WEBSITE ALL MEETINGS WILL START AT 7:00 PM. DISTRICT NEWSLETTER November 2017

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1 THE MIGHTY FOURTH DISTRICT NEWSLETTER November 2017 Member of WALPA and NALPA Official Publication of the Fourth District, Department of Wisconsin IMPORTANT DATES ALL MEETINGS WILL START AT 7:00 PM District Meetings November 15, 2017 Tanner Paull Post W Orchard St, West Allis December 20, 2017 Christmas Party Oelschlaeger-Dallmann Post S Shepard Ave, Oak Creek January 17, 2018 at Greendale Post 416 hosted by Hales Corners Post W Grange Ave, Greendale February 21, 2018 at Greendale Post 416 hosted by Post W Grange Ave, Greendale March 21, 2018 H. A. Todd Post 537 hosted by Police Post W. Beloit Rd, Milwaukee April 18, 2018 Oelschlaeger-Dallmann Post S Shepard Ave, Oak Creek SPRING CONFERENCE 7:00 PM - May 16, 2018 H. A. Todd Post W. Beloit Rd, Milwaukee PRE-CONVENTION CAUCUS June 27, 2018 Van Eimeren-Kolonka Post Monroe Ave So Milwaukee, Wisconsin.. WEBSITE District Commander Ray (Godfather) Pasbrig Phone: Post 120 rpasbrig3@wi.rr.com *TEAMWORK* November 2017 Hello. The calendar has now rolled over to November. I can t believe how fast the 31 days of October disappeared. Many events occurred during the month. Membership went up and down, as usual, but we will, hopefully, climb back up the ladder in a positive direction. As of this November 2, 2017, the Mighty Fourth District is in 9th place in Department Standings. All, but two posts are over 50% in membership renewals/new members and transfers. Thank you to everyone who is working so hard on their memberships. Again, if you need help, please call on anyone of your Vice-Commanders for help. They have access to letters that may help you with renewals. If you are on MyLegion.org letters are available for you to use to send to your unpaid members. If you are not sure how to use this program, and have access to it, call Vice Commander Linda Pfeiffer and she can help talk you through the program. We are here to help. Our Fall Conference was great. I want to thank the Mighty Fourth District for being respectful to all our guests who were in attendance. For those who missed the conference, we were graced by the presence of Department Commander Laurel Clewell, and her Historian Gordy Clewell; Department Vice Commanders, Todd Braun, and Mark Sandow; National Auxiliary President Diane Duschek, Department Auxiliary President Bonnie Jakubccyk, (who is also the Milwaukee County Auxiliary President); 4th District President Kathy Baranzyk; Son s of the American Legion Detachment NECman Daniel Daily, and Department Detachment Commander Christopher Sherman. We cannot leave out our Past Department Commanders, Chuck Cooney, and Wayne Jensen, and the long list of Past Department Vice Commanders and other past Department Officers and committee persons (too long to mention). All our speakers were informative, and we thank them for their insight. The high level of respect that was shown to our guests was duly noted and appreciated. Thank you again to the Mighty Fourth District for your show of support. Please continue to support all these Officers in their programs and assigned duties. It was great to see three of our Vice Commanders at the Americanism Breakfast on October 29th, at the Americanism Awards Breakfast, hosted by the War Memorial Board of Directors on Sunday, October 29th, at the Center. 4th District Americanism Awards were given out to Department Vice Commander Mark Sandow, 4th District, 3rd Vice Commander Linda Pfeiffer, and Legion Rider President 4/5 President Steven Kohnke, If there is anyone in the 4th District, who feels that you have a member who should receive an Americanism Award from the District, please let me know, as this is the forum where this award is presented each October. I would need their name, and the reason for the award. Certificates are made in advance, and of course, we need them to attend the breakfast to receive the award. continued

2 continued from page 1 Happy Birthday to all the US Marines on November 10th. Just think how well we have aged since I will have cake and ice cream on that day. Hu-Rah! There will be a new Veteran of the Year introduced on November 11th at the for 2018, and the 2017 Veteran of the Year will retire. If you have not yet sent in your reservation for the Veterans Day Dinner, please do so quickly. The American Legion is hosting this event. Call me and let me know that your reservation is in the mail, and I will put you on the list. Time is of the essence. I know that we are early with our 100 years of celebration for the American Legion, but we want to celebrate for a full year. And this is the 60th Anniversary of the, which is very important. Our guest speaker will give us a short history of the built for the Veterans. All this is a great reason to celebrate. Since it is November, we need to think about this months events. An important one is Thanksgiving. What do we all have to be Thankful for? If you know of any Veterans families that are having a difficult time, please bring this to our attention, and we will see what we can do to help that family. There are Posts and Auxiliary s and Riders, who deliver Thanksgiving Baskets or Grocery Cards to families. We also have places that we can refer them to. This is part of who and