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THE MAINE LEGIONNAIRE, AUGUST 2016 17
Greetings From Miss
Maine: Department Com-
mander Ronald Rainfrette, right,
welcomes Miss Maine 2016
Marybeth Noonan to the Annual
State Convention in Bangor June
18 before she gives her greetings
to those in attendance. Pictured
below with Miss Maine 2016 is
State HQ staff Office Manager
Rachael Currie, center, and Mem-
bership Coordinator Kierra
Washington.
Lots More Going On At…
State Convention
Legion Talk: Depart-
ment Adjutant Paul L’Heu-
reux, center, Brunswick Post
20 Legionnaire Gilbert Orms-
by, left, and PNVC William
“Chick” Ciciotte discuss a
few Legion matters before the
next session begins.
Greetings From The
Governor: Governor LePage
gives greetings to those in attendance
at the Annual State Convention in
Bangor on June 18. Left to right,
First Lady Ann LePage, Dept. Com-
mander Ronald Rainfrette, Governor
Paul LePage, Dept. Adjutant Paul
L’Heureux, and Dept. Service Officer
Amedeo “Deo” Lauria.
Let The Voting Begin: PNC Anthony “Tony” Jordan
shakes hands with District 2 Com-
mander Curtis Merrill in the cre-
dentials room at State Convention
to cast his vote for the 2016-17
Department of Maine Officers.
Curtis was selected as this years
Roger’s Rangers recipient for out-
standing District Commander.
Back, left is Waterville Post 5 and
Credentials Committee member
Morris Prentiss.
Ready to Greet Incoming Delegates: Department Officers greet incoming delegates to
the state convention before the opening session Sat-
urday morning June 18. Left to right, newly elected
Department 2nd Vice Commander Scott Paradis,
1st Vice Commander Randall Kluj, Commander
Peter Johnson, and Historian Ronald Caron.
Legion, Auxiliary & SAL Installing Team: In-
stalling Team for the 2016 –17 Legion, Auxiliary and SAL Offic-
ers at the Annual State Convention in Bangor. Seated, left to
right, 2017-18 candidate for National Commander Denise Rohan,
NEC Ramona Naragon, and Auxiliary Past Dept. President Terry
Owen. Standing, back, left to right, SAL—National Vice Com-
mander William G. Hill, Past Dept. Commander Herman Wright
and Past Dept. President Dora Michaud.
Meet the Off icers 2016
RONALD RAINFRETTE
NECA
PAUL L’HEUREUX
Adjutant PETER JOHNSON
Commander
PATRICIA THURSTON
Sergeant-At-Arms
18 THE MAINE LEGIONNAIRE, AUGUST 2016
SCOTT PARADIS
2nd Vice Commander
AMEDEO LAURIA
Service Officer
DAVID KERN
Assistant Service Officer RAMONA NARAGON
NEC
2016 Resolutions Action Taken at Convention
RANDALL KLUJ
1st Vice Commander
TOMMY ADKINS
Finance Officer
RONALD CARON
Historian
DEBRA COUTURE
Americanism
MATTHEW JABAUT
Judge Advocate
Resolution 1 Change in Eligibility
of Membership in the American Legion
- MOTION REJECTED & Forwarded
for more information & clarification. RESOLVED, By The American Le-
gion, Department of Maine Convention
assembled in Bangor, Maine, June 17-19,
2016, that the American Legion should
remove all dates of service as a condition
for membership.
Resolution 2 Transition Assistance
Programs (TAP) Conducted by the Mil-
itary Services be provided to Military
Members Thirteen (13) Months Prior to
Separation to Ensure Separation Indi-
viduals Meet Career Readiness Stand-
ards (CRS) - MOTION PASSED & to
support our National Organization’s
effort on this same Resolution.
