As I am writing this, the calendar shows that it is now January 1, 2017. I am wondering how many of you “senior citizens” thought in the 40’s and 50’s that you would be a veteran and a member of the American Legion. I wonder how many of our Post 233 Charter members back in 1948 envisioned our Post being what it is today. I know that back then I never thought much beyond the “new year” and what life had in store for the next twelve months. However, for many years now, I have been looking beyond the “next twelve months” because plans have to be made for the long term and not just the immediate future. Before we know it, 2017 will be a year of the past; and then 2018, 2019, etc. As our American Legion is approaching its 100 th anniversary, we have to be looking at the next five to fifteen years and what we need to accomplish if we are to keep our American Legion continuing for another 100 years. Everything that we do at our American Legion Post 233 must be done with the understanding that we need to continue to grow if we are to be a viable organization that is here to help our veterans, our military service members, and our community. Yes, we are well underway with the planning for our oratorical contest this month, our Ride for America on Memorial Day, a visit from our national commander in May, baseball, Boys State, July 4, annual Post elections, a car show, Christmas, New Year’s, etc. As we continue to accomplish our short term tasks, we need to continue to plan for the long-term issues involving our Post 233 mission and our physical plant and campus. Although we completed a major renovation of our main Post building in October 2014, we need to continue planning for replacement of our roof, resurfacing of our parking lot, replacement and/or repairs of our HVAC systems, our appliances and those unexpected events that will occur. We need to implement changes that will bring new members and guests to our Post. Not only do we need to bring them in, but, we need to make sure that we do everything we can to keep them as an active member of our Post. With your help and the help of all our members, we will have many more years of providing support to our veterans, our military service members, and our community. So, let’s make 2017 the beginning of another 60+ years of Post 233 being the best American Legion Post in the nation. Happy New Year and may God bless our veterans, our service members, our families, and the United States of America! James Carmona Post Commander [email protected]Commander’s Column Inside This Issue: Commander’s Column Sr. Vice Commander’s Report ALR Report Auxiliary Report Webmaster Information Calendar of Events Flyers American Legion Post 233, 4635 Atlanta Highway, Loganville, GA 30052 www.gapost233.com 770-466-4728 January 2017 Volume 5, Issue 1 American Legion Post 233
Transcript
As I am writing this, the calendar shows that it is now January 1, 2017. I am wondering how many of you “senior citizens” thought in the 40’s and 50’s that you would be a veteran and a member of the American Legion. I wonder how many of our Post 233 Charter members back in 1948 envisioned our Post being what it is today. I know that back then I never thought much beyond the “new year” and what life had in store for the next twelve months. However, for many years now, I have been looking beyond the “next twelve months” because plans have to be made for the long term and not just the immediate future. Before we know it, 2017 will be a year of the past; and then 2018, 2019, etc. As our American Legion is approaching its 100th anniversary, we have to be looking at the next five to fifteen years and what we need to accomplish if we are to keep our American Legion continuing for another 100 years. Everything that we do at our American Legion Post 233 must be done with the understanding that we need to continue to grow if we are to be a viable organization that is here to help our veterans, our military service members, and our community. Yes, we are well underway with the planning for our oratorical contest this month, our Ride for America on Memorial Day, a visit from our national commander in May, baseball, Boys State, July 4, annual Post elections, a car show, Christmas, New Year’s, etc. As we continue to accomplish our short term tasks, we need to continue to plan for the long-term issues involving our Post 233 mission and our physical plant and campus. Although we completed a major renovation of our main Post building in October 2014, we need to continue planning for replacement of our roof, resurfacing of our parking lot, replacement and/or repairs of our HVAC systems, our appliances and those unexpected events that will occur. We need to implement changes that will bring new members and guests to our Post. Not only do we need to bring them in, but, we need to make sure that we do everything we can to keep them as an active member of our Post. With your help and the help of all our members, we will have many more years of providing support to our veterans, our military service members, and our community. So, let’s make 2017 the beginning of another 60+ years of Post 233 being the best American Legion Post in the nation. Happy New Year and may God bless our veterans, our service members, our families, and the United States of America! James Carmona Post Commander [email protected]
Commander’s Column
Inside This Issue:
Commander’s Column
Sr. Vice Commander’s Report
ALR Report
Auxiliary Report
Webmaster Information
Calendar of Events
Flyers
American Legion Post 233, 4635 Atlanta Highway, Loganville, GA 30052 www.gapost233.com 770-466-4728
WOW, where has this year gone??? We hear that same old cliché a lot at the end of each year but if we, as legionnaires, take a look back it was a good if not a great year. But in who's eyes are we looking? Do we look through the eyes of our fellow members that lost love ones in 2016? Do we look through the eyes of maybe the ones that welcomed a newborn into their family? Whomever eyes we look through we still should be thankful for the blessings God has brought to each family. When I write these words it's from my humble prospective only. So please try to understand, these are my thoughts only. While passing on my thoughts I'm thinking as your Vice Commander just what will this new year bring?
