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ROBERT H. BURNS AMERICAN LEGION POST #16

LEGION LINES & VIEWS January 2017 PO Box 1137, Covington, La. 70434 (985) 892-0677

Commander: Richard Mecom Chaplain: Chuck Christonsen Executive Committee:

1st Vice Commander: Mark Herman Service Officer: Matt Cole James Lacassagne

2nd Vice Commander: Joe Ogden Judge Advocat: Lane Carson Charley Craddock

3rd Vice Commander: Ignatius DeSandro Historian: Roger Bienvenu Emil Johansen

Adjutant: H. T. “Terry” Sharp Sgt.-at-Arms: James Livermore Roger Bienvenu

Finance Officer: Mike Peats Color Bearer: Wayne Plaisance Stacy Miller

Color Bearer: Ray Hartley .

Post E-mail: americanleg16@bellsouth.net

New: Post website: --- http://louisianabulldog.com/post16americanlegion

The General Membership Meeting will be held on Tuesday, January 3, 2017. Dinner at 6:00pm,

meeting at 7:00pm at our Post 16 Home. The Executive Committee meeting will be held on Tuesday,

January 17, 2017 at 6:30 PM

POST 16 MEMBERSHIP REPORT

2017 Cards are now available … ! ! ! Dues are $35

!!!!!!!! 2016 Membership Drawing ---- $40 Gift Card !!!!!!!

1st Vice Commander Mark Herman’s membership report. As we begin the final countdown to the year’s end, I want to take this time to thank all of those on our Membership Committee who helped me throughout this year, putting in countless hours of support toward Post 16’s recruiting goals. The final overall count has not been released yet from National, but the numbers look good. As we begin a NEW YEAR you can help play a big part in helping Post 16 achieve its membership goals by referring friends, neighbors, co-workers and active duty military. Remember Veterans who are over 80 years of age are FREE. If you have NOT RENEWED your 2017 membership we urge you to do so. Do not jeopardize losing your benefits due to a late renewal. We invite you to check out the many organizations Post 16 has to offer such as Honor Guard, 40 & 8, American Legion Auxiliary, and Sons and Daughters of the American Legion. You could become a contributor to some very important programs and services that HELP make a difference in our community. If you know someone who may be interested in joining our Post or who would like to know more, please contact our office at 985- 892-0677 ask for Mary, she can answer your questions or assist you. Master Chief Mark L Herman USN (RET) N.S.W 1st Vice Commander and Membership Chairman

MEMBERSHIP DRAWING AWARDS

Post 16 reports that recent membership drawings have been held with the

following results;

For the month of October the winner of the $40 Gift card was Legionnaire

Ignatius DeSandro, shown in photo below receiving his gift card from Post

16 Finance Officer Mike Peats.

Winner for the month of November was Legionnaire Eugene Vizzini (Photo

not available). He will be presented a $40 gift card for Walmart.

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Commander’s Remarks: ………………… Richard Mecom Happy New Year to All I hope all had a wonderful Christmas and looking forward to a great New Year. Sometimes things happen during the year and we do not understand why, but we must accept it, make the best of it, and move forward. We are close to our membership goal for the year. There is still time to pay your dues by December 31 which is the deadline that has been set by the National to reach our membership goal. This deadline is for all Post not just ours. If we make it or not the 1st Vice

Mark Herman has done an outstanding job trying to reach our goal. For those that came to the December 7th breakfast, I heard you got your fill. Thanks to the Cooks that created and served the breakfast. Start of the New Year and start of the many programs that the Post is involved with, including some new ones. Please come to the January 3rd meeting and help where you can. Some Post Members still work jobs and some have other obligations but if you can help for just one day or 2 or 3 hours a month it will help relieve the ones that dedicate many hours to the Post and its functions. See you January 3rd, 2017 1800 meal, 1900 meeting starts. For God and Country Richard L. Mecom, Commander, Post 16

ANNUAL RESERVE VETERAN’S HOME VISIT

The American Legion Post 16 family visited the Reserve

Veterans home on Monday December 12th. We brought them

assorted fruit, hot choclate and cookies and played Bingo with

about 30 residents. We also presented them with a Check for

$500 to their general fund. Pictured presenting the check to

Activity Director Sonya Hebert are 2nd Vice Commander Joe

Ogden, and Auxiliary President Rose Zimbro.