RESOLVED, By The American Le-
gion, Department of Maine Convention
assembled in Bangor, Maine, June 17-19,
2016, that those commanders or designees
working within Capstone clearly under-
stand the DOD’s expectations and their
commitment to transitioning Service
members and the importance of their role
in the CRS portion of the TAP; and it be
further
RESOLVED, that the DOD will pro-
vide those Service members required to
attend TAP sessions adequate time to thoroughly research and make those pivot-
al life choices that include exercising their
GI Bill benefit, reenlistment or joining the
civilian workforce with the confidence
and they have researched and do under-
stand the significance the TAP session;
and it be further
RESOLVED, that the CRS portion is
presented so as to create sufficient anxiety
that Service members put sufficient effort
into their individual choices; and it be
further
RESOLVED, that during the CRS
portion of the TAP for comparison pur-poses that Service members are provided
with civilian pay necessities that would be
equivalent to replace their Military salary
and benefit package, and it be further
RESOLVED, that the CRS portion of
TAP be mandatory and held thirteen
months prior to projected separation; and
it be further
More on RESOLUTIONS, Page 19
GREGORY COUTURE
Chaplain
THE MAINE LEGIONNAIRE, AUGUST 2016 19
2017-18 Candidate For
National Commander: PDC
Edward J. Roach, Jr., right, and the fol-
lowing candidate for National Command-
er 2017-18 Denise Rohan of Wisconsin get
ready for the Opening Ceremonies to
begin at the Annual State Convention in
Bangor June 17. Denise later gave greet-
ings to all those in attendance.
RESOLVED, that this proposed
change to the TAP process be made with-
in six months, and be it further
RESOLVED, being that the DOD is
aware that there are as many organiza-
tions offering assistance for transitioning
Service members but that the CRS will
include only vetted and a manageable
number of resources to begin researching
and refining their choices; and be it fur-
ther RESOLVED, that the DOL, Veterans
Administration and various State specific
agencies are partners in this effort, and be
it further
RESOLVED, that included within the
vetted resources will be access to State
specific Bureau of Veteran Services, State
specific DOL’s a link to vets.gov, links to
cost of living index websites, and links to “hot job market” websites; and be it final-
ly
RESOLVED, that those Service
members who will be retiring would not
be required to attend the early CRS por-
tion of TAP.
Resolution 3 Area Commanders
Cap—REFERRED to Task Force for
the Future Committee for further in-
formation from other departments.
RESOLVED, By the American Le-gion, Department of Maine Convention
assembled in Bangor, Maine, June 17-19,
2016, that the Area Commanders Cap be
changed from the old County cap, the
solid blue cap with white piping, to the
District cap, the blue cap with the white
crown.
Resolution 4 Establish Criteria for
the Position of Department Finance
Officer—REFERRED to Task Force
for the Future & Finance Committee.
RESOLVED, By the American Legion,
Department of Maine at the 98th Annual
Convention assembled at Bangor, Maine,
June 17, 18, 2016, That the Department
Finance Committee be mandated to devel-
op and issue criteria for the qualifications
needed to hold the position of Department
Finance Officer. And that these rules be
forwarded to the Department Executive Committee for their action no later than
Mid-Winter Conference in January, 2017.
Resolution 5 Establish Department
Committee on National Appoint-
ments—MOTION PASSED
RESOLVED, By the American Le-
gion, Department of Maine at the 98th
Annual Convention assembled at Bangor,
Maine June 17, 18, 2016, to create a per-manent Department Committee consisting
of the Department Commander, as chair-
man, Past National Commander, if any,
National Executive Committeeman, Na-
tional Executive Committeeman Alter-
nate, First Vice Commander, Second Vice
Commander and Adjutant to review and
approve all appointments to National
Commissions, Committees and Councils,
to include all National Convention Com-
mittees and all “Call Ins” to National events, and, finally be it
RESOLVED, That the Department
of Maine American Legion By Laws be
amended to add Section 3. Article XIX to
accomplish the above resolve.
Resolutions Continued from Page 18
Sweepstakes Winners Announced Post Historian Makes History
R obert K. Place of North Berwick
made history again! At this year’s
98th Annual American Legion State Con-
vention in Bangor, Bob’s comprehensive Post History book earned top honors (#1
in the State!) for 2015-2016. Department
of Maine Historian Ronald Caron present-
ed Bob with the First Place award marking
this tremendous person-
al and professional ac-
complishment. Bob’s
photo-packed album has
been forwarded to the
national level to com-
pete for best in the na-tion!
Bob is the Historian
for Charles S. Hatch
Post #79, a position he
has held for ten years!
Each year, this accom-
plished photographer
and longtime Legion-
naire (12 years of con-
tinuous service) spends
thousands of hours doc-
umenting the activities and accomplish-ments of Berwick’s American Legion
Post. In this key position, Bob serves as
the Post 79’s official photographer, cap-
turing presentations, special events and
activities at dozens of local and regional
locations throughout the state. Bob’s pho-
tographs have captured major Post initia-
tives and are published routinely in vari-
ous Maine and New Hampshire newspa-
pers.