what we are. We are Veterans still serving and helping Veterans. If they need a meal, we can refer them to meal programs, or possibly get them help for a few meals. However, we can t help, if we do not know they need help. This includes our own members. Our Vice Commanders may be able to help refer you to these programs; they are here to support you, but you have to call them for help. Support goes back and forth. Please support them as well. When approached by Department Vice Commander Mark Sandow for Department Programs, see what your Post can do to help him out. The projects that he has been assigned need our support as well. See what you can do to help him achieve his goals. This includes membership. The Mid-Winter Conference will be held at Ho-Chunk in January. This is open to all Legion Family Members. Forms are on-line for signing up for the conference. If you are not computer literate, ask one of your Post or District Officers for forms. There are lots of training programs available and this is your chance to take advantage of them. You can drive up for training on Saturday. There is a Conference registration fee. So please get the forms, sign up and attend. Again, this is open to all Legion Family members. The Officers of the Mighty Fourth are working as a TEAM. If you cannot reach one, try another. We will all try to assist you in whatever you need help with. If one does not have an answer, they will know where to go for help. We will get an answer for you. Together we will be successful. Veterans Day is November 11th, and there are a lot of events going on in the local Communities. Do your best to try to attend a Veterans Day service. Some schools are holding their events on Friday. Libraries are holding events on the 11th. There will be an event at the VA Medical Center on the 11th. There is an event at the Center on the 11th. Check out your local area, and see what you can do to attend. These events are open to the public, so please wear your Legion Hat, and show the public who we are. Don t forget to carry an application form with you, and invite an eligible Veteran or Active Duty member to join our Great Organization. In addition, there are many places offering freebees for breakfast, lunch, dinner, donuts, coffee, or other items on Veterans Day. You may have to show your VA ID card, your current paid Legion Card, or a DD214, depending upon what is asked for, for proof of service. Newspapers have lists of what is free, as does the Internet. Remember to ask the high school students you know, who like to speak, to participate in the Legion Oratorical Contest. The District will be holding our Contest in January, and we would like to see a lot of talented students participate. Remember that there is a lot of scholarship money, to be used at the school of their choice, available for the winners of the contest. Home-schooled students are eligible to participate as well. So please ask family, friends, students at the grocery stores, neighbors, everyone, wait staff, etc. Never hurts to ask. Along the way we may gain a member or two in the Legion as well, as parents see what we do for the Children & Youth of our Great Nation. Hope to see you at the November 15th District meeting. Happy Thanksgiving to Everyone. God Bless and Take Care. c 2

3 DISTRICT OFFICERS Commander Ray(Godfather)Pasbrig st Vice Tim Baranzyk nd Vice John W Edelblute IV (cell phone) blutewiv@hotmail.com 3rd Vice Linda Pfeiffer & Mighty Fourth District Editor Linda Pfeiffer linda.waltpfeiffer@att.net (for mailing information) W Manitoba Ave New Berlin, WI th Vice Jim Waltich jimwaltich@yahoo.com Adjutant Dave Pier @sbcglobal.net (for mailing information) 2140 S 68th St West Allis, WI ALL ARTICLES for the December issue of the newsletter are due in my (snail mail) or box no later than Thursday, November 30, Please note that if you have an event going on at your Post in the following months, that you want published it is ok to send ASAP. Pictures must be sent in J-peg format. MILW CTY COUNCIL MEETINGS Last Wednesday of the month 750 N Lincoln Memorial Dr, Milw delegates are asked to attend November 29, :30 pm January 2018 (TBA) - 6:00-10:00 pm All CountyActivity To Honor our Volunteers Four Chaplains Sunday Sunday February 4, :00 pm Zablocki VA Medical Center February 28, :30 pm Sat - March 24, :00 am - 2:00 pm All County Brunch Social Information to be announced March 28, :30 pm Nomination of Officers Saturday April 14, :00-2:00 pm Children & Youth Brunch H. A. Todd Post W. Beloit Rd, Milwaukee April 28, :30 pm May 30, :30 pm Election of Officers - Saturday. June 23, :00-5:00 pm Installation of Officers SERVICE OFFICER CLAIRE GOODFELLOW 3916 N 30th St, Milw, WI jcgoodfellowsr@gmail.com Please be sure to notify me when someone is in the hospital so I can send a get well card, OR in the event of an untimely death, so that I can send out a card of condolence. Thank you. Claire. 