American Legion is struggling here

American Legion Greene County Post 128 in Stanardsville is in trouble.

“I wish I could report all is well but alas it is not,” Commander Carl Shifflett wrote for the Post’s February newsletter.

Last fall, Shifflett said there was dissension in the ranks.

“Nobody can agree as to fundraisers, and when one does get the nod, there aren’t enough volunteers,” Shifflett said. And, while membership – now at 72 active—is down, some of those who have considered joining have been discouraged from doing so.

“Their young children got on the nerves of some of our older members,” said Shifflett.

Competition on Veterans Day 2009 was telling.

Little more than 40 citizens attended the Post’s annual ceremony, while nearly 60 veterans and active duty military personnel participated in a morning of appreciation put on by staff and students at the Ruckersville Elementary School. And, about 80 people attended a Veterans Day dinner at Four Seasons Active Adult community in Ruckersville.

Ordinarily, the Legion’s annual ceremony is held at Court Square in Stanardsville, but last year it was rained out. As a result, it was held indoors, at the Post’s building on Madison Road and lacked its normal fanfare—the presence of the William Monroe Band, the Boy Scouts, and fired salutes.

Still: veterans who might otherwise have been at the Post took their places of honor center stage at Ruckersville Elementary while children gathered to thank them for their service with poems, music, dance and gifts.

According to a report published in the Greene County Record November 19, guests there were family of students and staff, friends and local residents.  “Veterans reflected all branches of the United States armed forces and were veterans of wars from World War II through Korea, Vietnam and current conflicts,” the report said.

The event at Four Seasons was not so much planned to celebrate Veterans Day as it was a celebration of the occasion at a planned event. “We have a monthly dinner at the clubhouse. The theme for this month was Veterans’ Day,” resident Marty Cavanagh told the Record last fall. And yet: “Many in the community did a lot of preparation to make this a success,” said Cavanagh.

The ceremony at Four Seasons included a presentation of the colors by the Color Guard from American Legion Post 74 in Charlottesville. And, “we had multiple displays of memorabilia belonging to residents who served in all branches of the military,” Cavanagh said.

Cavanagh describes the veterans group at Four Seasons as, overall, “just me and Joe Orsini.” Nevertheless, “the response to our first Veterans’ Day affair was overwhelming,” he said last fall. “We plan to make it an annual tradition.”
But at the Post: “We still need someone to step forward to fill the Adjutant’s job,” Shifflett wrote in the newsletter.

According to the American Legion Adjutant’s manual, the adjutant holds the same relative position in the Post as the secretary of any other organized body – and a little more.  In addition to keeping membership records and minutes of meetings, publishing official records, announcements and instructions, the adjutant assists with the work of officers and committees.

And there are financial concerns: At the end of September, the Greene County Taxpayers’ Association did not renew the lease it had held on the Post’s building for six years, which paid the Post about $650 for rent and utilities each month.

At the time the lease expired Shifflett was in favor of keeping the building under the control of the Post. It was suggested that the financial gap left by the Association rent might be filled by inviting local musicians – amateurs and professionals—to come jam at the Post a couple of Friday nights a month. They would have a place to jam and the public would be able to hear them play– for an entry fee in the form of a donation.
Now, the Post is considering stopping those sessions: “Donations have hit rock bottom and gas and electric have jumped up, so we’re considering stopping the Bluegrass Friday nights,” Shifflett wrote in the newsletter.
He has also been rethinking his stand on maintaining control of the building. “It has been rented out twice in February, once in April and once in June,” Shifflett wrote. “Rent is $250 each time it is rented, so maybe renting it out is not a bad idea.”

According to its national Web site, The American Legion was chartered and incorporated by Congress in 1919 as a patriotic veterans organization devoted to mutual helpfulness. It is the nation’s largest veterans’ service organization, committed to mentoring and sponsorship of youth programs in our communities, advocating patriotism and honor, promoting a strong national security, and continued devotion to servicemen and veterans.

“I pray for the Post,” said Shifflett.