Although the American Legion refers to these post histories as “Scrapbooks”,
the finished product assembled by Legion
historians more closely resemble photo
albums or history books. The English idi-
om a “picture is worth a thousand words”
tends to overlook the fact that the “action”
in most photos often requires explanation.
It falls to the historian to “fill in the blanks”, adding the “who, what, when,
where and why” that completes the pro-
verbial picture. To adequately “tell the
story”, historians have to call on their
writing skills and com-
puter skills to compile
and assemble the fin-
ished product. Photo
captions don’t tell the
whole story – that addi-
tional level of detail provided by Bob Place
is what makes his histo-
ry album a winning en-
try!
In addition to his work
for the American Le-
gion, Bob is a member
of South Berwick’s Vet-
erans of Foreign Wars
(VFW) Post 5744,
where he serves at VFW
Post Historian. He is also a member of the famous Pease Greeters. Bob, who served
his country in the United States Army, has
personally been there at Pease Internation-
al Trade Port in Portsmouth, New Hamp-
shire to meet hundreds of flights, greeting
and thanking the many military men and
women traveling to or returning from
overseas.
In 2012, Bob’s Post scrapbook placed
second at the National level and this
year’s winning entry has been sent to the American Legion headquarters in Indian-
apolis, Indiana, where we are hoping for a
first place win. Congratulations Bob and
best of luck at the national level!
ENJOY A SAFE
L A B O R D AY September 5, 2016
T he 98th Annual State Conven-
tion concluded on Saturday
afternoon, June 18, with our
Sweepstakes drawing, which saw
four of our Legionnaires win the
following amounts: William Alai-
mo, Richmond Post 132, $3,500
(Grand Prize Winner); Arthur E.
Demmons, Skowhegan Post 16,
$1,000 and Donald Morin, Water-
ville Post 178, $500.
Americanism Awards: A number of Americanism awards were
presented by Americanism Officer Kirk Thurston to various American Legion
Posts at the Annual State Convention in Bangor on June 18. Some Post
Officers receiving this award are pictured here.
Award Delegate's
Name
Dirigo
Town
Maine Town
Boys Nation Delegate #1 Quinn Stewart Ames Scarborough
Boys Nation Delegate #2 Joshua Burns Cutler Country of Norway
Boys Nation Alternate #1 Alexander Foster Williamson Camden
Boys Nation Alternate #2 Max Russell, IV Williamson Sidney
James Boyle Winner Quinn Giustra Lindoln New Sharon
James Boyle Alternate Noah Oja Ames Standish
Alexander LaFleur Winner Cameron Wilson King Augusta
Alexander LaFleur Alternate John Saffian Lincoln Cumberland
Peter Feeney Award Thomas Carmack Parris Veazie
Samsung Scholarship Matthew Strout Williamson Sabattus
Governor Quinn Stewart Ames Scarborough
Senate President Joshua Burns Cutler Country of Norway
Speaker of the House Alexander Foster Williamson Camden
Chief Justice Ravi Patel Ames Yarmouth
Municipal Best Citizens
Ames Matthew Maguire Wales
Cutler Max Heathco Freeport
Hall Alexander Misner Waterville
Hunton Gabriel Roig Augusta
King Matt Bragdon Millinocket
Lincoln Jeffrey Bilodeau Augusta
Parris Thomas Carmack Veazie
Williamson Edward Dechaine Madawaska
Best Exam Matthew Leach Cutler Hermon
Boys’ State 2016 Award Winners
First Women Veteran’s Luncheon in Augusta Area
A Great Success!
A s part of the Women Veteran’s Ad-
visory/Action Committee, the plan
was to have at least four events for wom-
en veteran’s during the year. This year’s committee includes: Deb Couture, Chair-
woman; Joy Bordeau, Brenda Dearborn,
Sarah Glynn, Gloria Hall, Eileen Kraw-
czyk, Catherine Merrill, Ramona Nara-
gon, Judy Otis, Elaine Scanlon, Alley
Smith, Tricia Thurston, and Caroline Yar-
mala. We have many areas of the State of
Maine represented but I would still like to
see some women veterans from
Aroostook, Penobscot, Washington, Pis-
cataquis, and other northern and eastern counties represented. If you are a member
of the American Legion and would like to
participate, please email me at navycap-
tpomi0031@gmail.com.
