5 th District General Membership Meeting January 13, Post 401

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1 Commander Troy Horsley Vice Commander Ernie Florig Vice Commander Lena Heredia-Perez Adjutant Tom Gora Assistant Adjutant Sheri Rodriguez th District General Membership Meeting January 13, Post 401 The meeting was called to order by Commander Troy Horsley at 1415 hours. Opening ceremonies were conducted. Roll Call of Posts: 14 Posts represented with 9 Commanders present. Total members signed-in: 24. Assistant Adjutant Rodriguez reported to Commander Horsley that there was a quorum. Minutes Commander Horsley stated that minutes from the December 9, th District Meeting at Post 129 are posted on the District s website. Motion to suspend the reading of the minutes and to approve the minutes as posted online was made, seconded, and approved unanimously. Recognition of Guests & Presentations Marie Kraemer Conti, Candidate for Northern Area Commander: Comrade Conti announced that she is a candidate for the high officer of Northern Area Commander for She stated that her qualifications include serving in the United States Navy as a Corpsman and 29 years in the American Legion. She has served as Department of Florida Assistant Sergeant-at-Arms, 4 th District Vice Commander, and 6 years as a Post Commander. She stated that she would like to reunite the Area by holding two area meetings a year to share ideas and information. She asked for the 5 th District s support for her candidacy. Introduction & Recognition of District, Department, and National Officers (Past & Present) 5 th District Officers: Vice Commanders Ernie Florig and Lena Heredia-Perez, Adjutant Tom Gora, Assistant Adjutant Sheri Rodriguez, Finance Officer Samuel Heredia-Perez, Chaplain Brian Hancher, Historian Scott Pageau, Service Officer Edgardo Silva, and Sergeant-at-Arms Walter Rasco and Tim Pratt. Distinguished Guests: Past District Commanders Fred Matthews and Lawson Dukes, Department Oratorical Chair Meri West, Department of Florida FHP Cadet Academy Chairman/Department Post Redevelopment Chair/Past Department of Florida 3rd Vice Commander Bob Brewster, Department of Florida Legion College and Public Relations Chair Tom Gora, Department of Florida Sergeant-at-Arms Jeff Durden, Department of Florida Second Vice Commander Jerry Brandt, Past Department Commander Jay Conti, and Past National Commander Clarence Hill. Committee Reports Finance Officer Samuel Heredia-Perez: The Finance Report is attached. Finance Officer Heredia-Perez presented an amended Finance Report for December The cost of the

2 2 P a g e Department Commander s dinner was budgeted for $400 but the actual cost was $341, resulting in a savings of $ As of December 9, 2018: Checking Account...$5, (Adjusted) Savings Account... 1, CD Account th District American Legion Riders... $ As of January 13, 2019: Checking Account...$6, Savings Account... 1, CD Account th District American Legion Riders... $ Motion to approve the Finance Report, subject to Audit, was made, seconded, and approved unanimously. Vice Commander Heredia-Perez (5th District Picnic): Post Commanders should have received an about the raffle. She noted that the District relies upon donations from Posts to pay for both the Hospitality Suite and Picnic each year. This year, the proceeds of the raffle are expected to cover the cost of the Picnic and the Hospitality Suite. The tickets are available for the Weber Grill with accessories valued at $350 and each Post is requested to purchase 100 tickets for resale. A quarter of the tickets have been sold but support from all Posts is needed for the raffle to be successful. She noted that events for children include a petting zoo, fishing, games, and crafts for children. Comrade Dukes (Baseball): Registration is now open online on the Department website. Vice Commander Florig (Membership): The next membership goal is 90% on February 6, The Department is currently at 81% and the 5 th District is in 11 th place among the 16 Districts with 77%, but we rank 5 th in terms of the number of cards submitted. Vice Commander Florig recognized the following Posts for meeting or exceeding 80%: Post % Post % Post % Post % Post % He asked that Posts include the cards that are processing online in their numbers next month. It currently takes 10 days to process so membership numbers are being unrepresented at District meetings if Posts have submitted memberships online. Vice Commander Florig noted that percentages do not reflect the work that other Post have done. He added that the following four Posts continue to represent 51% of the cards submitted by the 5 th District: Post cards Post cards Post cards Post cards

