Winter Park Memorial Post 112

4490 North Goldenrod Road Winter Park, FL 32792 www.wpflpost112.org

407.671.6404

See Bob to sign up!

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It is with a heavy heart that we acknowledge that we have lost so many members due to death. Please keep in your thoughts and prayers, as I do daily, those members who have gone to the Eternal Father, this past two months. We must know that we never know when the appointed time of our death will be but we must continue to strive to live to help others. I cannot express enough to our Vice Commander who took the lead in getting the FOUR CHAPLAIN’s service together. With the political atmosphere as it is with those try-ing to be our next Commander In Chief, I hope our next President will look after our past, present and future service personnel. If you have not registered to vote please do so NOW. Let your voice be heard locally and to the state and federal repre-sentatives that we who were willing to SACRIFICE it all, needs to be protected. The new VA Hospital is finally up and running but if you have not regis-tered with the VA then you are not receiving the benefits YOU EARNED. We are currently at 77 percent membership. Our membership year ends in JUNE and if you have not renewed your members please do so NOW. The cost has increased by the amount placed on us by the National and Department during the last con-ventions so please forward your $38.00 to us as soon as possible. Your post is alive and well trying to maintain the four pillars of the American Legion but we need your help. Participation is for every-one not just the officers! I attended the 6th District Oratorical Contest and while our representative finished third, he did a great job. We selected our Boys State representatives at our February meeting. Due to increase in cost we have gone from sending CONTINUED ON PAGE 11

COMMANDER’S MINUTE 2015-2016

Officers

Commander Billy Dover

Vice Cmdr. Gerard (Jerry) Dress

Adjutant Bob Colbert

Finance Officer Dyke Shannon

Sgt. at Arms James Middlekauff

Judge Advocate Neil Paulson, Sr.

Asst. Judge Adv. Terry Brown

Service Officer Ted Costello

Chaplain Robert Smith

Historian James Middlekauff

Sons of the Legion Commander

Bob Colbert

Auxiliary President

Marge Berrios

Sea Cadet Liaison Gerard (Jerry) Dress

Newsletter Editor Nell Colbert

Website http://

www.wpflpost112.org

March—April 2016

Volume 8, Issue 5

Inside this Issue: Page 2 From Jerry’s Table Page 3 Happy Birthday Notes From the Adju-

tant’s Desk Page 4 Advertising Info Page 5 Our Happenin’ Auxiliary Page 6 Sea Cadet Update Page 7 The Sgt-at-Arms Says... Page 8 Sons of the Legion The Chaplain’s Prayers Page 9 Four Chaplain’s Story Page 10 Boys State From the Adjutant's Desk

cont’d from Page 3 Page 11 Commander’s Minute

cont’d from Page 1 S.A.L. Update cont’d from

Page 8 Page 12 Calendar Officers Directory

From Jerry’s Table

Page 2 Newsletter Title

Thank you for all that participated and helped to prepare the post for the FOUR CHAPLAINS Cere-mony which was considered another success. There were a few flaws but it still got the point across that these chaplains and all service personnel are willing and able to give their lives to protect other Americans. There was a collection of $156.00 to be donated the FOUR CHAPLAIN’S CHAPEL in Philadelphia, PA. As always the Centurion Battalion Sea Cadets and their color guard did an excel-lent job. On March 5th there will be a 6th District meeting at the Mt. Dora Post 35 starting at 0900 hours, fol-lowed by the 8th for our General Meeting. Please look at the schedule activities for March and April 2016. Our semi-annual Arts and Craft show will be held and we need help to set up and make it work. This is a big part of our fundraiser to continue the programs going. OPEN HOUSE on the 15th of March from 10 A.M. to 2:00 P.M., to celebrate the 97th birthday of the AMERICAN LEGION. Our Saturday breakfast will be held on the 26th of March from 0800-1100 and we welcome all who can attend. This is especially helpful to honor our veterans from the VA Nursing Home who enjoy breakfast and a break from the VA facility. That day will be followed by our annual Easter Egg Hunt from 2:00 to 5:00 P.M. And ALL ARE WELCOMED. April will start off with the SAL and E-board meeting on the 4th. We will be accepting nominations for ALL positions up for election to operate OUR Post. We need your input and support along with your helping out with our POST. Last but not least I wish to thank the members of FRA who helped prepare our Post for the FOUR CHAPLAINS which is led by our own Sgt. at Arms Middlekauff. With their leadership and attend-ance we were able to complete the program as designed.