3 ontinued from page 2 1ST VICE COMMANDER REPORT Tim Baranzyk - Post 416 I had the opportunity to take part in Post Everlasting on October 25h, hosted by The Milwaukee County Council, and was astonished at the lack of participants who attended. The ceremony was beautiful. Everyone also missed an excellent meal put on by Oak Creek Post 434. If you did not go, you missed a very good meal. Another ceremony close to any veteran is one of saying farewell to one of your own. Everyone wants to be remembered. This case was special. Jesse Haro was a fellow Vet, one of our own, and I had the honor of participating. My thanks to all who attended. My condolences to the family of Jesse Haro. He will be missed. Then came the Americanism Breakfast and awards presentation to many who were recognized by their peers. The American Legion presented three. My congratulations to each of you for your efforts. Now we come back to membership. This is an issue no one ever likes talking about. Please listen to me. I need some help in trying to open the lines of communication to every individual Veteran who is presently a member, and also to those who were a Legion member at one time in the past. Even though we might do everything via the computer, we still need some sort of a written copy to get out to many Vets within our 4th District. So Newsletters are important. We now have a web page. The address is: I noticed at several meetings we still have our own people talking about events occurring in their own post, but no paper copy of it. It would be a good idea to get a paper copy so we can refer it to other people who may go. I can scan it and put it on the website. Linda can scan it and put it in the newsletter. Linda can also send it out via to many different members in the 4th District and outside the District. Please give both of us some help, as to what s been going on. So far, asking doesn t seem to produce results. I m not saying this may work, but let s get our heads together, sit down, and see what we can all do to solve this communication

4 problem. This will benefit your Post and hopefully the District. This is a TEAM effort, not a one-person show. I expect membership to be going up as it normally goes up. So if someone is listening, let s get together. Advertising works for Amazon, Wal-Mart, and grocery stores. We need to advertise. I need your help with the website. 2ND VICE COMMANDER REPORT John W Edelblute IV - Post 434 The 4th District Oratorical Contest is scheduled for January 13, 2018, at Greendale Post 416, starting promptly at 11:00 am. I have heard that we have a contestant or two already confirmed. However, that does not mean that your Post should stop looking for more students to compete. I would really like to see a full house. So please continue to encourage the students to prepare for competition. If you need help, please get a hold of me. Remember that is why I am here. Yours In Service, John 3RD VICE COMMANDER Linda Pfeiffer - Post 192 OUR PROGRAMS: We are looking for candidates for Law and Order Awards; Firefighter Awards; and National Guard Awards. Where do you start? Your local Police and Fire Departments. I know they like to pat all their Officers on the back. I had a Chief tell me, he does like to single out an Officer, they all work hard. But please try. Paperwork must be written in proper format, so make sure that is done. Start looking now, as I will ask that you have it ready no later than the February District meeting. This will give the District Committee time to look over the paperwork and make sure that everything is in proper format. DISTRICT BOWLING TOURNAMENT We are set with a date for the District Bowling tournament on March 11, A reservation form is included with this mailing. Please sign up as soon as possible. There are 20 lanes and we would like to be able to fill all of those lanes. Remember that this tournament is open to the Legion, Auxiliary, and SAL, and yes, it includes the Riders. It also included the Juniors. Get your team(s) together, and send in your reservations as quickly as possible. COMMUNICATIONS: this is a major issue within the Legion Community. This is not just with the 4 Mighty Fourth District, but it is happening throughout the Department of WI, in many Posts, Counties and Districts. No newsletters put out, so no one knows what is happening. Some groups send out s, presuming that everyone is on the computer, but this is not factual. So, let s just get to the Mighty 4th. How does your Post communicate with your members? Maybe you do not have the funds to send out a monthly newsletter. Can you send on every 2, 3 or 4 months, or twice a year? Do you only communicate when a person s membership dues are payable? And if they are a PUFL, and you do not have a newsletter, does this mean they do not hear from you at all? If you are so small, that you do not have a meeting on a regular basis, how do you talk with your members? As District Officers, we see the membership numbers on a weekly basis. Some posts are doing well, others just plod along. Some members no long attend meetings because of age, or health, these are the older members. But, retention is an issue with the younger members, and a big part of that is communication. If they don t hear from us, they feel we have forgotten them and all we want is their money. This District newsletter does not reach all the members of the Fourth District. It reaches the Commanders, Adjutants, Delegates, and those who ask for it. Is it shared at meetings? Do you let your members know what is happening at the District, County and Department levels? But if you are not having meetings, no one knows anything. With the new website, I have a suggestion. Gather all the addresses that you