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. 2929 August 9, 2006
MINUTES ENCLOSED
Enclosed for Post Adjutants and members of the Department Administrative and Executive Committees are the minutes of the July 22nd meeting of the Department Executive Committee. The Executive Committee met at the Watertown National Guard Armory for the purpose of finalizing the 2006-2007 Department budget. Highlights of the changes in the budget were reported in the July 26, 2006 Up To Now.
WINNER/COLOME – STATE “B” CHAMPIONS
Winner/Colome American Legion Baseball Team captured the State “B” Baseball title during The South Dakota American Legion State “B” Baseball Tournament that was held in Winner, July 26-July 30. Teams competing in the five-day, double-elimination tournament consisted of Milbank, Platte-Geddes, Parkston, Lennox, Belle Fourche, Flandreau, Groton and Winner.
Game by game results are listed below:
Milbank 6 – Platte/Geddes 5
Lennox 3 – Parkston 11
Flandreau 9 – Belle Fourche 7
Groton 4 – Winner/Colome 5
Belle Fourche 6 – Platte/Geddes 9
Lennox 10 – Groton 9
Milbank 7 – Flandreau 8
Parkston 5 – Winner/Colome 6
Milbank 14 – Lennox 11
Platte/Geddes 17 – Parkston 4
Winner/Colome 19 – Flandreau 14
Flandreau 11 – Platte/Geddes 15
Winner/Colome 17 – Milbank 14
Platte/Geddes 8 – Winner/Colome 15
Bryce Kruetzfeldt of Flandreau was the recipient of the Big Stick award with a .591 batting average.
The highly coveted Porter T. Talcott Sportsmanship Award was presented to the team from Milbank.
Jared Donahue of Winner/Colome was named Tournament Player of the Year with 2 wins, 1 save, .444 batting average. Donahue pitched 17 strike outs in game one and 23 total strike outs in the tournament.
Congratulations to all the teams who worked so hard to advance to the State “B” Tournament. You are all winners. Thank you for participating in American Legion Baseball – a great youth activity that started right here in South Dakota. And Thank You to all the dedicated supporters of American Legion Baseball from Winner Post 169 for your commitment to the youth of our nation as exemplified by your hosting the South Dakota American Legion “B” Baseball Tournament.
RAPID CITY POST 22 – STATE CHAMPIONS
Rapid City Post 22 American Legion Baseball Team captured the South Dakota American Legion State Baseball Championship during the State Tournament held in Brookings, August 2-6. Teams competing in the five-day, double-elimination tournament consisted of Sioux Falls East, Sioux Falls West, Watertown, Aberdeen, Rapid City 320, Rapid City 22, Brookings and the State “B” Champions Winner/Colome.
Game by game results are listed below:
Sioux Falls West 12 – Watertown 6
Aberdeen 30 – Rapid City 320 17
Rapid City 22 6, Sioux Falls East 0
Winner/Colome 5 – Brookings 3
Watertown 4 – Sioux Falls East 3
Brookings 2 – Rapid City 320 6
Rapid City 22 6 – Sioux Falls West 4
Aberdeen 14 – Winner/Colome 0
Rapid City 320 2 – Sioux Falls West 6
Watertown 16 – Winner/Colome 5
Rapid City 22 7 – Aberdeen 9
Watertown 0 – Rapid City 22 11
Aberdeen 1 – Sioux Falls West 14
Sioux Falls West 1 - Rapid City 22 2
Aberdeen 8 – Rapid City Post 22 16
Michael Babcock of Aberdeen was the recipient of the Big Stick award with a .550 batting average.
The Porter T. Talcott Sportsmanship Award was presented to Sioux Falls West.
Josh Nolan of Rapid City Post 22 was named Tournament Player of the Year with .483 batting average, scored 11 runs with 6 doubles.
Congratulations to all the teams who worked so hard to advance to the State Championship Tournament. You are all winners. Thank you for participating in American Legion Baseball – a great youth activity that started right here in South Dakota. And Thank You to all the dedicated supporters of American Legion Baseball from Brookings Post 74 for your commitment to the youth of our nation as exemplified by your hosting the South Dakota American Legion Championship Baseball Tournament.
Rapid City Post 22 and Aberdeen Post 24 both now advance to The American Legion National Regional, Central Plains Region 6 Tournament in Aberdeen, SD. The National Regional Tournament will be played August 10-14 in Aberdeen. South Dakota’s teams will compete against the State American Legion Champions from Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota and Wisconsin.
