Yorktown e-Legion Yorktown American Legion Post #1009 Volume No. 1 Issue No. 8 January / February 2009
affecting the Post as well. Today every Legionnaire is watching their spending and trying to save a little for retirement or for the proverbial ‘rainy day’. While gas prices have dropped since the summer highs of last year, they seem to be creeping back up lately. And many of us felt genuine pain when we saw our heating oil bills last winter. Post #1009 is in the same situation as the rest of us. Our Post Financial Officer John McQuillan does an amazing job of keeping our Post financially organized. It is a constant juggling act for John each and every year. Post dues, rentals of our hall and our bar income are Post income which John manages to keep us in the ‘black’. We are fortunate that our hall can be rented out for additional income. Our Post bar provides some income but we’re only open three evenings a week due to a shortage of volunteer bartenders, so not a lot of income comes from there. We try to close any holes in the budget with our Post’s annual 50/50 Raffle each Memorial Day weekend. Just like the rest of you, the Post is basically on a fixed income. Unfortunately our bills are not fixed. Our oil bills were nearly DOUBLE the previous years. The electric, telephone, and insurance companies also have increased their rates this year. With everyone watching their money, we experienced a big drop in the number of party rentals for our hall since last summer. The result? This is the first year in over 13 years that the Post finished up in the RED! That means we used our reserve funds to keep our budget balanced. We used our “rainy day” money for day-to-day operating costs instead of for the fire, flood, or big emergency we tried to save it for. We are not complaining because everyone is in the same situation at home. With everyone’s help we can keep the Post fiscally sound. Paying your annual dues on time is a big help as is prepaying when you say you will attend a function or dinner. When we send out raffle tickets, please take part and support the Post. If you can sell more raffles at work or to family, please do, after all they may win and thank you for it. With our income fixed, our only other option to save the Post money is to pay our essential bills (oil, electric, insurance, telephone) and then select which non-essential costs to cut out. Do we stop our sponsorship of Boy Scout Troop 164 or Cub Scout Pack 251? How about cutting out the Memorial Day Parade? The Veterans Day Parade? Maybe we should not donate to the County Legion parties for the veterans in the wards at the Montrose VA hospital? We really don’t spend your money frivolously. John McQuillan and the Post’s Executive Committee are committed to keeping the Post financially sound. We need everyone’s help during these tight times. Please let us know your thoughts and ideas on what we have done and what we can do to keep our Yorktown Post on solid ground. Legionnaires Help in Toys for Tots Collection Three members of Post #1009 spent a rewarding Holiday season donating some of their time to help needy kids in our area have a better Christmas. Bill Lewis is the Yorktown area coordinator for the Marine Corps Reserve’s Toys for Tots program. Bill spent every day from Thanksgiving to Christmas Eve at the Toys for Tots table in the Jefferson Valley Mall collecting toy and donations. 1st Vice Commander Al Laughlin was seen driving with the ‘Toys for Tots’ banners on his truck picking up and delivering toys all over Yorktown. He set-up drop-off boxes at local area businesses and then went around the route like Santa in reverse, picking up the donated toys. This year, Bill recruited Pat McDonough from the Post to help out also. Pat set-up donation jars at local businesses and then collected the donations for the Toys for Tots Program. These three motivated Marines gave up a little time and made a difference in the life of children who really needed it. Great Job Guys! Yorktown H.S. Invites Veterans Today’s youth don’t appreciate everything that they have in their everyday lives often taking it all for granted. Veterans are keenly aware of what they enjoy in their lives after their personal experiences with sacrifice while serving in the military. One teacher in Yorktown HS contacted the Post and asked if a veteran would be willing to impart his or her experiences regarding sacrifice in the military. This teacher wanted to help her students understand this concept. Post Public Relations Officer Patrick McDonough visited the school and spoke with 5 classes of 11th graders. He explained to them the sacrifices begin in boot camp where thoughts on privacy, movement and personal appearance are changed forever. The classroom discussion helped to answer many of the student’s questions. Hopefully this left them with a better understanding of what their peers are going through in Iraq and Afghanistan right now. The teacher was grateful for the visit and hopes to team up with the Post to do it again for next year’s classes. Patrick is looking to put together a list of Post members who would be willing to participate in any possible future school presentations. We have three high schools, two middle schools and eleven elementary schools in our town that could benefit from visits from our Legionnaires. Let Pat know if you’d be interested in this at 914- 953-6807, or through the Post website at patmcdonough@nylegion1009.org. Post Parade Committee Needs Volunteers – NOW! As of this time there is no Memorial Day Parade being organized for Yorktown this year! For the last many years Bill Lewis has put this parade together and run it smoothly. He also organized and ran the Shrub Oak Veterans Day Parade for years. Back in September this SEVENTY YEAR OLD Legionnaire announced that he would no longer be able to organize the Memorial Day Parade anymore. He is willing to advise a Committee on the fine points of organizing the parade so that a smooth transition can occur. We, the Post and the Town, need two or more volunteers to take over the planning and running of this parade. The work entails mailing out letters inviting units to march, securing the parade permit, and following the lead of previous line- ups on parade day. One person can do it, but two or more makes it easy work for each of you. Please volunteer now so the parade won’t be cancelled this year! |
Thursday Feb 12 Post General Meeting 7:30 PM Tuesday Mar 3 Exec. Committee Mtg 7:00 PM Wednesday Mar 11 County Legion Mtg Post #1009 7 PM Thursday Mar 12 Post General Meeting 7:30 PM Wednesday Mar 25 VA Montrose Party in Ward 4 a/b @ 7 PM Thursday Apr 9 Post General Meeting 7:30 PM Yorktown Post #1009 235 Veterans Road Yorktown Hts, NY 10598 (914) 962-2843 www.nylegion1009.org |