Our National Commander

Post Commander Jerry Corey, right, receives

National Commander James Koutz'

autographed photo at a recent event in May, 2013,

at Sioux Falls Post 15 post home.

Minutes - June, 2013

Legionnaires Discuss Memorial Details

by Fred Lee (fotofred4u@q.com)

The William H Crippen Post 62 held their regular meeting on Monday, June 3rd, with nine members present. The Commander was absent and the meeting was conducted by Vice Commander Charles Dubbe. At the beginning of our meeting, we had two individuals from Mollet Memorials give a presentation to the membership. Marion Mollet and Allen Schrag gave us some ideas on constructing a memorial in Humboldt. After their presentation, we continued our meeting. We had the salute to the Flag and the Pledge of Allegiance. Minutes and treasurer’s report from the previous meeting were read and approved. Service Officer Ken Struck stated no one was currently on sick call.

Francis Sieverding gave the group a report on the flag poles and after  some discussion we will be leaving the price at $100 per flag pole. We recently finished installing more inserts for the flag poles. There was also a motion to pay the extra cost of the poles we recently purchased. We also discussed our Memorial Day activities and everyone agreed that, except for the rainy and cloudy weather, it was a success.

Charles Dubbe made an Americanism report. He said he had discussed our Boys States expenses with the Hartford Commander and together they thought it would be fair if these expenses were shared by the Posts. That was made into a motion at the meeting. He also stated he had been in contact with an organization called ‘The Daughters of the American Revolution’ with regard to our Oratory program. He also reported on giving awards at Graduation at West Central school.

There was some discussion on who the delegates would vote for at the convention and also who would be going. Commander Jerry Corey, Fred Lee and Charles Beck said they would  be going to the convention. It will be on the first weekend of June this year in Rapid City.

Charles Beck attended Blue Cap day in Aberdeen during Boys State activities. He reported on the day’s activities to everyone present. He had a grandson and two great nephews present there this year.

Douglas Meyer and Charles Beck reported on the National Commander’s visit to the area.

Before the meeting ended, there was some discussion on our memorial plans.

After these discussions, the meeting was adjourned.

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Auxiliary Report

by Donna Beck

The William H Crippen American Legion Auxiliary Unit 62 held their regular meeting Monday, June 3rd. The meeting was called to order by President Connie Meyer with eleven members present.  Our Girls Staters, Jenna Mammenga and Alanna Schmeichel, and their mothers, were our guests. We said the Pledge of Allegiance, sang our National Anthem and recited the Preamble to our Constitution.

Alanna and Jenna told us they learned about city, county and state governments by being assigned to a mythical political party and city and carrying out the election process in each government and they ran for various offices. Each thanked our unit for sponsoring them.

The minutes and treasures reports of the May 6 meeting were given and approved.

Thank yous were received from Lois Mammenga and Ruby Kramer for prizes they received at the Mothers Tea. Jenna Mammenga’s thank you was for the necklace we gave her. The Sunshine Committee sent a sympathy card to Laynard & Jean Friske and a get well card to Myron Schievelbein.

Memorial Day went well. Poppies were given out and there was plenty food for the pot luck lunch.

We will give Fred Lee additional money for newsletter expenses and share the registration fee with the Hartford Auxiliary for the girl that went to Girls State Journalism City.

We will take a cookbook to the silent auction at the State Convention in Rapid City in June.

The Executive Board will meet Wednesday, June 5th, to set up the committees for the coming year.

The meeting was adjourned. Barb Bassett won the door prize. Lunch was served by Carol Lee and Dianne Struck.

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Memorial Day 2013

Memorial Day 2013

Even on a cloudy and rainy day, they look great.

The sun even came out briefly in the afternoon. 

Tommy Holdahl and Dave Froke
(Click on either photo to get the full effect)

National Commander in Garretson

James Koutz, the National Commander of The American Legion, was in Garretson SD and addressed the need for continuing support from the Legion for veterans, as well as to women who are members of the Legion and to veterans and communities across the nation.

Minutes - May, 2013

Legionnaires Plan Memorial Day

by Fred Lee (fotofred4u@q.com)

The William H Crippen Post 62 held their regular meeting on Monday, May 6, with twelve members present. We had the salute to the Flag and the Pledge of Allegiance. Minutes and treasurer’s report from the previous meeting were read and approved. Our Service Officer was not present, and no one was reported on sick call. Legion member Jim Harden, who lives in Florida, had been in the hospital, and is now at home and Gib Bassett had an overnight stay in the VA.

Most of the meeting was spent discussing our Memorial Day activities. This year Memorial Day will be observed on Monday, May 27th, with the program starting at 10:30 am in the Community Center. Flag poles will be put up on Friday, May 24th, at 5 pm. We will load the poles at the Hentges farm and proceed to the cemeteries. On Memorial Day, we will receive flags at the cemeteries at 7 am, set up chairs around 8 am for the program at 10:30 am. There will be a Community potluck following there at noon. Please bring a dish to share.

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Auxiliary Report

by Donna Beck

The William H Crippen American Legion Auxiliary Unit 62 held their regular meeting Monday, May 6th. The meeting was called to order by President Connie Meyer with thirteen members present.  The secretary and treasurer’s reports were given.

A thank you was received from Children’s Care Hospital for our donation. Dept President Barb Vetter thanked us for hosting the Dist 7 meeting and gift she received.The Schartz family thanked us for the help with their expenses to the National Oratory contest. Rachel thanked us for our encouragement, support and the reception we gave her.

