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 JUNE 2005

COMMANDER’S CORNER:    Hello Legionnaires, Auxiliary, and Sons of the American Legion.  It is my sad duty to say that this is my last newsletter as Commander.  My two-year tour is up.  The elections have been held and my congratulations go to Jim Dunning – the new incoming Commander.  I wish you and your board all the best for the upcoming year.  ELECTION RESULTS:  The 2005-2006 Post officers are:  Commander - Jim Dunning, 1st Vice CDR – Roy Louis, III, 2nd Vice CDR - Todd Baitis, Adjutant - B.J. Miller, Finance - Larry Turner, Service Officer -Tony Cabacungan, Chaplain  - Tony Moore, Sgt-at-Arms - Carl Carney, JAG - W.T. Jones, and Historian - Jim Pearson.  The 2005-2006 Executive Board members are Gus Anderson, MaryLee Lupejkis, and Jim Taylor.     

 I would like to thank all the members of the American Legion Post 327 for making the last two years two of the best years of my life.  This is truly one of the greatest honors that I feel can be given a person.  There is no better feeling than to stand up in a meeting to be introduced as the Commander of Post 327, the greatest Post in the world.  For God and Country, Otha Newton

FIRST VICE COMMANDER:  No Input!  For God and Country, Lee J. Hemmerich

SECOND VICE COMMANDER:  No Input!  For God and Country, Roy N. (Skip) Louis, III

LADIES AUXILIARY PRESIDENT:  Hello Ladies.  Can you believe that summer is here already? 

I would like to take this time to congratulate your 2005-2006 officers:  President:  Dawn Thomas, Vice President:  Cindy Mims, Secretary:  Anne Starke, Treasurer:  MaryEmma Brown, Chaplain:  Nancy Schenk, Historian:  Tammy English, Sergeant-at-Arms:  Cheryl Loyko, Executive Board:  Cathey Anderson, Donna Cline, and Sharon English.  I would also like to congratulate our Lady of the Year, Cheryl Loyko.  Thank each of you for your hard work this year.  Thank you to all the officers and chairmen for all of your hard work this year.  Without you, I would not have had a successful year.  For God and Country, Dawn Thomas

SQUADRON 327 COMMANDER:  Hello Members!  I would like to say a big THANKS for the help you gave the SALs this past year.  Congratulations to the new officers and board members of the Post, Ladies Auxiliary, and the SALs.  The picnic was great.  I had a good time and hope all of you did.  We wish Dave Birch a speedy recovery (miss your happy face!!!)  Gentlemen, we are currently at 102% membership.  Excellent job by all!!!  For God and Country, Dave Samson

ASSOCIATION PRESIDENT:  Well, another month has passed and the clubroom is doing fine.  I ask each of you to try and keep large bills out of the clubroom.  The bar managers only have a small bank to work with, so we must limit the $20 bill as the big fish we can cash. Check writing:  If you write a bad check, you will not be allowed to cash another check at Post 327.  We would like to be able to give every member the amount of ice he or she needs for fishing, trips, races, etc.  However, PLEASE check with the bar manager before you take any ice.  She may have a full plate regarding the hall rental and so on, for that day.  I don’t think it is our older members, but we must remember that there is only ONE WAY into the parking lot and ONE WAY out.  Please adhere to the signs.  With summer here, please don’t forget our dress code to be observed by all patrons after 9:00PM.  NO TANK- TOP SHIRTS, NO SHORT-SHORTS, and NO BARE FEET.  Remember the final decision as to proper attire rests with the Bar Manager ON DUTY!  Please keep Board of Directors member, Dave Birch in your thoughts.  Dave had a bad accident at work and will be out of circulation for a while.  He is home and doing much better now.   For God and Country, Jim Norton

NOTE:  The Breakfast Schedule for June is:  5th - Softball Team, 12th – C&Y, 19th – Tony Cabacungan, 26th – ALA Juniors

EDITOR:  A SPECIAL THANKS to Ray Speckman for donating the radio he won at Post 327.  He has asked that it be raffled off and all money received to go to Boys State and Girls State.  

