Happy New Year to all! To start the new year, the Post is having our annual recognition dinner on Feb. 3, social from 5:30 p.m. with dinner starting at 6. This dinner is open to all Legionnaires, their guests, and anyone interested in the American Legion. We will have the students who represented the area last year in the Boys State and Girls State programs and our candidate who represented us in the state’s oratorical contest. We will also have guests from the Department’s American Legion joining us. So, I hope my fellow Legionnaires, their families, and friends of the American Legion will attend. If you plan on attending, call Dave Patch at 751-5672 or email dapatch@roadrunner.com.

Suicide is always a difficult subject. It is the 10th leading cause of death in the United States. Twenty veterans die by suicide in this country every day. In Maine last year, 50 veterans committed suicide. Last month, December 2017, the VA and the Maine Bureau of Veteran Services held an all-day symposium addressing this issue. It was a call to action for the over 300 who attended, even though it was a snow day. Post 36 participated in the symposium and will be participating in this “call to action,” working with others in the community, addressing this horrific issue. Stay tuned for more information and how you can help.

Boys State and Girl State selections will be coming soon. This is an opportunity for our local high school juniors to attend this week long event at either Thomas College (Boys) or Husson University (Girls) where they not only learn about local, state and the federal governments, they actually participate. More information will be provided in the future, but any interested high school junior should contact their student counselors. The Post will soon be soliciting financial assistance to allow all interested students to attend.

I will be attending the American Legion National meeting in Washington, D.C. where we will be on the Hill talking to our representatives. Anyone who would like a veteran issue(s) brought to the attention of our state’s leadership in D.C., please send me an email at dapatch@roadrunner.com.

Hope to see many of you at our dinner on Feb. 3. Don’t forget to RSVP … if you do forget, come anyway.