year but the card is good for the CALENDAR year. So, your 2015 card is technically expired and other Posts can deny you access should you visit them. What will 2016 hold for us? We have a presi-dential election coming up as well as other state and local elections. These elections will be starting THIS MONTH (March) as the “Primaries” begin here in Florida. While the American Legion WISELY prohibits election campaigning at the Post, it VIGOROUSLY SUPPORTS the membership helping to GET OUT THE VOTE! The act of practicing your right to vote is paramount to a good working de-mocracy. Who you vote for is a personal thing and political discussions at the Post are dis-couraged. A wise person said that he would be happy to discuss anything EXCEPT religion and politics. I did a little quick research to see who said that and was surprised to see it in several places! CONTINUED ON PAGE 10

The new year is off and running! We have al-ready had our annual Four Chaplains Ceremony AND interviewed our Boy’s State candidates! The Four Chaplains ceremony was held on Janu-ary 31st (the closest Sunday to the date of the disaster - FEB 3, 1943) with a good turnout of guests. The pictures and article are located else-where in the newsletter. Congratulations to Vice Commander Gerry Dress for the organization and execution of this event. If you missed the last meeting (FEB) then you didn’t see or hear our candidates! They were AWESOME! Check out Ted’s article and the pic-ture. This year’s candidates showed promise and enthusiasm and we wish them well. Our membership numbers are getting better, but we missed the 100% mark before the end of 2015. Please keep in mind that the membership campaign runs from July 1st of the PRECEDING

Notes From the Adjutant’s Desk

Happy Birthday to YOU! Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday dear ____. Happy Birthday to YOU!

MARCH:

Happy Birthday to YOU!

Page 3 Volume 8, Issue 5

APRIL:

3/4 DiMarion, Anthony

3/4 Miles, Milton

3/6 Sears, Perry

3/7 Smith, Henry, Jr

3/8 Wade, Clyde

3/10 Rosa, Juan

3/11 Brown, Ed

3/12 Massey, Clayton, Jr

3/12 Padgett, Aunita

3/14 Dover, Billy, Jr

3/16 Henriquez, Joseph

3/18 Braga, Cirilo

3/18 Reedy, John, Jr

3/18 Rockwell, Edward

3/21 Swoszowski, Noreen

3/25 Nazario, Rafael

3/26 Carden, James, Jr

3/31 Bonilla, Felix

4/1 Leonard, George, III

4/3 Sprague, Donald

4/5 Reedy, Jerry R

4/5 Squire, Billy, Sr

4/6 Holcomb, Gregory

4/6 Rosado, Antonio

04/07 Epifanio, Agosto

4/8 Azurin, Chester

4/13 Comstock, Charles W 4/17 Briddell, William 4/17 Hanna, Leo 4/22 Leigh, Richard 4/24 Kelly, Patrick

ADVERTISING INFORMATION

Page 4

Copy MUST be emailed to the editor as a jpg or Publisher file but payment MUST be mailed to the Post’s PO Box or hand delivered to the Post by the 15th of the month preceding publication.

COPY DEADLINES: Jan-Feb issue—15December Mar-April issue—15February May-June issue—15April July-August issue—15June September-October issue—15August November-December issue—15October

QUESTIONS—Contact the editor at 407.401.8360 or email nell.colbert@communimatics.com.

Would your business like to advertise in our Post newsletter? This newsletter, with distribu-tion via email and USPS to over 200 members and organizations, is now accepting advertising for our monthly newsletters.

Advertising rates per issue are as follows: Business card size - $ 6.00 (3 3/4"w x 2 1/4"l) 1/4 page - $ 10.00 (3 3/4"w x 4 3/4"l) 1/2 page - $ 18.00 (7 3/4"w x 4 3/4"l or 3 3/4"w x 9 3/4"l) Full page - $ 30.00 (7 3/4"w x 9 3/4"l) If paid in advance for FIVE ISSUES, THE SIXTH ISSUE IS FREE!

Membership renewals for 2016 are now PAST DUE. If you have not yet paid your dues, please bring your check to the March Unit meeting on March 8th, send your check for $30 (Senior dues) or $10 (Junior dues) made payable to Auxiliary Unit 112 to PO Box 2246, Goldenrod, FL 32733-2246 or if you would rather pay by credit card, just go on-line to pay. Please pay your dues today.