Our Facebook page is called “Women
Veteran’s Advisory Committee Dept of
Maine”. Please like us on facebook. We
hope to get the word out for our events
through this page and through the Smile
and the Maine Legionnaire. I would also
like to put together an email group with
women veteran’s email addresses that can
be used to send out information. I have
about 90 names and email addresses that I
received from those who registered and/or
attended the Augusta Women Veteran’s
Luncheon on April 30th. If you would
like your name to be added to this group
to receive any updates on women veter-
an’s events, please send your name and
address to my email account listed in the
first paragraph. After attending the Wom-
en Veteran’s Appreciation Luncheon in
Rumford for several years, I wanted to
attempt to hold one in the Augusta area. I live in West Gardiner and am a member
of Post #181 in Litchfield. Preparations
began in summer, 2015. The date was set
for April 30, 2016. After many months of
planning and organizing, April 30th final-
ly arrived. The first big thank you goes to
Veterans Memorial Post #205, Augusta,
their adjutant Don Demers and member
Bob Emery. Bob was there at a moment’s
notice to help with updating the signs,
making sure that everything was in order for decorating, and helping us to get the
space organized for the event.
With the help of many, the day was a
great success. Our one “lesson learned”
was to take the pictures earlier in the day
so that all attendees would be in the pic-
tures and we could get the names of all
who were in the pictures. We had over
70 women veterans registered to attend.
Women Vets Luncheon Speakers and Volunteers: Left to right, Vol-
unteers George Thomson and Greg Couture, Post 181 Litchfield; Event Organ-
izer Deb Couture; Guest speaker Representative Gay Grant; Speaker Laura
Allen - State of Maine - Bureau of Veteran's Services; Speaker Deo Lauria -
American Legion Dept. Service Officer; Volunteers Deputy Jess Poulin and
Cpl. Ivano Stefanizzi - Kennebec County Sheriff's Office; Event Organizer
Denise Emery; Dept. Service Officer Assistant Eileen Krawczyk; and Speaker
LaRhonda Harris - Togus Women Vets Coordinator.
More on FEMALE VETERANS, Page 21
Boys State Governor: Diri-
go Boys State Governor Quinn Stewart,
Dirigo town of Ames, Maine town of
Scarborough talks briefly about his expe-
rience at Boys State to delegates, parents,
and guests at the graduation ceremony
held at Thomas College on June 24.
Congratulations!: Newly
elected Department Commander
gives a congratulatory speech to The
American Legion Dirigo Boys State
Class of 2016.
20 THE MAINE LEGIONNAIRE, AUGUST 2016
THE MAINE LEGIONNAIRE, AUGUST 2016 21
A total of 94 people attended the event.
We had wonderful door prizes that were
donated by Longfellow’s Greenhouse in
Manchester, Maine. Our morning coffee
and donuts were donated by Dunkin Do-
nuts of Gardiner, Maine with fruit from
Shaw’s of Augusta. We thank all these
businesses for their donations that helped
to make this event a success.
No event can succeed without all the
volunteers who donate their time and en-ergy to help with food preparation, set up
and clean up, and the many other things
that make any event a success. Besides
those who are pictured in our 2 volunteer
pictures, I want to also thank those who
may have had to leave before the pictures
were taken. They include our kitchen and
food preparation staff – Denise Emery
(Post 181), Phyllis Meunier, Molly Alex-
ander (Post 181 Auxiliary), Rebecca Mali-
nowski (my daughter), and Roger McLane
(Post 181); our registration staff - Nikki Farnham and Kathryn Alexander (Post
181 Auxiliary); Ande Smith and his son
who helped to serve lunch; photographer
Amanda Boyce (my daughter), the entire
Emery family who assisted with clean-up;
Phil Meunier who assisted with set-up and
clean-up; and Xandra and Derek Mali-
nowski and Isaac and Anthony Boyce who
helped to set-up, sell 50/50 tickets and t-
shirts and assisted with the door prize
drawings. If I have missed anyone, I sin-cerely apologize and please know that I
am very grateful for all that you did.
The wonderful man and women who
donated their time to “pamper” our wom-
en veterans with haircuts and styles, chair
massages, make-up, and manicures in-
clude Kathie Jermyn, Frank Brown, Kat
Montminy, Katey Matson, Joyce Kimball,
Melanie Brown, and Meg Grantham. Sev-
eral volunteers traveled over 100 miles to
help us. They are all wonderful and were
definitely the most popular people at the luncheon that day.
