The St Patrick’s Day dinner on March 16 is rapidly approaching. The dinner starts at 5 p.m. and will have the typical St Patrick’s Day menu and a few other surprises as well. Reservations are coming in, so call or text 751-5672 or email at dapatch@roadrunner.com to get on the list. You can also call the Legion Hall at 633-4487 and leave your name and the number in your party. The suggested donation is $10 and will be collected at the door. We are hoping to have a full house!

While we have many veterans in the community who are in the VA system, there are far more that are eligible and not taking advantage what is available. Some feel they have great insurance and/or are on Medicare, co-pays are manageable, so why bother. Others feel they are fine and don’t want to take the VA services away from those who really need it. As one who is retired military with a great healthcare benefits, I know first hand how valuable the VA services are to me. And then there are those veterans who are home but need extra help to manage on a day to day basis, but don’t want to go to an Assisted Living facility. And there are the caregivers for veterans who would really like a little help. Our Post will be hosting a VA seminar on June 8 to address these issues and many more. June 8 was picked because on June 6, the VA will be rolling out the new VA Community Care program. This was mandated by Congress in the VA Mission Act of 2018. One of the key elements of the new program is to significantly expand the availability of Community Care funded by the VA. The VA director of Healthcare and the Director of Benefits will be here to address these issues. In addition, the CEO of the Maine Veterans Homes will be attending and will discuss the services and care available at these homes and the admissions process.

The American Legion is really a family of organizations. The Post members are veterans, the Auxiliary are the spouses, daughters, or granddaughters of veterans, and the Sons of the Legion are the sons or grandsons of veterans. This past year, we reactivated the Auxiliary and it just won a membership award for its rapid growth. Just this month we started the Sons of the Legion. Together we will be able to do great things for the veterans and families in the community and support others in community as well. So, all you sons and grandsons of veterans, join us at our next meeting on March 11, dinner at 5:30 p.m., meeting starts at 6. Hope to see many of you there!