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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


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


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


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-

[email protected].

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.



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-

[email protected] .

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 [email protected] .

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.


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


District 3


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.


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


District 5 continued


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.


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


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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