• September 2, 2015
o Commander Stan Aspey called Post 287 to order at 1900 hours. Legionnaire Dave Hehn gave the opening prayer. A quorum was established with 13 members present.
o Guests/Prospective New Members Present: Marvin Harper, Past Department and 4th District Commander
o Induction of Officers by Legionnaire Harper:
Commander Stan Aspey
1st Vice Commander Barb Ebersole
Chaplain Dave Hehn
Finance Officer Timmy Williams
Adjutant Terry Beasley
o Post Everlasting: Kenneth Ashworth & John Newhart
o Sons of the American Legion- Commander Mike Walter- 2015-2016 SAL Officers inducted by Legionnaire Harper
o Missouri Air National Guard Family Day event: we will need to divide up our volunteers between the National Commander’s visit and this event.
o Monday, September 7, 2015 Labor Day- there will be a Blue Star Memorial at the Senior Center. The Post is invited to provide and Honor Guard and flag folding ceremony.
o Friday, September 11, 2015 flags out for Patriots Day
o Friday, September 11, 2015 Patriots Day Ceremony by the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR). Everett Powell a 70-year member will be recognized with the Patriot of the Month Award.
o Served 139 guests at tonight’s Fall Fish & Chicken Fry
o Guest Speaker Comments: Marvin Harper: Oratorical Contest
Contests will be held in Savannah at the United Electric Cooperative
4th District contest will be January 10th
Zone 2 contest will be January 24th
o Post 287 Colors were carried at this year’s National Convention Parade by Legionnaire Beasley. Legacy Scholarship donation checks were delivered to the National Convention by Legionnaire Beasley.
o Commander Aspey adjourned the meeting at 1950 hours. Post Chaplain Hehn gave the closing prayer.
• September 16, 2015
o Commander Stan Aspey called Post 287 to order at 1900 hours. Chaplain Dave Hehn gave the opening prayer. A quorum was established with 11 members present.
o Guest Present: Brady Bauman, North Andrew Vice President Student Council. Mr. Bauman introduced himself and thanked everyone for their military service. North Andrew School is requesting to have Post 287 provide an Honor Guard for their Homecoming Parade. Post 287 will also bring the Jeep.
o American Legion Riders Chapter Director Mike Grimm:
17 members were present for their meeting tonight.
The Legion Riders will provide a motorcycle escort for the National Commander during his visit of the 4th District on October 4th.
The Legion Riders have already committed to being there.
o Sons of the American Legion- Commander Mike Walter:
Current membership = 29
Squadron 464 in Conception Junction is having their 1st fundraiser event on September 20th. Squad 287 members will assist them.
Commander Walter acknowledged some of the SAL members who made special contributions to the Fall Fish & Chicken Fry: Mark Brock (logistics), Cecil Raines (cooking), and Ron Raines (designed and built the heavy duty fryers)
School Supply Drive- SAL donated $200.
NEW date for the SAL meetings. Meetings will now be held on the first Wednesday of each month, to avoid conflicting meeting times with the Legion Riders. First meeting at the new time will be October 7th.
o A Legion family donated $500 back to the Post. This family received our help in the past, and wanted to return the favor for others.
o Legionnaire Jim Bliley (Post 464) is donating a cooker to the Post.
o Legionnaire Kretzer was recognized for his countless hours spent doing the grounds work mowing grass, and maintaining the landscaping of the Post this summer.
o Commander Aspey adjourned the meeting at 2000 hours. Chaplain Hehn gave the closing prayer.
• October 7, 2015
o Commander Stan Aspey called Post 287 to order at 1900 hours. Chaplain Dave Hehn gave the opening prayer. A quorum was established with 13 members present.
o Sick Call: John McLarney home under hospice care
o Post Everlasting: Jack Haenni
o Sons of the American Legion- Commander Mike Walter
Squadron 287 had its first meeting with the new 1st Wednesday of the month scheduling. There was a good turnout of 6 members present. The meeting was a success with multiple business items discussed with plenty of time allocated for each issue/topic.
Commander Walter, Senior Vice Commander Mark Brock, and Finance Officer Raines are making plans to attend the Fall Detachment Conference.
o Representatives from the Honor Flight program would like to brief our membership on this particular program and the newly developed flightless program. After discussion, Wednesday October 14th was reserved. There will be a soup and chili supper served at 6 p.m. with the presentation set for 7 p.m. The supper meal will be offered as a free-will donation dinner.
o District Re-vitalization: Post 287 has been asked to be the Headquarters Post for this event. The re-vitalization will be scheduled for some time in January or February. Re-vitalization is a 3-day event. There will be training of the volunteers at the start. Volunteers will then follow the National’s guidelines on contacting Post 1000 members and ask if they would consider transferring to a Post within the District. No cold calls. The Post 1000 members will be notified by the National Membership Committee that they will receive a call from someone from the 4th District. All public relations notifications will also be done by the National Office. Revitalization requires volunteers from all the Posts within the 4th District. Volunteers will use their cell phones or make personal contacts of the potential transfer members. Post 287 needs to supply multiple power cord outlets for the many cell phones in use with their charger connectors. One issue was brought up. The Post will purchase a cell phone signal booster.