Among those Post 16 members who was invited to assist in the

event was David Duracher a Legion member and SALS member

and a resident himself at Reserve.

Attending the visit were the following Legionaire’s, Auxiliary members and SALs:

Rose Zimbro – President Unit 16, May Hartley – 1st Vice Unit 16, Mary Kollister- 2nd Vice Unit 16,

Ollie McGillivary – Unit 16 member, Brenda Ogden – Secretary Unit 16, Joe Ogden – 2nd Vice Post

16, Ray Hartley – Member Post 16, Charles Hession – Post 16 member, Wayne Plaisance – Color

Bearer Post 16, Mike Peats – Finance Officer Post 16, and Donnie Taylor – SALs Member.

Honor Guard The Saint Tammany Parish Council will recognize the Honor Guard at their next meeting On Thursday, January

5, 2017, scheduled for 1800 hrs. All members of VFW Post 8720 and AL Post 16 are invited. If it is at all

possible, please attend and wear your covers to show our appreciation for this honor.

May God bless and keep you and yours, and may God bless America.

Thanks, Lynn

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POST 16 ADJUTANT’S REMARKS …………………….Terry Sharp

Welcome to the Year 2017 !

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and with the approaching New

Year’s celebration, I hope all those New Years Resolutions will become a

reality and all the cabbage and black eyed peas you are preparing for your

New Year’s dinner will translate into another year’s prosperity and luck.

The past year has brought great success to our Post. Our programs

have grown by leaps and bounds. Our community involvement has placed Post 16 in high

regards with our community leaders. Our services to our veterans has been extremely productive

as has our involvements with youth activities. Post 16 is also recognized as one of the most

progressive Posts in the Department of Louisiana.

And none of this could have been possible without the great efforts of many hard working

volunteers. But they need help. Of our total membership average of 500 members, less than 5%

actually volunteer their time and efforts. Post 16 welcomes any participation, at any level.

Participation brings with it the experience of camaraderie and the enjoyment of working with

other veterans in a unified effort to keep our Post programs productive. All of our members shared

the honor of military service and the distinction of our services to this great Nation. Now we have

the opportunity to continue to share our experiences with veterans of other wars and eras and

provide a much needed service at the same time. I can guarantee your satisfaction with a job well

done.

And now we find ourselves going into the New Year 2017. WOW !!! Just recently I watched a

Science Fiction Movie that predicted a futuristic society for 1980. If they had only known what we

know now, some 37 years later.

The month of December has been a very busy one here at Post 16 with many activities going on

for the Holiday season. The month kicked off with our General meeting and the evening meal

being donated by member Louis Ross and what a great meal it was. We thank you Legionnaire

Ross.

Following that was the 75th Anniversary of Pearl Harbor. Post 16 was host to 38 veterans,

visitors and members alike as we shared a wonderful breakfast and some great camaraderie as we

honored those veterans of our country’s greatest generation.

A group of the Post 16 Legion Family members visited the Reserve Veteran’s home to hold a

Bingo activity, donate fruit and other goodies for the residents there. Culminating our visit was a

$500 donation to their Activity Fund.

The Auxiliary Unit 16 hosted our annual Children’s Christmas Party with an estimated

100 Children and accompanying adults in attendance. Santa and Mrs. Clause made a stop and led

the children in a sing-a-long of Christmas songs and provided a personal visit with each person.

The Post 16 Adult Christmas Party was held with joint participation from the Military Order of

Purple Heart 741 and the 40/8 Voiture 224. There was plenty of food and entertainment with a

Christmas Story skit provided by some very skilled actors.