A donation will be given to the Buddy Walk for Down Syndrome awareness. Six poppy wreaths were redone for Memorial Day and the pot luck was discussed.

The Garretson Unit invited us to come meet the National Commander at their Post home on May 23 at a 6:30 social hour followed by a supper where he will speak.

Officers were elected. They are: Connie Meyer, President; Connie Lueth, Vice President; Donna Beck, secretary; Sheryl Siemonsma, treasurer; Jean Erickson, Chaplain; Ruby Sundermann, Historian; Molly Stensaas, Parliamentarian; and Kelly Fox and Jackie Lofswold, Sergeant-At-Arms.

The meeting was adjourned. Agnes Even won the door prize. Lunch was served by Rosie Sieverding.

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Department Fundraiser

 Each ticket holder will be eligible for a weekly drawing of $150. You may win as many times as your ticket is drawn during the year. All profits from the fundraiser will be used to upgrade your Department Headquarters.

Here are all the winners!
52nd Week-Paul Setnes, Estelline
51st Week-Al Colgrove, Lemmon
50th Week-Justin Longville, Lake Preston
49th Week-Marvin Walz, Vermillion 
48th Week-American Legion Post 148, Conde
47th Week-Dave Jones, Lake Preston
46th Week-Royce Loesch, Pierre
45th Week-Dennis Wilkerson, Hermosa
44th Week--Francis Karst, Hoven
43rd Week--Lisa Stoltenberg, Pierre
42nd Week--Bob Bender, Hartford
41st Week--Mark Hodges, Lake Preston
40th Week--Mike Tolzin, Lake Preston
39th Week--Kennebec-Reliance Post 179
38th Week--Kahne Hanson, Arlington
37th Week--Larry Zimmerman, Rapid City
36th Week--Leo Reiffenberger, Lake Preston
35th Week--Mary Johnson, Pierre
34th Week--Brent Symens, Willow Lake
33rd Week--Sue Diekmann, Sioux Falls
32nd Week--John Vincent, Lake Preston
31st Week--Martin Post 240, Martin
30th Week--Paul Olson, Presho
29th Week--Lyle DeHaai, Chamberlain
28th Week--Janet Van Sanbeek, Milbank
27th Week--American Legion Post 9, Milbank
26th Week--Pat Coyle, Huron
25th Week--Ryan Hageman, Lake Preston
24th Week--Verlyn Muller, Lennox
23rd Week--Doris Scheuffele, Aberdeen
22nd Week--Charemon Dunham, Iroquois
21st Week--Mark Hodges, Lake Preston
20th Week--Watertown Mounted Color Guard, Watertown
19th Week--Ross Sperry, Blunt
18th Week--Tyler Johnson, Watertown
17th Week--Hugh Holmes, Mitchell
16th Week--Lennox Post 174, Lennox
15th Week--John Vincent, Lake Preston
14th Week--Bill Erhart, Lemmon
13th Week--Bob Byer, Watertown
12th Week--Diane MacDonald, Rapid City
11th Week--Verle Whipple, Martin
10th Week--Gary Lenz, DeSmet
9th Week--Dean Ideker, Sturgis
8th Week--Frank Whipple, Chamberlain
7th Week--Ben Nepodal, Arlington
6th Week--Danny McLauglin, Lake Preston
5th Week--Mike Mullen, Piedmont
4th Week--Carol Edwards, Lead
3rd Week--Sioux Falls Post 15, Sioux Falls
2nd Week--Delores Colgrove, Lemmon
1st Week---Scott Mausbach, DeSmet

National Oratory Finalist

Rachel Schartz is shown here after she

won the American Legion Oratory contest

in Oacoma. State Commander Byron Callies is

on the left and State Americanism Chairman

Fred Nelson is on the right.

Humboldt teenager places third in 
National American Legion Oratorical Contest

by Elizabeth "Sam" Grosz

West Central High School sophomore Rachel Schartz placed third in the National American Legion Oratorical Contest finals held April 21 in Indianapolis, Ind.
Schartz, daughter of Frank and Ann Schartz, Humboldt, is sponsored by William H. Crippen American Legion Post 62, Humboldt. Since last fall, she has advanced from two local contests, a district competition and the state event, culminating in the national event. Her oration was entitled, “Sewing Freedom,” and used references to Betsy Ross stitching the nation’s first flag.
In Indianapolis, her third place award garnered $14,000 in scholarship funds and had received an additional $3,000 in getting to the finals. This was her first year of competition.
“We are very happy for her and congratulate her on this accomplishment,” commented Humboldt Post Adjutant Fred Lee, Sioux Falls.
 The national winner is Agnes Rieger, Kansas City, Mo. Her winning oration, “Let’s Talk About Pennsylvania,” gave her an $18,000 scholarship. Second place, and a $16,000 scholarship, went to Elizabeth Scannell, Goose Creek, S.C., for her oration, “The Constitution: An American Position Description.”
The finalists each presented their eight-to-10-minute oration in front of a large crowd. They also presented a three-to-five-minute speech on an assigned topic, which was a phase of the Constitution drawn by American Legion National Commander James E. Koutz and made known to the contestant five minutes before the time of delivery.
This year’s assigned topic was Article 2, Section 1, Paragraph 5: “No person except a natural born citizen, or a citizen of the United States at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the office of president, neither shall any person be eligible to that office who shall not have attained to the age of thirty five years, and been fourteen years a resident within the United States.”
 For more information, consult www.legion.org/oratorical.