This article by Dee Bryant appeared in the Marietta Daily Journal on Wednesday, November 29, 1974.
They did their part to keep American children safe from foreign harms way, through two World Wars, Korea, and Vietnam.
Now they are doing their part to keep children happy at Christmas.
The veterans compromising the American Legion in Marietta devote much of their efforts to insuring that Cobb children will have a Santa to believe in.
They started several years ago having a Christmas party for the needy and then decided to join efforts with other groups in the Cobb Community Christmas Program, which insures needy families have food and toys during the holidays. That first year of joint effort Legionnaires donated $500 to the program. Now they put in more than $2,000 annually, raised at events such as barbeques.
This year, in an attempt to raise $3,000 more for the program, they are giving away a Remington Model 1000 shotgun between now and Christmas. People wanting to donate to the Legion effort can contact the post at 427-5900 or Les Cater, commander, at 424-2444 or any of the members.
The Legionnaires do more than contribute money to the Christmas program.
Perhaps their biggest donation is the use of the Legion Hall on Gresham Avenue for operation of the Christmas Store.
The store is to be set up December 15-17 and start disbursements of toys and food baskets December 18. It will be open 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. through December 21.
Legionnaires man the hall during the disbursement, doing everything from hauling boxes to handing out dolls.
“We couldn’t have this tremendous of a program without the help of the American Legion. They have been with it for 8 years now,” said Flo Beddingfield of Cobb Count’s Emergency Aid Association, coordinator of the program.