Post 16 provided Christmas Dinners and gifts to a number of needy families in our

community to bring joy to them during this Holiday Season.

A lot of time and expense went into making all these events happen and Post 16 wishes to

thank all those that made donations and lent their time and assistance to make these activities

possible. That is what it’s all about as part of the American Legion’s mission to community

service.

Come on out and join us here at Post16. Your membership is all that is required to share in the

camaraderie and experience of the Nation’s largest fraternal order of Veterans. Come see us !

P.S. – If you have not renewed your membership as of yet please hurry and get it done.

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There is a critical need for Bingo workers. We have lost several volunteers and really need help!! Please volunteer, even if you can only spend a few hours with us. Please call Mike Peats at 502-8802. We really need help!!

Third Vice Commander Report

The organization, We Heart Veterans in Mandeville has invited Post 16 to participate in the

event "Helping Heroes" event on 20 May 2017 in Mandeville. Yes, it may sound early to

consider but it is not premature. We all know that good execution is fostered by early

planning.

John Sutton, who many of us met at our November general meeting will speak to us at

1800 hours before our executive meeting this coming Tuesday, 20 Dec 2016. He will fill us

in on the event details and how we can be part of an event to benefit veterans as well as

promote Post 16 by hosting a table. There will be other organizations hosting tables, a Fun

Run in the afternoon, live music, I am inviting a few WWII Veterans to come out and John

will tell us about much more.

Please do your best to be at the post by 1800 hours Tuesday to welcome John and have

your questions ready. He is excited to see us and speak to us once again

Thank you, God bless you all and Merry Christmas,

Ignatius J. DeSandro 3rd Vice, Post 16

949.632.0534

CHAPLAIN’S PRAYER CORNER…………. Reverend Chuck Christonsen

SICK CALL REPORT Post 16 members who are ill and home bound. So that we can remember them in our prayers Sick Call List: The following Legionnaires and Auxiliary members are: Jennifer Corbett,

Mae Mooney, Bay Welch, Cheyenne Lafleur, Jerry Jernigan, Roy Kellum, Elmar Hathaway,

Bobbie Peterson, Bill & Francis Rosevally, Pat Oster, Socarro Rome, Al Stumpf, David

Duracher Sr., Marie Duracher, Ray & May Hartley, Art Bennett, Belinda Burcks, Jessica

Kinchen, Al Smith, Brenda Ogden, Richard & Donna Hages, Eileen Oltmann, Murphy Neil

Jones, Arthur Witherup, Dottie DeBrock, Daniel Flanagan, Alton Thompson, Wayne Plaisance, Donald Spreen,

John Scallan, James Fitzmorris and Gwen Norman

POST EVERLASTING: Post 16 has lost a long time Post member Art

Lemane. Legionnaire Art Lemane will be remembered by Post 16 as

his records will be transmitted to Post Everlasting.

---- , ---- .

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2016 Christmas Needy Family Christmas

The Robert H. Burns American Legion Family visited five (5) needy families on Sunday December 18,

2016. We arrived at the Post around 9:30 AM to start our adventure. Making the visits were the following

Post and Auxiliary members:

American Legion Unit 16 Auxiliary – May Hartley, Ollie McGillivary, Mary Kollister and Kay Peats

American Legion Post 16 – Ray Hartley, Wayne Plaisance, Paul Hamburger, and Mike Peats

The first was the Walker Family. This was a single mother with seven (7) children ranging in age from 15

years to 5 years old. Six of the children were present for our visit and we took pictures, opened some of the

presents and said a prayer of Thanks for the holiday.

We next visited the Leonard Family who had two children ages twelve (12) and ten (10). Unfortunately

the children were at their other Grandmother’s house and we were not able to watch them open presents.