NOTE:  I’m asking all members who receive this newsletter to please let me know if you would prefer to receive it on the internet instead of in the mail.  It would save the Post a lot of money in postage if you receive it on your internet.  The email address is on the front page.  Thank you. 

NOTE:  The 87th Annual Department Convention will be held 14-17 July 2005 at the Wyndham Hotel, NW Roanoke, VA.  Registration will begin at NOON on Thursday, July 14th.   

NOTE:  Here’s an article from The Virginian-Pilot by Robert Pear, The New York Times that I thought might be of interest to you.  “The Bush Administration announced Monday that it would start paying hospitals and doctors for providing emergency care to illegal immigrants.  The money, totaling $1 BILLION, will be available for services provided from today through September 2008.  Congress provided the money as part of the 2003 law that expanded Medicare to cover prescription drugs, but the new payments have nothing to do with Medicare!  Members of Congress from Border States, like Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., had sought the money.  They said the treatment of illegal immigrants imposed a huge financial burden on many hospitals, which are required to provide emergency care to patients who need it, regardless of their immigration status or ability to pay.  Under the new program, hospitals are supposed to ask patients for certain documents to substantiate claims for payment.  But Dr. Mark B. McClellan, administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said a hospital SHOULD NOT directly ask a patient “if he or she is an undocumented alien.”  Instead, he said, hospitals can try to establish a patient’s status by analyzing the answers to “indirect questions”:  Is the person eligible for Medicaid? (If so, payment is generally not available under the new program.)  Has the person reported a foreign place of birth?  Does the person have a border-crossing card like those issued to Mexican citizens? Does the person have a foreign passport, a foreign drive’s license, or a foreign ID card?  The Bush Administration abandoned a proposal that would have required many hospitals to ask patients if they were U.S. citizens or legal immigrants.  Hospital executives and immigrant rights groups had said such questions would deter illegal immigrants from seeking hospital care and could lead to serious public health problems by increasing communicable diseases.” My questions are: (1) why isn’t Bush taking care of us first? Do these illegal aliens pay into Social Security?  I think NOT! (2) Where’s our free medical care, not to mention full retirement pay concurrent with disability pay?  $1 BILLION would go a long way toward helping veterans and their families. 

HUMOR:  “The Old Poodle” A wealthy old lady decides to go on a photo safari in Africa and take her faithful old poodle, Cuddles, along for company.  One day Cuddles starts chasing butterflies and before long, Cuddles discovers she’s lost.  Wandering about, she notices a leopard heading rapidly in her direction with the intention of having lunch.  Cuddles thinks, “Uh, Oh! I’m in deep doo-doo now!”  Noticing some bones on the ground close by, Cuddles immediately settles down to chew on the bones with her back to the approaching leopard.  Just as the leopard is about to leap, Cuddles exclaims loudly, “Boy, that was one delicious leopard!  I wonder if there are any more around here?”  Hearing this, the young leopard halts his attack in mid-strike, a look of terror comes over him and he slinks away into the trees.  “Whew!”, says the leopard, “That was close!” “That old poodle nearly had me!”  Meanwhile, a monkey who had been watching the whole scene from a nearby tree, figures he can put this knowledge to good use and trade it for protection from the leopard.  So off he goes, but the old poodle sees him heading after the leopard with great speed and figures that something must be up.  The monkey soon catches up with the leopard, spills the beans, and strikes a deal for himself with the leopard.  The young leopard is furious at being made a fool and says, “Here, monkey, hop on my back and see what’s going to happen to that conniving canine!”  Now, Cuddles sees the leopard coming with the monkey on his back and thinks,  “What am I going to do now?”  But, instead of running, Cuddles sits down with her back to her attackers, pretending she hasn’t seen them yet, and just when they get close enough to hear, the old poodle says, “Where’s that darn monkey?”  “I sent him off an hour ago to bring me another leopard!”  Moral of this story…Don’t mess with elders … age and treachery will always overcome youth and skill!  Bull---- and brilliance only come with age and experience!  For God and Country, B.J. Miller-Nobles