Our Unit is thrilled to announce that we were again selected to re-ceive a grant from the Orange County East—Winter Park Rotary Club to help us fund our activities for the 2016-2017 program year. The grant will support our Reading Rockets program, along with our National Education Week program and our other programs that support our Veterans and the community. Nell represented the Unit at an early February Rotary Club meeting to accept a check on be-half of the Auxiliary. Thanks again OCE-WP Rotary for your sup-port.

In January, our members delivered overflowing tubs of school supplies to the three elementary schools we support. Thank you to everyone who brought in supplies to support our school sup-ply drive. It seems that many organizations donate these items in the fall but they forget that when school starts back up after the holidays, those original supplies have long since been de-pleted. Our school supply drive is very much appreciated by the schools we support as all three schools have large homeless populations who depend on donations throughout the year.

In late February, our Unit members interviewed young women from five different high schools who all want to attend Girls State this summer as our delegates. At the time this newsletter had to go to press, the interviews had not yet occurred so watch here for pictures of our candidates in the May-June newsletter.

About 50% of our active members attended the very impressive Four Chaplains ceremony at the end of January and we are looking forward to supporting the Post’s Yard Sale in March and the an-nual Easter Eggs Hunt in April. We will also be well represented at the upcoming 6th District Auxilia-ry meeting on March 5th in Mount Dora.

Wishing everyone a Happy St. Patrick’s Day and a Happy Easter!

Our Happenin’ Auxiliary—Nell Colbert

Page 5

As always, we welcome new ladies who would like to actively support our military, our youth and our community through our community service projects. To become involved, please call Nell at 321.303.7445.

Check out our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/ALA112FL or our website at: www.AmLegionAux112FL.com to see what we’ve been doing.

Sea Cadet Update: Billy Dover

Page 6

since they train on Wednesday and Saturdays outside of drill. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers during the next round of competition on February 27 and 28th. The reason this event is called a Virtual 5K is because your family and friends can par-ticipate from anywhere they live. This 5K can be ran, walked, biked, or roller skated…basically any way they would like to do 3.1 miles! All participants, regardless of loca-tion, receive a commemorative t-shirt and spe-cial dog tag. Our goal is to raise enough money for new uniforms and new equipment along with replacing old worn out uniforms and equipment. http://www.centurionbattalion.org/virtual-5k.html Finally please put on your calendar’s that we invite you to our graduation May 1, 2016 as our special guest. It is our hopes and prayers that these cadets will always remember the sacrific-es you have taken to give us the privilege to live in a free country. Very Respectfully, Centurion Battalion USNSCC Staff.

Thank you to the Men and Women of Winter Park Memo-rial Post 112 for your continued support. During our February drill we prepared for our ANNUAL INSPEC-TION which will oc-cur on 6 MAR 16.

We have also completed our FTX (Field Train-ing Exercise) in which the cadets were taught land navigation along with other tools to help them in the field and in life. A few of the Cadets have been completing community service hours around the post in preparation for the FOUR CHAPLAIN’s service. Those two stumps by the front steps are GONE along with parts of the others. We assisted Vice Commander Dress during the planting of the flowers and cleaning up after the event. The two out of three CYBER PATRIOT teams is still in the running after the 2nd round of compe-tition. We are extremely proud of these cadets

Here are some items of interest from various organizations: The USO at the Orlando International Airport will have a Ribbon Cutting ceremony on June 9th with more details later. The USO is looking for donations and volunteers from area organizations. April 2, 2016 is the Central Florida Navy League’s Wounded Warrior/Lone Sailor 5K run/walk/roll 10K at the Blue Jacket Park. 8 AM start time. For more information; send an e-mail to in-fo@cfnl5K.org . October 12 is the start of a 3 day RTC Reunion event. Contact Tracey Tillman for more information at: 407-630-8940. The Vietnam War Commemoration group is providing Vietnam Veterans with a lapel pin thanking them for their service. Eligibility for this is; Veterans living in the United States that served on active duty in the US Armed Forces from November 1, 1955 to May 15, 1975, regardless of location. Sub-mit your name to the Post Adjutant, who will create a list of names to be submitted. I will then submit this list when it is complete and receive the required number of pins to be presented. The one re-quirement is: you must attend a Post 112 meeting to have the pin properly presented; they will NOT be mailed out.