Our speakers included State Repre-
sentative Gay Grant, District 83; Deo Lau-
rias, American Legion Department Ser-
vice Officer; LaRhonda Harris, VA Togus
Women Veteran’s Coordinator; Laura
Allen, State of Maine Bureau of Veteran’s
Services; and Lorna Hatch, VA Togus
Director of Volunteer Services. Gay also
sang the State Spangled Banner at the
beginning of the event. In addition to our speakers, we had 8
information tables. These groups included
representatives from Senator Collin’s and
King’s offices and Representative
Poliquin’s and Pingree’s offices; the
American Legion Department Service
Office; and various other veterans’ organi-
zations who answered questions and sup-
plied pamphlets and information to our
women veteran’s. Thank you to all of
them.
The next Women Veteran’s Lunch-eon will be held in Belfast on September
24th. If you are interested in attending or
have questions about that event, please
contact Judy Otis at neotispaint-
ing@roadrunner.com .
The 4th Annual Women Veteran’s
Luncheon in Rumford will be held on
November 19th. Tricia Thurston is lead-
ing that event. If you have any questions
or would like to attend that event, please
contact Tricia at tri-cia425@roadrunner.com .
I hope to see you at these upcoming
events.
Thank you to all who have served our
great country. Stay safe and God Bless. Debra Couture, Dept. Americanism Officer
Women Veteran’s Advisory/Action Committee
Chairwoman
Women Vet
Luncheon
Volunteers: Volunteers
who "pampered" the women
vets with haircuts, manicures,
facials, and shoulder massag-
es: Left to right, Kathie
Jermyn, Frank Brown, Kat
Montminy, Katey Matson,
Joyce Kimball, Melanie
Brown, and Meg Grantham. Marine Veterans: Linda Pfaffinger, Linda Withee, Melis-
sa Hepburn, Alley Smith (Missing from photo: Rita Chase)
Navy Veterans: Trish Thurston, Joy Asuncion, Cheryl Cromwell, Judy
Otis, Sandy Kent, Deb Couture, Brenda Thomas, Kris Prindle, Rachel Putnam.
(Missing from picture: Phyllis Meunier, Cynthia Anthony, Jodie Clark, Linda
Gero, Amy Line, Patricia Marvin, Alicia Barnes, Brenda Thomas, and Mary
Whetstone).
Airforce Veterans: Della Gleason, Michele Webb, Amanda
Gleason, Candy Lucore, Jessica Calvillo, Maureen Malley, Vi East-
man, Norma Bondeson, Ramona Naragon, Cheryl McKenney, Ann
Marie Murphy-Heun. (Missing from picture: Nikki Farnham,
Brenda Dearborn, Eileen Krawczyk, Joan Sutter, Josephine
Warmkessel, and Michelle Bishop).
Army Veterans: “Mike” Wilson, Unknown, Charlotte Forest, Margaret
Williams, Unknown, Joyce Fleming, Phillipa Gilmore, Barbara Kasiola, Deb
Morrison, Connie Shields, Diane Bergstedt, Rolande Raymond, Sandra
Thornton, Gloria Lavertu, Farleen Smith, Kattrina Sangillo. (Missing from pic-
ture or could not be identified: Bethany Mazzaro, Madeline Littlefield, Aaron
Greene-Morse, Michelle Weymouth, Angie Blevins, and Patricia St. Laurent).
Female Veterans (Continued from Page 20)
Lunch Is Served: Ande Smith (USN,
Ret) and Cpl. Ivano Stefanizzi (Kennebec
County Sheriff’s Office) help to serve lunch.
VA Togus Director of
Volunteer Ser-
vices
Lorna Hatch,
speaks to at-
tendees on the
VA Togus’
150th Anni-
versary events
planned for
Sept. and
Nov., 2016.
Kennebunk Post 74
Flag Retirement
Ceremony: Members of the
Webber-Lefebvre American
Legion Post 74 hosted a Flag
Retirement Ceremony on July
16. Present were: Post Com-
mander Dennis Lamontagne,
Post Finance Officer Brian
McBridge, Post Adjutant Mary
Nutting, Sgt. At Arms Breen
Savage, Lee Cross, Ken Kings-
ley, Dennis & Carol Dalton &
Paul Gregoire. Also assisting
from Boy Scouts of America
Troop 304 were Dean Raymond,
Asst. Scoutmaster, Lorraine
Swenson, Merit Badge Coordi-
nator and Life Scout Casen
Luck.