First round pairings for Thursday, August 10 have Rapid City Post 22 playing the State Champions from Wisconsin in the first game of a doubleheader at 4:30 p.m. and tournament host Aberdeen playing the State Champions from Nebraska in the second game of that 4:30 p.m. doubleheader.
The winning team from the Central Plains Region 6 Tournament will advance to The American Legion World Series which will be held August 18-22 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
COMMANDER’S HOMECOMING
Legion Family members from all across South Dakota are making plans to be in Virgil on Saturday, August 19th for the gala event being hosted by Schmidt-Barnes American Legion Post 268 and Auxiliary Unit 268 to celebrate the Homecoming of South Dakota American Legion State Commander Gunner Baatrup. A standing invitation is extended to all members of The American Family and to the surrounding community members who know Gunner.
Activities will be held at The American Legion Post Home in Virgil. Registration will start at 12:30 and there will be a social mixer from 12:30 until 2:00 p.m. Coffee, cold drinks and light refreshments will be available during this time frame and a sandwich lunch will be available for purchase.
The Commander’s Homecoming Program will commence at 2:00 p.m. in the Virgil American Legion Post Home. PDC Wayne “Red” Vetter of Cresbard and PDC D.R. “Don” Mason will be the guest speakers. Department Membership Chairman Ron Kazmierczak of Hill City will conduct a membership turn-in during the program. There will be musical entertainment by local talent during the program.
Following the program, guests will gather again for a meal of pork loin, baked beans and salad. Free will offerings will be accepted and liquid refreshments will be served.
Due to the small size of Virgil, there will not be a parade.
The Homecoming event is open to the public and all American Legion Family members are encouraged to attend. Commander Baatrup’s theme for his year in office is “Reaching for the Summit”. Come out, join the crowd, and help us show State Commander Gunner Baatrup that The American Legion Family of South Dakota supports him.
DISTRICT AMERICANISM CONFERENCE
The South Dakota American Legion District Americanism Conference will be held in Pierre at the Pierre American Legion Post Home on Saturday, August 12 to plan the schedule for implementation of the Department’s Americanism program for 2006-2007. The conference will start at 10:00 a.m.
Department Americanism Officer Larry Madsen of Gettysburg will chair the event and lead the discussion which will center around establishing the schedule for the Post, District, Area and Department High School Oratorical Contests.
District Americanism Chairmen will meet with members of the Department Americanism Commission and discuss a wide variety of issues related to the overall Department Americanism program.
District Commanders and Area Vice Commanders are also encouraged to attend this conference to ensure that they are aware of the schedule of events and the overall plan for conducting this year’s Americanism programs.
HOMECOMING MEMBERSHIP AWARD
The first membership award for the 2007 membership year will be awarded to those Posts that meet the requirements outlined below. The awards will be presented at the 2007 Midwinter Conference.
Post Awards - A special award (Commander’s Homecoming Award Plaque) will be presented to all Posts that have met the requirements for a percent of their assigned 2007 membership goal-size to State Headquarters by State Commander Baatrup's Homecoming. Cards must be submitted at the Homecoming program (August 19, 2006) or transmitted to arrive in State Headquarters by Monday, August 21, 2006.
15-74 Goal-Size Posts – 100%
75-124 Goal-Size Posts – 90%
125-199 Goal-Size Posts – 80%
200-299 Goal-Size Posts – 70%
300 and larger Goal-Size Posts – 60%
LEGION COLLEGE
It is a bit disappointing that in a Department with almost 26,000 members in The American Legion, that there was not one eligible individual who wanted to attend this year’s National American Legion College. The American Legion Department of South Dakota has had nominees for this event for the past several years.
In March of 2007, The American Legion Department of South Dakota will convene its first session of a Department Legion College. It is our hope that there will be many Legionnaires from all across South Dakota seeking admission to this training opportunity. The Department Legion College is planned to be a two and one half day event - commencing at noon on Friday and running through approximately noon on Sunday.
If you believe that this Department Legion College is something that you would be interested in attending, talk to your District Commander and Area Vice Commander. Application forms are available from Department Headquarters. Applicants must have the endorsement of their District Commander and Area Vice Commander.
It’s not too early to start planning now.
MEMBERSHIP UPDATE
2007 membership stands at 11,726, or 45.06 percent of the Department’s 2007 membership goal.