Next we visited the Johnson family. This was two sisters at the same address, so two families. They had

three (3) children from ages seven (7) months to eight (8) years. We had a good visit, one of the parents was at

work. They opened some of the presents and we said a prayer of Thanks for the holidays.

We finished up at the Bordelon family. They had two (2) children ages 3 months to three (3) years. They

opened up their presents and everyone was very thankful for this holiday season. We said a prayer of Thanks

for the Holidays.

Overall we visited five (5) families with fourteen (14) children and were very thankful that we were able

to bring happiness and cheer to so many young faces. We finished up at about 3:30 PM and were all

exhausted but filled with joy.

POST 16 ANNUAL ADULT CHRISTMAS PARTY

On December 10th Post 16 held our annual Christmas Dinner in joint participation with the

Military Order of the Purple Heart 741 and the 40 and 8 Voiture 224.

Kicking off the fun was a great dinner of Turkey and Ham with a myriad of covered dishes brought

in by those in attendance. Many of the members brought in a $5 donation for our Needy Family

Christmas program.

After the meal a skit was conducted that told the story of Scrooge and his many misgivings.

With costumes provided for each character chosen there was plenty of laughs to go around as they

did their best to provide an accurate portrayal of the story line and its characters.

Those chosen to play the parts were; Jim Lacassagne as Scrooge himself, Joe Ogden as Bob

Cratchet, JoAnn Lacassagne as the Ghosts of Christmas past, present and future, Mrs. Cratchet

was played by Brenda Ogden, Betty McArthur as the Cratchet’s daughter and Tiny Tim was

played by Roy Kellum.

After the skit there was a gift exchange with a steal option for all participants. It was indeed a

great time, lots of fun and all who participated were well fed and in a joyous mood.

Photo Left: Ghost of Christmas

Past gives Mr. Scrooge a stern

lecture

Photo Right; The Cratchet family

sits down to a Christmas dinner of

“Beenie Weenies” and Vienna

sausage

Great Fun and “many thanks”

to all who participated.

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CHILDREN’S CHRISTMAS PARTY

Was held on December 3rd with approximately 100 children and adults in attendance. The

children enjoyed a meal of Hot Dogs, chips and desserts and then played a number of games.

After the games began to wind down Santa Clause himself accompanied by Mrs. Clause, Elsa

the Ice Princess, and Santa’s chief Elf stopped in for a visit. In a great Christmas theme setting

Santa entertained the children and adults alike with a talent show staged by five sets of animated

animals. As the songs progressed the children joined in with a sing-a-long. Each child was then

treated to a personal meeting with Santa to convey their favorite Christmas wish.

A great time was had by all with the children leaving full of excitement for the coming season.

Mrs. Clause portrayed by Christina Mehling, The Elf by Diane Plaisance, Elsa the Ice Princess by Angel

Sharp (not shown), and Santa was, of course, the Jolly Old Elf himself.

Group of children all under age 10 as they gather around Santa.

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1 2 3 4 5 6

7

Post General

Meeting 7pm

Meal 6pm

Bingo 7:30pm

Bingo 10am

8 9

10

11

12

13

14

Honor Guard

Meeting 4pm

Auxiliary Visit Heritage Manor 2pm

PTSD YOGA at

Post 16

Bingo 7:30pm

Voiture 224

Promenade 7pm

Meal 6pm

Bingo 10am

15 16

17

18

19

20

21

Post Executive

Committee

Meeting 6:30pm

Bingo 7:30pm

Military Order of

the Purple Heart

Meeting 7pm

Jr. Auxiliary Mtg. 3:30 Library Mid-Winter Conference Bingo 10am

Mid-Winter Conference

22 23

24 25

26

27

28

Mid-Winter Conference

PTSD YOGA at

Post 16

Bingo 7:30pm

Hog Sale 6pm Fair Grounds Bingo 10am

29 30

31

1

2

3

Livestock Show Fair Grounds

Livestock Show Fair Grounds

Livestock Show Fair Grounds

Livestock Show Fair Grounds

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