Portland Post 17: Members of Post 17, Port-
land put out 1500 flags on
veterans' graves in the For-
est City Cemetery in South
Portland on May 24-26 .
Front row left to right, Jack
Kuntz, Commander of Post
17 Paul Avery, Bob Wright,
Ninzy Griffin. Back row,
left to right, Tom O'Con-
nor, Joe Rich, Bill Chittick,
Bucky Mulkern, Bruce
Meyer, and Mike Ferrante.
Photo By Thomas O'Connor
Vietnam Veterans of Wind-
ham Post 148 members Henry
"Chuck" Whynot and George
Bragg lay a wreath during the cere-
monies which included the tolling of
the bell as the names were read for
each KIA Veteran, Marine Corp
league rifle honors and taps. The
Post raised over $7000 for the Me-
morial and the pavers. Open for all
at the Center Memorial garden.
Naples
Riders
Chapter 155 have been busy
rebuilding a 1986
Navy surplus
truck and build-
ing a tug boat
from scratch to
raffle. All pro-
ceeds from the
raffle of this boat
go to suicide pre-
vention, homeless Vets, and the legacy fund.
Left to right, Jeff Gordon , Bob Ellis, Tom
Reynolds, Skip Brown, Bill O'Neil, Line
Mulcahy, Don Mulcahy, Vinny Yedynak ,
John Leisering and Michelle Mulcahy as
Sparky.
Windham Post 148 Memorial Day
program at the Windham Veterans Center.
Dedication of the Vietnam War 50th Anni-
versary Commemorative project with the
dedication of a Vietnam Memorial for those
KIA from Cumberland County during the
Vietnam Conflict.
22 THE MAINE LEGIONNAIRE, AUGUST 2016
Ramsdell Rogers Post 56, York Maine
“Elmer’s Story” (A mix of facts and fiction concerning Elmer and the creation
of the American Legion. Elmer is fictitious)
E lmer was born
on a farm just
outside of York Vil-
lage Me in the early 1900’s. He lied about
his age, (as many
did), to be able to
register for the “war
to end all wars”. He
wasn’t looking for-
ward to the fight but
he felt it was his duty
as an American to
fight to insure peace
for generations to come.
He joined the U.
S. Army and became
a member of the AEF, (American Expedi-
tionary Forces). He was sent to France
and fought the Germans in two cam-
paigns; Battle of Verdun and at the
Somme.
When the war was over, he was anx-
ious to come home to Maine. It seemed
that the Army rushed thousands of troops
to France but when it came time to come home – many, including Elmer had to
wait. This and other issues led to a seri-
ous morale problem among the troops.
Unbeknownst to Elmer; Lt. Col. The-
odore Roosevelt Jr., (son of the former U.
S. President), and several other army men
met in Paris to create a veterans organiza-
tion to help address the morale problem.
This eventually became the American
Legion.
Returning home in 1920 – Elmer didn’t care to talk about his war experi-
ences – but did find solace in the compa-
ny of other veterans.
He soon found out that there was an
American Legion Post in York Village called the Edward E. Ramsdell Post # 56.
He joined and worked to support veter-
an’s causes and wore his AEF uniform
with his WWI discharge pin and Ameri-
can Legion patch to parades and memori-
als.
In 1936, the American Legion adopt-
ed a uniform. It was quite expensive and
Elmer worked with the post setting aside
some of his earnings like a Christmas club
to afford it. He was proud of his blue uni-form with gold striping and the American
Legion patch on the collars. He put his
WWI discharge pin over his left pocket,
(that pin became the inspiration for the
American Legion symbol), and the town
name and the state of Maine symbol on
his left shoulder.
He attended several conventions and
was amused to find out that when a com-
rade wanted to know where the unofficial
“after parties” were they would ask anoth-
er a comrade “Where’s Elmer?” He wore his three favorite Maine state convention
medals on his uniform. They are: 1934
Old Orchard Beach, (looks like a shell),
1937 Bangor, Me., (Looks like a canteen),
and 1946 Lewiston, (Round with shaking
hands).
