Commanders' Message

I hope your Christmas brought you a time of Reflection on your blessings, Fellowship with family and friends, and Thankfulness to God for all the blessings he has given us as individuals and as a nation. Let us not forget that there were many tables with empty chairs during Christmas due to a family member being away in service to our Great Nation.

I would ask that if you have not renewed, please consider renewing your membership ASAP. Don't forget that our dues will be $40.00, effective 1 January 2023. Let us get those memberships in ASAP and show our District, Division, and Department we mean business as we continue the Legacy of the American Legion.

The nominating committee will begin work, seeking legionnaires to serve in ALL elected positions. I know many of you are more than capable of performing in some capacity, and I believe that our organization needs and deserves good leadership. So, if the nominating committee asks you to serve, I hope you will consider and step up. Be sure to ask any member of the nominating committee or any Officer should you have questions about the duties and responsibilities of any position. There will be a training session for all new officers after they are elected. So, step up and out and make a difference.

Our annual Birthday and Awards Banquet will be on Saturday, March 11. This year we will celebrate our 104-year birthday as an organization and also recognize Law Enforcement, Fire & Rescue, Community Service, Soldier, and Legionnaire of the year. With the current situation in our country, I feel we should rally behind ALL those who have served and are serving our Nation and ALL those who protect and serve our community. Let us all make plans to show our support by attending this Banquet scheduled for Saturday, March 11^th, at 6:00 pm.

Together we can make 2023 a more successful year than 2022. If we each do a little, we can accomplish a lot. Thank you for your service and support to our Nation and the American Legion!

For God & Country, Harvey Satterwhite, Commander

Vice Commander's Message

Best wishes for good health and survivability in 2023! As the Nation's people continue to lose, a bright ray of light is cutting through the clouds of Washington – The American Legion. That ray of light extends to Franklinton, NC. I see the American Legion as a hope for freedom, better times, our country's principles in the Constitution, and hope for America's Veterans and youth.

In a time when all branches of the military are falling significantly short of recruitment goals; and Patriotism among surveyed young adults is at an all-time low, it is my hope that the "Me" generation (due to my age of 48 years old, I may be labeled as a part of such) looks at the American Legion as a model of "Us" to exhibit and encourage a recommitment to what has made the United States of America the longest surviving Republic in the World – 246 years.

I thank all of you that renewed your membership for 2023. Our Post has around thirty 2022 members not yet renewed for 2023.

Show support for your Post in 2023 by:

1. Renewing your membership
   • Online at www.mylegion.org;
   • Mail check to the Post;
   • Bring check or cash to Post meeting ($40);
   • Contact Post Adjutant Bruce Lobach at (828) 551-1466
2. Recruit New Legion Members
   • Veterans are generally easy to spot – Most have a sense of military bearing like you or a unit cap or insignia!
3. Consider Post Leadership
   • Nominations and election of Post Officers and Executive Committee in March – April
4. Show your face! Stand up and be accounted for
   • Increase your participation in the American Legion more than you did in 2022
   • Attend monthly meetings, fundraisers, and events
   • Attend S.A.V.E. Training at Post 52, February 11

Chris Smith, 1^st Vice-commander

Chaplains' Corner

2022 has been a painful year for many of us in the American Legion Post 52. Around 14 of our friends have changed their address to Post Everlasting. We will get the exact sum and remember them again on Memorial Day. My five-year-younger brother Pat died suddenly in November. Thinking of his death as a change of address comforts me - may this thought comfort you. Death and pain are real, and real things matter. When life is great, God is whispering to us. In serious moments He speaks to us. When we are deaf, God uses pain as His megaphone to retrieve us from our deafness. We are not the master of our fate or the captain of our souls. Deafness comes from many actions as ignoring others' mortality; and thereby ignoring our MORTALITY. We are not fine and do need to change. Pain can also highlight the good that imitates God. This pain is so in Pat's case.

Benediction: An old guy whose age I am now, told me that if he could make it to March, he was good for the rest of the year. May we all make it to March and beyond – Happy 2023!

Keep the Faith, Harry Barrick, Chaplain

Auxiliary Unit 52 Report

As we bid farewell to 2022, we also finish out the first half of our fiscal year. Here is a recap of our most significant accomplishments so far for 2022-2023:

• Durham VA Buddy Baskets: We completed 10 Buddy Baskets to help set up Veterans coming out of homelessness with the basics needed for a new household.
• Post 52 Dinner: We cooked and served dinner for the Post Member's meeting. (We will be doing this twice more in the 2^nd half of our year.)
• Durham VA Thanksgiving Food Bag Program: We provided complete Thanksgiving meal bags to 8 Veteran families.
• Durham VA Veteran Holiday Tree Program: We used our unit Poppy Funds, a donation from Post 52, and a gift from the community to provide one family with their complete wish list and contribute to the wish list of two other families.
• Quilts for Veterans: We distributed five handmade quilts made by our talented unit.

We have a lot to be proud of, and our year is only half over!! We did all of this with a handful of members. As we look to 2023, we need more members who will participate in our projects benefiting local Veterans. If you haven't renewed your membership yet, please do so; if you know others in our community who are eligible for membership, invite them to a meeting. Remember, our membership requirements were updated to include ANY veteran spouse; other categories (e.g., mother, daughter, granddaughter, etc.) remain unchanged.

Thank you for all that you do to support our Unit and our Veterans! See you in 2023.

Velinda Moore – Unit 52 President

Division 2 News

Veteran Suicide Prevention Training by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, hosted by Franklinton Post 52, is February 11, 2023, from 10 am to 12 pm.

American Legion/Auxiliary Mid-Winter Conference is February 17-18, 2023, at the North Raleigh Hilton.

American Legion Auxiliary District 6 meeting is on Saturday, March 18, 2023, held at Chapel Hill Post 06, 3700 NC Hwy 54 W, Chapel Hill, NC 27517. Registration: 9 am, Meeting: 9:30 am.

Franklinton Unit 52, please bring nonperishable items to the Post. Your items may be placed into the donation box in the Post foyer. The food donations are taken to the Franklinton United Methodist Church Fellowship Hall and distributed every second Saturday of the month. Please help the Franklinton community! Thank you for being so supportive, and Happy New Year. Carolyn Donnelly, Division II President