o National dues increase of $5.00. A motion was made to match the Post dues with the National Dues increase. This would increase the Post dues from $33.00 to $38.00. After discussion the motion was seconded and approved. This dues increase will take effect January 21, 2016.
o Missouri Air National Guard Family Day on 4 October from 7 a.m. to noon. Barb Ebersole (Legion & Auxiliary), and Terry Beasley (SAL & Legion) represented the Post 287 American Legion Family.
o National Commander Dale Barnett Evening Dinner Visit on 4 October at 5 p.m. Overall, Post 287 did an “amazing job.” Special thanks to:
Doris Schopfer for the dinner rolls
Steve Crockett for the landscaping on the trees and shrubs
Debbie and Tim Williams for the food preparation
Auxiliary for the desserts
Legion Riders for escorting the entourage (13 hours/250 miles)
All the others who worked the many hours preparing our Post to host this event
o The First Christian Church of Savannah is having a fundraising lunch for Jacinta Rupp who continues to go through chemotherapy treatments. The lunch will be after the Sunday services, approximately 1:00 p.m.
o Luke Case donated a commercial popcorn popper to Post 287. The equipment will be cleaned and prepared for future use.
o The National Military Heritage Museum of Saint Joseph donated multiple American and military service flags to the Post.
o Commander Aspey adjourned the meeting at 2000 hours. Chaplain Hehn gave the closing prayer.
• October 21, 2015
o Commander Stan Aspey called Post 287 to order at 1900 hours. Legionnaire Mike Black gave the opening prayer. A quorum was established with 11 members present.
o American Legion Riders- 4th District Director Timmy Williams:
The last Legion Family breakfast served 115 people. All this was successfully accomplished by the volunteers who came, when 8 of the regular volunteers were out this weekend.
14 Legion Riders escorted The American Legion National Commander throughout the 4th District during his October 4th visit. Ride was organized and led by Chapter 287 Director Mike Grimm.
Amana Colonies trip covered 590 miles, and a great time was had by all.
The American Legion Riders, SAL, and Auxiliary are going to each donate $100 to go towards the Cameron Veteran’s Home Secret Santa program.
Legion Rider and Legion Member Tom Crawley is volunteering time to teach K-12 school classes at the Hosanna Church. He asked if the Legion could donate an American Flag, Pole, Stand and Eagle for the classroom. The request could be met with a $35.00 from each Legion Family entity. (Legion Riders, SAL, Auxiliary and Legion).
o Sons of the American Legion- Commander Mike Walter
Squadron 287 in making donations in conjunction with the other American Legion Family partners. $100 towards the Cameron Veteran’s Home Secret Santa program, $35 towards the American Flag and pole for the Hosanna Church school room, and Leavenworth VA Hospital Christmas Gift shop.
Squadron 287 will also support the Andrew County Ministries programs: Adopt-a-Family and Backpack Buddies.
o Cameron Veteran’s Home Secret Santa program- a motion was made, seconded and approved to donate a matching $100.
o American Flag, Pole, Stand and Eagle for the classroom at the Hosanna Church school room. A motion was made, seconded and passed to make a matching $35.00 donation. The costs for these items may be off-set by using the newly donated flags from the National Military Heritage Museum.
o District Re-vitalization:
Post 287 will be the Headquarters Post
Date: a Thursday, Friday and Saturday during the 3rd or 4th week in January
Cell Phone Signal Booster- Mike Walter and Steve Crocket are researching the various technological products for our building. At present they are recommending the “Wilson” brand, and the booster needed will cost approximately $400-$500. The better quality booster is required to overcome the metal structure of our facility, and the lack of a good “line-of-site” reception.
SAL Chaplain Bobby Combs has offered to install the equipment to include an outside antenna, coaxial cable, and the internal unit. Plus, if we purchase the equipment where SAL Combs works we will be able to buy the unit at cost, plus 10%.
o Annual Boy Scout Charter- a motion was made and seconded to sponsor the $25 annual chartering fee on behalf of Troop 60. Motion carried.
o Jeep Trailer Banners- a motion was made to replace the missing banners. Motion was seconded and approved.
o Stan Stubblefield was back visiting recently. Legionnaire Kretzer delivered the signed banner and his 40 & 8 Recruitment pin. Legionnaire Stubblefield was greatly appreciative.
o Legionnaire Rudolph was recognized for re-boring out all of the flag holder holes at the cemetery and courthouse.
o Legionnaire Rudolph was also thanked for providing the food at the recent Honor Flight Dinner program.
o Comments from Department Commander George Scarborough during his visit here on October 4th. He stated, “if there is a Post that does things right, this is it.”
o Commander Aspey adjourned the meeting at 2000 hours. Legionnaire Black gave the closing prayer.