can. The newsletter, and flyers will go on the website and computer savvy members and follow the Mighty Fourth on the Website. Send flyers to both Tim and me. If I can get them in the mail (time is an element) I will. If not, they will be on the website, and our computer savvy members and see and share with others. For those who are snail mail only. Please try to get the word out to your members when your meetings are. The meetings are listed on page 1. County meetings on page 3. Other events appear throughout the newsletter. Flyers are enclosed when I get them and the dates are relevant to the mailing. They may be copied and posted. Make phone calls if possible. When your members renew their dues, send a letter thanking them for their dues. Let them know that they are important. You are spending money on an envelope and stamp to mail their membership card anyway. If you have neat handwriting, that is great, if

5 continued from page 4 not a printed sheet, zeroxed and signed by the Commander, Adjutant, or another Officer(s) is a nice gesture. That would be a great time to tell them what is new at your post level. Sadly, we are all losing members to Post Everlasting. One day, the Great Commander will call each of us. Our jobs, as Vice Commanders is to mentor you in the best way we possibly can. So, how can we help you to better communicate with your members? Talk to us, and see if we can help you to grow your Post and make it more welcoming for new members and help to retain the existing members. Just a thought, if you do not have a newsletter, send out a Christmas Card to your members, and wish each of them wonderful Christmas Season and a Happy New Year. It is communication. My heartfelt condolences to David Haro and his family on the loss of his father Jesse. Hope to see all the delegates at the November meeting. Linda. 4TH VICE COMMANDER Jim Waltich - Post 537 A reminder that ANY blood donations by members should be reported to your Post Adjutant for submission on the CPR. I will be attempting to get a Fourth District Blood drive for the reporting year. More information to follow. The Wisconsin American Legion College will be hosting several courses during the upcoming Mid Winter Conference. Please see the Department Web site, or contact your post Commander for information. You can also contact myself or Vice Commander John Edelblute. I will do my best to keep everyone informed in advance of all dates and activities. If you are interested in any of the programs we support please contact me. I can use any help you can give me. DEPARTMENT VICE COMMANDER Mark Sandow - Post 537 An Executive Committee consisting of Four Past Department Commanders and Commander Laurel Clewell selected Amber Nikolai, as the new Department Adjutant, for the Wisconsin American Legion. Amber is a Navy veteran who served in support of 5 Operation Iraqi Freedom. Amber was the Agency Liaison for the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs Home at King. She has a long, active history of advocating for veterans care in the VA system. Amber replaces former Adjutant David Kurtz as Wisconsin continues to provide qualified leaders. The new Adjutant resides in Wild Rose with her husband and son and will commute back and forth to Portage and beyond. We wish her well. Our condolences are extended to the family of Past Department Vice Commander Jesse Haro, who passed away in October 4, Jesse was the Post Commander of Valdez Post 529. It was the only Latino Post in the 4th District. I only met Jesse a few times; most of the time I spoke with his son David regarding Post matters. Jesse had the admiration and support of his Post and members of the 4th District. He will be sorely missed. Jesse was also a Past 4th District Commander and Vice Commander and very active in the Legion community for many years with his wife Ceccelia. Jesse had the admiration and support of his Post and members of the 4th District. He will be sorely missed. The Milwaukee County Council held its annual Post Everlasting services at Post 434 in Oak Creek, on Wednesday, October 25th. There were 11 Posts from both the 4th and 5th Districts in attendance. This was just one more than the 10 needed for a quorum. Approximately 8 Posts came up and remembered their deceased members. County Commander Ellen Simandl said she was "disheartened" by the lack of attendance. I was also disappointed. Not that long ago, I remember we had numerous Posts with lists of their deceased in attendance. Just as each Post has to have representation at the District level, so too do they have to have representation at the Milwaukee County Council. I do not know why we don't have more people in attendance. Perhaps it s the location we meet, the time/day, lack of communication, lack of transportation, lack of support for one District by another, or apathy. I really don't know. All I know, is business at a MCC meeting can't be acted upon without the proper representation from BOTH Districts. Make sure your Post is represented at both District AND MCC functions. I have 3 Districts consisting of 6 counties that I represent on a Department Vice Commander level. The other 5 counties send representatives to District meetings outside their counties. Why can't we get people from two Districts in the same County to meet together? Enough said.