3 3 P a g e Vice Commander Florig reported that he is working with Post 137 to schedule a two-day Membership Phone Bank for a Friday/Saturday. Vice Commander Florig (Boys State): Payment for the number of delegates Posts plan to send was due to Department by January 8, 2019 along with the one-page registration form but the deadline has been extended to January 25, The cost is $450/delegate and checks should be made payable to Florida Boys State, Inc. Online registration packets were mailed and closes on March 15, 2019 at midnight. Any unregistered seats will be reallocated to other Posts in the State at that time. The District Orientation will be held at Post 137 on May 11, 2019 at 4:00pm. All primary and secondary delegates, along with one parent, are required to attend. The bus departs for Boys State on June 16, 2019 at approximately 2:00am with a return date of June 22, He reported that there are currently 52 delegates registered compared to 61 in Twelve Posts are participating compared to 14 in He noted that Post 373 has committed to paying for one delegate in the event a Post has an eligible delegate available. Transportation fees are now due. Posts should bring a check for $70 per delegate to the next District Meeting or mail them to: Ernie Florig, 678 7th Ave. S., Jacksonville Beach, FL Payment is due no later than February 10, Comrade Brewster (Youth Law Cadet): The dates have been set and candidates from all posts are encouraged to attend. There are 24 students in a class and driving has been reintroduced into the class. Anyone with questions should contact Comrade Brewster. Comrade Brewster coordinated with Vets4Vets to speak about The American Legion s 100 th Anniversary at the next quarterly meeting. He noted that Department will attend and asked that everyone plan on attending so the 5 th District is well represented. Comrade Brewster updated the District on the plans to rename the Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena. He reported that a local credit union with strong ties to the veteran community has offered to pay to sponsor the Arena. A sum of $80,000 will be donated but what groups it will benefit is not clear. Public Relations Chair Gora reiterated the need for the 5 th District to attend the next quarterly Vets4Vets meeting because the National Commander will be taping videos specific to Florida and it will be played at the meeting. He asked that Posts send him a list of activities they have done that have impacted their community. Commander West (Oratorical): Post competitions must be completed by January 20, Oratorical Scholarships are flexible in that they can be used at colleges, universities, and trade schools. The 5 th District competition will be held at the Karpeles Manuscript Museum on Saturday, February 9, 2019 at 1:00pm. Five to six contestants are expected. The Northern Area competition will be held at the same location on February 23, 2019 at 1:00pm. There will be three students competing. Volunteers are needed for both competitions please contact Comrade West if you can help. The Department Competition is March 9, 2019 and will be held at the Department Headquarters in Orlando. Comrade West noted that the 2018 National Oratorical Winner, Carlissa Frederich, will judge the competition. She noted that the Oratorical Competition is very educational because the Constitution is more than the First Amendment (Rights to Religion, Speech, Press, Assembly, Petition) and the Second Amendment (Right to Bear Arms). There have been eleven thousand proposed amendments, 33 went to states, but only 27 have been passed to become law. Comrade Rasco (Sons of the American Legion): The 5 th District S.A.L. membership missed the January goal of 65% with 59.07%. He recognized Posts 372, 373, and 401 for meeting or exceeding

4 4 P a g e 100%. He added that Post 194 needs one more membership to reach 100%. The February membership goal is 75%. Comrade Reaves (School Medals): Posts should identify their Chair if one has not already been chosen. He noted that children love getting awards that they do not expect and there is nothing more rewarding than their smiles. Comrade Havekost (Social Media): The District website has been visited by over 2,984 users who have viewed over 6,364 pages of information. The website is the source of district meeting agendas and minutes, district officer and chairperson information, bulletins, and other documents from national and state headquarters. Each Post within the District has their own page and it is important that contact information be kept updated. The Districts Facebook Page has 604 likes with 574 followers. Posts within the 5 th District use this page to share information about their events. The Facebook Group has 268 members and is used for bulletins and information about District Meetings. Post and Program Reports Written reports were received from Posts: 9, 54, 129, 137, 202, 250, 283, and 372. Programs: Boys State, Disaster Preparedness, Membership, and Social Media. Unfinished Business Commander Horsley shared the following information: The Department of Florida 100th Anniversary Celebration is January 18-19, 2019 in Crystal River membership cards must be turned in to Department if they have not already been returned. The American Legion Summit will be held from February 7 9, New Business Temporary Financial Assistance (TFA) and PROJECT:VetRelief Assistance are available for all active duty Coast Guard members facing hardship due to the government shutdown. National has issued an expedited application for TFA to speed up the process. Posts should remind their Service Officers that veterans and their families can only receive TFA once in a lifetime and PROJECT:VetRelief once per year so veterans should carefully consider whether they need emergency funding now or if they may need it more in the future. Commander Horsley reminded members that National Commander Brett Reistad is visiting the 5 th District February 6-7, He asked that Commanders see him immediately if there are any scheduling conflicts. Correspondence No correspondence was received. For the Good of the Legion The next 5th District Meeting will be held on February 10, 2019 at Post 250 at Vice Commander Heredia-Perez announced that the The Northeast Florida Women Veterans Center Christmas Party for children in need hosted by Post 137 on December 19, 2018 was a huge success. Twenty-eight children attended and each child received three gifts. Members of the 5 th District donated $242 but there was no cost for the event because everything was donated. She noted that she would like to see these funds donated to The Northeast Florida Women Veterans Center.

5 5 P a g e Motion to donate the $242 donated by the members of the 5 th District to The Northeast Florida Women Veterans Center was made, seconded, and passed unanimously. 100th Anniversary Ball tickets are available. Post 250 would like to distribute to Posts for resale. Legion College Chair Tom Gora announced that National Commander Brett Reistad will meet the participants of this year s Legion College. He reminded members that the Florida Legion College will be held January 31 thru February 2, The deadline to apply is January 21, There will be 20 participants. 5 th District Service Officer Silva reported that he has just returned from a trip to Washington D.C. with Congressman Yoho. He stated that while he was there, he sought out politician who made promises to veterans while they were campaigning but are not keeping them. He reported that Orange Park is getting a clinic. He reminded members that veterans need to be careful when reopening claims. He cited a case where a veteran was still receiving drill pay with a 10% rating and tried to get an increase in his rating. The VA is now requiring that he pay back all the money he has received. The veteran must repay the VA and nothing can be done to help him. There being no further business to come before the membership, the Meeting was closed in due form by Commander Troy Horsley at 3:23pm. Respectfully submitted, Sheri Rodriguez Assistant Adjutant 5th District Department of Florida Approved: Troy Horsley Commander, 5th District Department of Florida