Plainsman Thursday, August 24, 2006 p6
Homecoming held for new State Commander
BY PLAINSMAN STAFF
The homecoming for South Dakota American Legion State Commander Gunner Baatrup, hosted by Schmidt-Barnes American Legion Post No. 268 of Virgil, was held on Aug. 19 with more than 200 attending.
Legionnaires, auxiliary and SAL members from across the state, along with the local Virgil populace, joined forces to participate in the celebration. The event was held at the Legion Post in Virgil.
Joni LeGrand, representing the city of Virgil, welcomed the attendees to Virgil. Bill Aldrich, post commander of the Virgil American Legion also welcomed attendees to the Virgil American
Legion Post Home.
South Dakota American Legion Department Adjutant Ron Boyd of Watertown served as the master of ceremonies for the event. D.R. "Don" Mason of Platte, and Wayne "Red" Vetter of Cresbard were the guest speakers. Boyd informed the audience that Gunner Baatrup was only the 88th person to ever hold this key leadership position within the American Legion in South Dakota since the organization started in 1919.
Mason, the lead-off speaker, is a combat veteran of the Korean War and has belonged to the American Legion since 1954. He spoke about Baatrup's life experiences prior to becoming involved in the American Legion and how those experiences had prepared him for his current role as state commander.
Vetter is an Army veteran who served on active duty in 1963-1964 and 1966-1967. He subsequently served in the South Dakota National Guard and U.S. Army Reserve. He was activated for Desert Storm Operations in 1991. Vetter addressed his long association with Baatrup through their work with the American Legion. Vetter noted that Baatrup's many years and diverse positions of responsibility that he held within the organization have prepared him well for his current position.
Department membership chairman Ron Kazmierczak of Rill City assisted Baatrup in collecting membership renewals and new memberships from many of the state's 252 American Legion Posts. Twenty-three Posts turned in 984 total memberships during the event. Membership chairman Kazmierczak reported that this brought the department's current 2007 membership up to 14,256 members.
Baatrup thanked those in attendance for being there to help him celebrate and told the audience that he looked forward to a successful year as commander. Baatrup discussed his theme for the year, "Reaching for the Summit." He explained that this did not apply just to membership, but rather to all programs of the American Legion.
Those in attendance were entertained by Frank Palleria's patriotic musical selections. Pastor Richard Rinearson delivered the invocation and the benediction.
Following the program, the members of the Schmidt-Barnes American Legion Post No.
268 and auxiliary served refreshments.