Florida Vietnam and All Veterans Annual Reunion The Florida Veterans Reunion is one of the largest and longest running veterans reunions in the country. 2016 dates are April 21st to the 24th at Wickham Park 2500 Parkway Dr., Melbourne FL 32935. All veterans young and old are welcome at this event. The Vietnam Traveling Wall will be escorted into the park on April 17th and will be on display until the end of the event. 2016 will be our 29th year. The Vietnam Traveling Memorial, The Some Gave All Moving Tribute, and other static displays will be available for the 4 day event. In 2015 approximately 87,000 people at-tended the event. Food, merchandise vendors and music are available every day. Respectfully, Jim Middlekauff

The Sgt-at-Arms Says ...

Page 7

The Chaplain’s Prayer terday." Do not live in FEAR but know that GOD is with us in every-thing; it is up to us to ALLOW HIM to lead us, through the HOLY SPIRIT. May GOD bless you and keep you and your family safe is my prayer each day. Respectfully, Billy Dover Jr., SAL Chaplain

Romans 12: 1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye pre-sent your bodies a living sac-rifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasona-ble service. SACRIFICE is what those who served in the military did to al-low us the freedom. Each member whether they joined or in many of our time were draft-ed made a sacrifice to defend the U.S. Constitution against both foreign and domestic ene-mies. Many of the Medal of Honor recipient’s received the medal due to their sacrifice in the line of duty. Just as GOD sacrificed his SON for our lives, many of us have sons, daugh-ters and grandchildren doing the same for us. FEAR is never a great thing

however many fear because we are too politically correct. The U.S. Constitution on its amend-ments was written to protect us from living in fear. Sacrifice from our founding fathers to set forth a more perfect union could not be in turned than what was quoted by President Kennedy during his 1961 Inau-gural Address: “Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate.” How are you living your life in FEAR or are you still willing to SACRIFICE for your FAITH, FAMILY and COUNTRY. A quote from John Wayne was: "Tomorrow is the most im-portant thing in life. Comes into us at midnight very clean. It's perfect when it ar-rives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we've learned something from yes-

Son’s of the Legion: Bob Colbert

Page 8 Newsletter Title

or online or conference bridge. Give me a “heads up” that you want to participate remotely and I will have the bridge set up for you. The bridge can accommo-date as many people as want to use it, so it isn’t like a single phone call.

If you do call in, we ask that you “mute” your phone or computer so as not to pick up noises CONTINUED ON PAGE 11

I am proud to say that the Squad-ron has reached its 100% mem-bership goal!

We are planning a “Legion Family Picnic/Membership Drive” for the late summer. The actual date has yet to be pinned down, but we will be able to take advantage of the new and improved pavilion out-side as well as the inside facili-ties. It is going to be open to ALL Post members, Legion, Auxiliary

and Sons, so once we pin the date down, “Y’all come!!”

We will also have Squadron elections coming up in May, and encourage ANY member to run for office! This is truly a “more the merrier” situation and there is always “strength in numbers!” But, enough of the clichés.

Participation in the monthly meeting can be done in person

The Four Chaplains, also sometimes referred to as the "Immortal Chaplains" or the "Dorchester Chaplains", were four United States Army chaplains who gave their lives to save other civilian and military personnel as the troop ship SS Dorchester sank on February 3, 1943, during World War II. They helped other soldiers board lifeboats and gave up their own life jackets when the supply ran out.[The chaplains, George L. Fox, Alexander D. Goode, Clark V. Poling, and John P. Washington, joined arms, said prayers, and sang hymns as they went down with the ship. Vice Commander Gerry Dress began planning the 2016 Four Chaplains Memorial Service last Feb-ruary immediately following our very first hugely successful service to honor and celebrate the lives of these heroes. If you missed the service held on January 31st, you missed a tremendous experi-ence.

The Four Chaplains

Page 9

From the Adjutant’s Desk cont’d from Page 3 meeting and still be counted as present? Our Constitution and Bylaws allow for “electronic” participation. We have even sworn in one of the officers over the internet when he was traveling and couldn’t attend in person! Our Executive Board meetings are available for call-in and we can set up the Gen-eral Meeting for it, if you will let us know that you want to call in. Contact the Adjutant, before the meeting and I will give you the call in number. My phone number is in the officer’s list on the last page of this newsletter. See you at the next meeting!