6 The City of Milwaukee Veterans' Day parade was held on Saturday, November 4th. Department Commander Laurel Clewell and State Historian Gordie Clewell were in the parade as well as yours truly. November 11th is Veterans' Day. Posts 415 and 426 will host a program at the on the 11th at 10:30 am. Come on out and celebrate Veterans' Day with them. Then you can go out to one of the many restaurants offering discounts to veterans and have a great day. Commander Laurel has announced the Veterans' Assistance Fund has been approved and we are already getting donations. There will not be a statewide legacy run next year so the DVC's have been challenged to have mini-riders runs to raise funds for homeless veterans in the state for the Veterans' Assistance Fund. If any one has ideas, please let me know. This is something we all can get on board with. The state has 14 posts at 100% and 88 that need 10 members or less for 100%. Let's everybody work on membership. WE CAN DO IT! Sue, my family and I wish everyone a wonderful Thanksgiving. FROM THE 40/8 Claire Ann Goodfellow - Correspondent 3916 North 30th Street. Milwaukee, Wisconsin On Sunday, December 10, 2017, the 40/8 will hold Bingo at Greendale Post 416, 6351 W Grange Ave. Doors open at 5:00 pm, and Bingo starts at 6:00 pm. Proceeds help to pay for the nursing scholarship program of the 40/8. Help is needed for the event. Please come help if you are a member. Please bring a friend and come and play, and yell BINGO. Respectfully Submitted, Clair AMERICAN LEGION VAVS OFFICE Dan Jakubczyk American Legion Representative In the last six months the VA Legion office has received very little in dollar donations. If your post can make a donation to our office it would be appreciated. We use the income to make donations to areas in the hospital, and for Veterans hospitalized within the VA,. When an area (such as the ICU, serving Veterans families), or VETS Club (which serves Veterans who 6 come for Day Care), need something like a coffee maker, or microwave, you would think that would come out of the VA budget. In the new VA it does not work that way. That is when they come to one of the Veterans Service Organizations with a wish list to see if we will purchase it for them. If we have the money, we can do this for them. If not, we can t help them. At this point, I am very limited in helping any one of the clinics or areas of the Hospital. Donations are also used for hospitalized Veterans on Veterans Day, when we give them a gift, as well as other Holidays. We use funds for Christmas parties for the Veterans, and anything else that is needed for the Veterans comfort. Poppy monies can be used to help my Office with monetary needs. A form is enclosed with this mailing for your donation, please. Thank you. Reminder: Whenever a Veteran from your Post is admitted as an In Patient at the VA, tell them that they must inform the people admitting you that you are a member of the American Legion, or any other Veterans Organization. We will then visit you. We hear all the time: I was in the VA, and no one stopped to visit me. If you don t let the admitting clerk know you belong to the American Legion, we will never know you are a patient in the hospital. There are privacy rules that prevent the nurses and doctors from telling us you are here, unless you authorize them to tell us. Also, have your spouse, or child tell the admitting personnel that you belong to the American Legion (and which Post if possible). Repectfully submitted, Dan INFORMATION MILWAUKEE COUNTY SERVICE OFFICER Director James Duff Monday - Friday 8 am - 4:30 pm 6419 W Greenfield Ave, West Allis WI, fax: jduff@milwcnty.com LEGION SERVICE OFFICER James Falkowski, Monday - Friday 8 am - 4:00 pm fax: W National Avenue, Room 164, Milwaukee, WI james.fialkowski@va.gov DISTRICT ADJUTANT Dave Pier - Post @sbcglobal.net At every District meeting we take attendance of the District Post s that are present. Each Post is allowed three (3) delegates and three (3) alternates. Each member and guest is to sign in when they enter the hall.