When we as Legionnaires surround ourselves with other Veterans, Auxiliary members, Sons of Legion member’s, and Legion Riders we become a special unit. By working together, we tend to start thinking or seeing our task somewhat the same. Is that a good thing ??? yes, in my opinion. Don't think for one minute the eyes of our 10th District officers, the Georgia Department Commander's office and sometimes even the National Commander's eyes are not looking at Post 233. When you are successful, others try to emulate those that set the bar. We are successful at what we do because of you the members.
There are quite a few members at Post 233 that have never forgotten their military oath they took, some just a few years ago, and to some of us many years ago, that oath and our preamble binds us together, as a very well respected group, to continue to serve our community, our fellow veteran’s, and our Legion. So please think how you will support our members and our many other local and national charitable causes through your American Legion in this upcoming new year. If you have doubts on how you can volunteer, please call me. We will chat and listen to your ideas then maybe we will find a way you can spend some of your spare time at your Legion. Working together at our Legion will make you feel better and in turn you will be supporting your Legion. Maybe you will have some fun while spending that time at your Legion and feel better about yourself in 2017.
On membership, Our goal 739 (set by the district) We have 554 (as of 12/30/2016) Thanks for your support in reaching 75%. Please keep asking others to join our great Post and let’s reach that
100% goal.
Stan Mauldin Sr. Vice Commander
Sr. Vice Commander’s Report
American Legion Post 233 Page 3 of 8
By Barbara Wade
Let me start out by saying "Happy New Year" to all. Hope your 2017 is full of good health and happiness.
December was certainly a busy and hectic month but we all persevered and here we are ready to do it again. Santa's elves (Unit 233 members) were everywhere taking care of needy children and families, our veterans, and those in nursing homes. I am so proud of all the accomplishments they were able to make.
With January comes several events that will take place. Our first Unit meeting of 2017 is January 3rd; our Tenth District meeting is to be held in Hartwell, sponsored by Post 109, 755 Golf Course Road, Hartwell, Georgia 30643 on January 8th; and Unit 233 and the Tenth District are sponsoring a workshop at Post 233 on January 21st. This will be conducted by the Department Officers. Contact me for details on any of these.
Looking forward to working alongside our members and post members in the new year.
For God and Country,
Barbara Wade Unit 233 President
By Thom Williams
January Website Highlights We made several small changes to the web site this month to improve the experience for our users, especially our mobile users.
1. Added a quick-links section at the top of the home page to simplify navigation to the most commonly viewed parts of our site. This will make navigation much easier when viewing the site on a phone or tablet because on smaller screens the menus can be harder to navigate.
2. Updated the Band/Dance page with new graphics and a new layout, along with some more local city names to drive search traffic.
3. Uploaded the photos from the Christmas Party with Santa to our Flickr account so they are available from our web page.
We are looking forward to more changes in 2017 to help make our site easier to use and making the most important information more prominent and easier to access. Webmaster, www.gapost233.com [email protected]
I hope everyone has had a successful year this past 2016. As we look forward to the new year let's remember good or bad what we are leaving behind. Let's continue our mission to support our veterans and their families. Together can to make a difference. What we have accomplished together has been remarkable. Never forget those we loved and lost. It's in those times we are tested. We honor those men and woman in a way nobody else can. Every veteran should be celebrated, so thank you for allowing us to have that privilege. The Legion Riders of your post have had their plates full this past year. We have had another successful year in doing what it is we do. As we continue to grow so do our goals. We take pride in sharing with you our accomplishments and hope you’re as proud of your riders as I am. As we get ready take on 2017 we are prepared and we are ready for any challenge. We are legionaries and we will never forget that. It's a bond that keeps us strong. I hope you have a truly successful year. I hope 2017 brings you new challenges, new friendships, and families. Let's make this the best year we can. Please remember our active duty soldiers serving today or have in the past the path they have paved for us. They are what brought all of those reading this today together. Happy New Year Eddy Simpson Post 233 JR Vice commander Post 233 ALR Director 404-719-9646 [email protected]