Cont’d from Page 3 Linus, of the Peanuts, said it, saying that there were three things that he would never dis-cuss, and the third being The Great Pumpkin! It is also something that Will Rogers could have said as well as Win-ston Churchill, but I will leave it for others to research. Do you get the newsletter by email or “snail” (US) Mail? We have found that it costs about $1 per copy to mail it to those without computers, which we will gladly do! If, however, you have a computer, you can get it by EMAIL or you can go to our WEB site,

www.wpflpost112.org and see it there. The WEB site also has PREVIOUS copies dating back several years, should you want to see them. We also have WiFi available at the Post for members. If you want to connect your phone or tablet through it, ask one of the officers and we will get you the password. There is no cost. And, our membership attend-ance has been dropping a bit. We know that there are some members who do not want to drive at night, and that is under-standable. Did you know that you can PHONE IN to the

Boys State—Ted Costello

Page 10

Post 112 held their Boys State 2016 selection process at the post home on Tuesday February 9, 2016. Five boys from two schools met at the post with parents, I was disappointed with the post member attendance. As usual all of the boys made excellent presentations to vie for three delegate positions. The following boys will represent the post at the 73rd Boys State session in Tallahassee June 19-25, 2016 as voted on by the members present: Delegates Grant Dunnavan - Geneva Christian School Judin Thomas - Winter Park High School Stuart Thomas - Winter Park High School Alternates Everett Christian - Winter Park High School Alexander Boucher - Winter Park High School Ted Costello, Boys State Chairman

Page 11 Volume 8, Issue 5

Commanders Minute cont’d from Page 1 two extra boys to only sending one extra, for a total of three. Once again your dues help us to help the future of tomorrow and they have represented us proudly during years. Boys State is a great program led by Past Commander Costello. We are in the beginning phase of contacting schools to present the school medals this year. Please make yourself available to help do the presenting during May and early June.

If you have not attended one of Vice Commander’s Dress breakfast you have missed out. The fel-lowship along with talking with the VA Nursing Home members is just what we need to show these veterans that we care. Make that Saturday event and you will continue to come back.

May GOD keep you and your family safe along with our great nation.

FOR GOD AND COUNTRY, Billy Dover Jr., Commander

CONT’D FROM PAGE 8 around you that could disrupt the meeting in progress.

We need to come up with a “Fundraiser” to be able to give support to the Legion and Auxiliary. Each year, the Post and the Auxiliary provide a holiday basket to veteran families who may not otherwise have a holiday. It is a chance for us to show our support, but it takes money and we do not have an in-come without working for it. Our target to help with the holiday basket activity can be as low as $100 AND, with money, we can also begin working on other “Sons” programs outside the squadron.

Finally, don’t forget to plan for the Sons of the American Legion Convention to be held this summer. This is the last year for the convention to be held at the Renaissance at SeaWorld. The dates are June 16-19, 2016. And, there is no cost to participate. The tentative agenda is on the Department / Detachment WEB site at: http://www.floridalegion.org/sons/administration/meetings/convention.htm and will have updates done from time to time.

S.A.L. Update cont’d from Page 8

 Winter Park Memorial Post 112

4490 North Goldenrod Road Winter Park, FL 32792

www.flpost112.org

Winter Park Memorial Post 112 PO Box 910

Goldenrod, FL 32733

CALENDAR

MARCH:

5 6TH District meeting Post 35 Mt. Dora 9am 8 POST/ AUX. GENERAL MEETING 7pm 12 ARTS/CRAFT and Yard Sale 8am-4pm 15 OPEN HOUSE 10am-2pm AMERICAN LEGION 97TH BIRTHDAY 26 PANCAKE BREAKFAST 8-11am EASTER EGG HUNT 2–5pm

APRIL:

3 SAL MEETING 6pm E-BOARD 7pm 12 POST/ AUX. GENERAL MEETING 7pm 15 NEWSLETTER ARTICLES DUE 23 PANCAKE BREAKFAST 8-11am

OFFICER’S DIRECTORY

Commander: Billy Dover 407-383-9455 – bgdjr14@gmail.com

Vice Cmdr.: Gerard (Jerry) Dress 407-671-8616 – gdress2@cfl.rr.com

Adjutant: Bob Colbert 407-619-9611 – bcolbert@usa.net

Finance Officer: Dyke Shannon 407-322-6126 – dshannonfl@aol.com

Chaplain: Robert L. Smith 407-678-4517—mybroskepr7@aol.com

Sgt. At Arms: James Middlekauff 407-977-0521—racenut478@aol.com

Newsletter Editor: Nell Colbert 321.303.7445— necolbert@usa.net