUFL by December 31, 2005 will be entered into a drawing where the winner will be reimbursed for the cost of the PUFL that was purchased.
· All individual Legionnaires who have paid their 2006 dues by November 16th will be entered into a drawing to win a sword. The sword will be from the individual Legionnaire’s branch of service. Only one sword will be given away.
· All Legionnaires who recruit a new member by November 16th will have their names entered into a drawing to win another similar sword. The individual recruiter’s name will be entered once for each new member recruited. Only one sword will be given away.
One thing that is important to everyone who wishes to be eligible to win any of the above awards is the need for the Post to ensure that all membership dues are processed and forwarded to State Headquarters in a timely manner. If an adjutant, finance officer, or membership chairman holds anyone’s dues too long, it is possible that those dues will not arrive in State Headquarters prior to the deadline for entry into the drawings. We would hate to think that someone was denied the opportunity to win one of these awards because someone else fell down on the job. FORWARD ALL MEMBERSHIP DUES AS SOON AS POSSIBLE AFTER RECEIVING THEM.
STATE “B” BASEBALL TOURNAMENT
Action gets underway Wednesday, July 27 in Groton for the State “B” Baseball Tournment. Wednesday’s tournament play consist of 4 games played as double headers. The first double header commences at 10:00 a.m. The second double headers commences at 5:00 p.m. The second game of each double header commences approximately 20 minutes after the completion of the first game.
The winners of the “B” Regional Tournaments and their initial pairings Wednesday’s Opening Day State “B” Tournament are as follows:
Game 1 – 10:00 a.m. – Milbank vs. Britton-Claremont
Game 2 – Double header – Madison vs. Elk Point Jefferson
Game 3 – 5:00 p.m. – Winner vs. Parkston
Game 4 – Double header – Howard vs. Host Groton
Play continues in the double-elimination tournament through Sunday, July 31.
The winner of the State “B” Tournament has a choice of moving on to competition in the State American Legion Baseball Championship Tournament in Rapid City, August 3-7 or attending the The American Legion Central PlainsDivision II Tournament in Ely, MN.
The team that finishes second in the State “B” Tournament will attend which ever of the above referenced tournaments that are declined by the State “B” Champions.
STATE “A” BASEBALL
Regional Tournaments for State “A” American Legion Baseball are also underway as teams play to qualify for entry into the State American Legion Championship Baseball Tournament in Rapid City, August 3-7. The tournament will be hosted by Rapid City Post 22 at Fitzgerald Stadium.
The first round pairings for the State American Legion Championship Baseball Tournament are as follows:
Game 1 – Reg 2A Runner-up vs Reg 1A Champs
Game 2 – Reg 3A Champs vs State “B” Rep
Game 3 – Reg 1A Runner-up vs Reg 3A Runner-up
Game 4 – Reg 2A Champs vs Host Rapid City #22
FIVE ARE IN INDIANAPOLIS
Five South Dakota Legionnaires left today for National Headquarters of The American Legion in Indianapolis, IN. They will remain in Indianapolis through Saturday, traveling home on Sunday.
Department Commander Phil Anderson of Piedmont, Department Membership Chairman Mark Weinmann of Canton, Department Adjutant Ron Boyd of Watertown and PDC Gerald Goetzinger of Watertown will be participating in the National Membership Conference. PDC Goetzinger, who currently serves as Vice Chairman of the National Membership and Post Activities Committee, is a key figure in this year’s conference and will be one of the primary facilitators of the conference.
Department Service Officer Warren Aas of Watertown will be traveling with the others, although he will be attending different training while in Indianapolis. DSO Aas will be participating in the annual DSO Training Seminar which will be held at the same time as the membership conference.
COMMANDER’S HOMECOMING
Mark your calendars now! Piedmont Valley Post 311 will host the Homecoming Celebration from Department Commander Phil Anderson on Saturday, August 27, 2005. It is not too early to think about making your hotel reservations in the Rapid City, Piedmont, Sturgis area for this gala event. Although specifics are still being worked out, preliminary information shows that there will be a breakfast served during the mid morning hours, a parade, program, meal and evening entertainment.
You won’t want to miss the festivities. Come out and show your support for our new Department Commander.
MEMBERSHIP UPDATE
2005 membership stands at 25,616. Membership for 2006 has started coming in a fairly good pace and 2006 membership stands at 8,107.