Commanders' Message

Fellow Legionnaires – By the time you receive this newsletter the North Carolina Convention will be history and I will be on vacation. We are currently setting the Calendar of Events for the year ahead based on input from you and last years calendar. If you would like to get a copy calendar and future updates as they occur, please send your email address to me at ggtracy41@aol.com.

After the Convention, I will let you know if Mike Donnelly was elected Division Command. Also, will let you known who is elected to be our new State Commander. There are three candidates running for this position.

Thanks to all of you who helped with the Memorial Day Events which included Flags being placed on the graves before and picked up after Memorial Day. We added another cemetery to our list this year, as well as adding veterans that were found in the cemeteries that we currently service.

Next up will be Stand-Up-For-America. This year it will be at the Franklinton Elementary School, on Sunday, July 2^nd. We will be setting up a food tent to sell Hot Dogs, Chips and Drinks. Hope to see you there.

For those of you who might be interested in running for a future position at the Post, I would highly recommend attending the North Carolina Legion College. The next session will be held at the Village Inn, Clemmons, NC on July 14 and 15. There is a $15 Registration Fee, $74 plus taxes – room rate, and an optional $30 per person Banquet and entertainment fee. Deadline for registration is July 10. Deadline for room reservations is June 12 and be sure to identify yourself as being with the American Legion.

Thank you Americanism Committee for arranging the talks to the students at Cedar Creek Middle and Franklinton Middle Schools for Memorial Day instruction. Also, for working with the schools to get this years School Medals awarded to three students at the three schools we currently work with.

Duty, Honor, and Country - George G. Tracy

Auxiliary Notes

Attention Ladies! A reminder that you are invited to become a member of the future Post 52 Auxiliary. Our first information meeting will be at 5:30 pm on Tuesday, June 27, at Post 52. We will have information and registration available at that time. Our meetings will be the same night that the Post meets, and dinner will be served at 7 pm for those that wish to stay. Registration for the year will be $25 and our charter will begin in July. Until then you can call or email Adrienne O'Neill, (919) 961-5317, oneillnest@hotmail.com; or Carolyn Donnelly, (919)270-1857, cjdonnelly54@gmail.com, or visit the website at https://www.alaforveterans.org.

Vice-Commander's Report

Wow what an exciting year! I want that thank those who have served before me and hope that all Legionnaires will consider helping our Post in some way. I ask that you get involved, meet and know your fellow Legionnaires, and let’s have some fun along the way. Having said this, check your News Letter for upcoming events and make plans to attend.

I would like to take a moment and explain how membership in the American Legion works. The renewal process begins in July for the upcoming membership year. Renewal notices are sent out in July, October, January, March and May. When a member renews, they are removed from future renewal notices for that year. There are times when a member pays their dues, but they still receive a renewal notice. If dues are paid to the local post, it takes a little longer for national to be notified about the renewal and the member may receive another renewal notice. If this occurs, please check with your local post to ensure they have received your dues.

So what does this all mean? When you get your (1^st) Renewal Notice we ask that you go ahead and renew your membership and save the American Legion the cost of mailing the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th renewal notices.

The summer is here and that means Vacations, R&R, and Cookouts with Family and Friends. 1) Don’t forget the sun screen, 2) Protect against Insects for You, Your Family and Don’t forget the PETS, 3) Prevent Dehydration, 4) Practice Food Safety since bacteria grows faster in warm temperatures, 5) Water Safety, Use Caution when doing yard work and there are many more.

American Legion membership can save you money. Discount programs for products and services such as travel, health care, personal finance and computers are offered exclusively to members of The American Legion and Sons of The American Legion. See all benefits on the web at https://www.legion.org/benefits/all.

We still have a number of soldiers serving on foreign soil so I ask that you remember them and their families in your prayers.

For God and Country, Harvey Satterwhite

Chaplain's Corner

Freedom

Galatians 5:1 "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery".

When I see the word slavery, I think of the slaves of America and of the Civil War. How one man named Abraham Lincoln, The Rail Candidate, became president of the United States of America and saved the union. It almost didn't happen! If it wasn't for a Tar Heel, who stirred up a hornets nest, whose name was Hinton Helper  from Davie County, North Carolina. He wrote a book with a big title. He called it "The Pending Crisis In the South and How To Meet It”. There are very few copies of his book existing today. Most of them went into the public bonfires throughout the Cotton Belt and the rest of the south. But up north the book was seen vastly different. He found the readership was among the well educated, and men who owned a  lot of property. In 1860 some leaders of the young republican party had given their approval to this book and introduced it to the Republican National Convention held in Chicago. Several delegates feared that the endorsement by William Seward may cost them votes at the state and local levels. This blocked Seward’s landslide and opened the door to Abe Lincoln who has shown enough sense to keep silent on the controversial subject. Mr. Helper probably never realize the full consequences that his book had on the future of the USA. God works in wondrous ways and can use anyone or anything to accomplish his will and He wishes all of us to remain free. 

Now may God with love and peace be with you and your family. In Jesus name, Amen. Bill Kimbrough