Before Elmer passed, he donated his
uniform to be displayed at his beloved
post. Donald G. Hands
Post Historian Ramsdell Rogers Post 56
June 2016
District 2
WHAT’S HAPPENING IN YOUR DISTRICT...
District 1
WHAT’S HAPPENING IN YOUR DISTRICT...
District 3
WHAT’S HAPPENING IN YOUR DISTRICT...
Visit To Turner
Post 111: Leading
Candidate for National
Commander Charles
Schmidt visits Turner
Post 111 during his visit to
the Department of Maine
o May 14. Left to right,
Post 111 Commander
Kenneth Finley, Charles
Schmidt, NEC Ramona
Naragon, and Dept. Adju-
tant Paul L’Heureux.
Photo By: Bonnie Smith
Sabattus Post 135 Installation: Legion Officers, back row, left to
right, Amedeo Lauria, Anthony “Tony Culpovich, Ron Caron, Don Caron,
Ronie Ray, Douglas “Bruce” Smith, David Devoe, Jim Rancourt, Gordon Smith
and Don Gosselin. Auxiliary Officers front row, left to right, Joan Fournier,
Nancy Ray, Joan Caron, Jen Caron, Debra Devoe and Teresa Bradford. Missing
from the photo, Denise Michaud.
Auxiliary
Unit 112
Installation
Of 2016-2017
Officers: Front
row, left to right,
Lois Witham-
Chaplin, Apryl
Kennison,-Sgt-at-
arms, Tracy Tib-
betts-2nd Vice,
Donna Tripp-1st
vice and Ethel
Lacourse-
Secretary/
Treasurer. Middle
row, left to right, Jeannette Conover-Executive Committee, and Jan Spencer-
Executive Committee. Back row, left to right, Bunny Greenlaw-Installation Of-
ficer and Past Department President, Debbie Marr-Installation Officer and Past
Department President, Linda Jack incoming President Unit 112, Sis Littlefield-
Stand Down Chairperson and Eleanor Heidrich-Executive Committee.
THE MAINE LEGIONNAIRE, AUGUST 2016 23
Livermore Falls Post 10 members gather at the Jay War Memorial on
July 4th, making this their 8th consecutive year to hold their Flags High in Pride
of our Nation’s 240th Birthday and for the men and women who are serving or
have served around the world in our military and for families who are awaiting
their return. Left to right, Carlene Davenport and her husband Eric- Navy,
Charles Bennett- Army, Donald Simoneau- Army, Reggie Tardif- Army and Air
Force, Mike Chase- Air Force, and Tracy Wiggin- Navy.
M y alarm went off at
five O’clock and I
reluctantly opened one eye.
Why was I doing this, tor-turing myself on a holiday?
Then in a flash it came to
me, it was Memorial Day, a
day to honor all our vets,
and I had to be at the
American Legion Post
Home by six O’clock. The
Legion had a big day
planned, seven cemeteries’
to visit and honor those
who served, The oldest plot we visited was a Sailor named ‘John Blake’ Born
1732m Died 1839. We said some words
of ‘Remembrance’ to let
them know we hadn’t for-
gotten their sacrifice. Then,
performed the traditional 21 gun salute, and then Glen
Simard, our bugler, played
Taps.
Our next stop was the Lis-
bon Bridge over the Sa-
battus River to throw a
wreath of remembrance out
into the river. This honor
was carried out by the
American Legion Post 158
Honor Guard, Legion President Glenn Simard and Auxiliary President Mary
Call.
A Day as a Post Historian Lisbon Post 158 Making a Difference on a Special Day
21 Gun Salute: Lisbon Post 158
members perform a 21 gun salute. Left
to right, Rene Dubois, Armand Mar-
couillier, Harley Simard, Jack
LaChance, Ron Saindon, Dave Wilson
and Bugler, Glenn Simard.
Wreath of Remembrance: Lisbon Post 158 Honor Guard carry
out the Wreath of Remembrance
Ceremony on Memorial Day at the
Lisbon Bridge over the Sabattus
River.
District 5
WHAT’S HAPPENING IN YOUR DISTRICT...
District 5 continued
WHAT’S HAPPENING IN YOUR DISTRICT...
Donation Helps Displaced Residents: Anderson Staples Post 112
Commander Randy Jack, left, and Ed Murphy Jr, 1st Vice Commander/
Adjutant and representing Auxiliary Unit 112, right, present EMA Director Al-
lyson Hill two checks totaling $500 to assist the displaced residents of the Oxford
Meadows apartment complex fire which claimed the life of one elderly resident.
Camden Post 30 Recognition Ceremony: Sitting, left to right,
Don Frye Post 30, Manley Bailey, Thomas Christie Post 30, Frank Stearns Post
30, Harry Grant, Everett Fizer Post 30 & Robert Vroom. Second Row, standing,
left to right, Scott Paradis Dept of Maine 2nd Vice Commander, Ray Lewis Post
30 & District 6 Commander, Jeff Sukeforth Post 30 Adjutant, Joe Kirk Post 34,
David Masalin Post 30, Fred Reinke, Robert Heavisides Post 1, Walden Chan-
dler District 6 Chaplain, Bob Annis Post 1, Geof Chapman Post 30, & Frank
Carr Post 30 Commander. Third row ,left to right, Raymond Simonton and
James Robinson Post 34.
Anderson Staples
Post 112 SAL
Installation Of
Officers: Back, left to
right, Squadron Commander
Brian O’Donnell and Maine
Detachment Adjutant Bruce
Pierce. Front center, Squad-
ron Chaplain Bobby Hartford.
Anderson Staples
Post 112
Installation Of
2016-2017 Post
Officers: Front row,
left to right, Legionnaire
Robert Tripp-Finance
Officer, Legionnaire
Robert Spencer-
Chaplain, Legionnaire
Ed Murphy Jr-1st vice
Commander/Adjutant,
and Legionnaire Joseph
“Rick” Nugent- Service
Officer. Back row, left to
right, Legionnaire Dan
St Pierre-Installing Ser-
geant-at-arms and Commander of Auburn Post 153, Legionnaire Randy Jack-
incoming Commander, and Legionnaire Paul L’Heureux-Installing Officer and
Department Adjutant.
24 THE MAINE LEGIONNAIRE, AUGUST 2016
Certificate Awarded
For 45 Continuous
Years: Legionnaire Gregory
Keene (center) is presented his 45
year continuous member certifi-
cate from Department Adjutant
Paul L’Heureux, right, and in-
coming Post Commander Legion-
naire Randy Jack, left, prior to
Anderson Staples Post 112 instal-
lation of officers.
Concert Supports
Families Of Fallen
Officers: Residents of the
Maine Veterans Home and
the Market Square Health
Care Center enjoy the perfor-
mance of the “High Ryder
Golden Oldies Show” during
a recent “Ted Heidrech Me-
morial Concert” on the
grounds of Anderson Staples
Post 112 Oxford. The concert
third in a series of six scheduled during the summer attracted over 250 people.
Concert goers were encouraged to dress up in the 60’s styles. A portion of the
evening’s proceeds totaling $225 was sent to the Dallas Police Relief Association
in support of the families of the fallen officers of the July 6 shootings.
District 6
WHAT’S HAPPENING IN YOUR DISTRICT...
W ar Memorial Post 30 of Camden hosted a recognition ceremony for Korean
War Veterans on June 25. Fifteen Veterans were recognized with Certificates of Appreci-ation signed by Gov. Paul LePage and also
Sen. Angus King. Congratulatory letters were read from Sen. Susan Collins and Rep. Chellie Pingree. All Veterans received a State of Maine Challenge Coin thanking them as Vet-erans for their service to the state.
A proclamation was recited which had been read into the town minutes by the Cam-den Selectboard and signed by Patricia Finne-
gan/Camden Town Manager, certifying June 25th, 2016 as Korean War Veterans Recogni-tion Day in Camden and surrounding commu-nities. All recognized Veterans were given the opportunity to speak and had some poign-
ant words. One Vet in particular thanked eve-ryone there for this recognition, that it meant a lot to him because it was not until he had been home for 7 years before he was thanked for his service in that war.
Retired Navy Chief Joy Asuncion spoke to everyone on the Maine Honor Flight pro-gram and signed folks up who were interested. Key note speakers were Ray Lewis/Dist 6 Commander and Scott Paradis/Maine Dept. 2nd Vice Commander. A special Korean War POW/MIA Table of Remembrance ceremony was conducted by Commander Carr for the
gathering. Everyone enjoyed a complete baked ham
meal and strawberry shortcake catered by the Masons of Rockport Masonic Center.
Camden Post 30 War Memorial
Recognition Ceremony
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