Commander’s Column - floridalegion.org · Read Eastern Area Vice om-mander ernie Wildrick's...

I want to

start by

thanking

everyone

for reelecting me to the

office of Detachment Com-

mander. For this is the best

Detachment anywhere, The

Detachment of Florida. I am

proud once again to serve

you as Commander and will

make you proud of

reelecting me.

Well, we are off and running

for this year. I want to thank

all of the Detachment of

Florida for their hard work

in reaching our goals this

past year. We set this year’s

goals high again but I have

no doubt we will reach

them again this year, I just

hope before the last day.

My nerves where on edge

that last day hoping we

would make it. So let’s not

wait that long this year.

Let’s go into convention this

coming year with the goals

already made so there is

less pressure.

This year I am going with

Special Olympics as my

charity. We do well with our

donations but they need

more help. Each athlete has

a sponsor fee of around

$130.00 and there is around

360 athletes’ in the Florida

Special Olympics. So I would

like each Squadron, beyond

their donations, to sponsor

at least one athlete. Read

Eastern Area Vice Com-

mander Bernie Wildrick's

article.

I have started the traveling

already. Started off with

Mulberry's Post 72’s instal-

lation, then Lehigh Acres

Post 323’s installation, Pi-

nellas Park Post 104’s instal-

lation, New Port Richey Post

79’s installation, then in the

Safety Harbor’s Fourth of

July Parade. From there is

was to Lady Lake Post 347’s

installation. REMEMBER, if

you would like me to visit

your Post for a meeting or

(Commander’s Column Continued

on page 3)

UPCOMING EVENTS

8/2 - Prime Rib Dinner -

Squadron 270 Port Or-

ange

8/16 - Steak/Meat Shoot

- Squadron 163 Mel-

bourne

8/22-28 - National Con-

vention - Charlotte, NC

8/30 - SAL Organization

Course - Squadron 268

Riviera Beach

9/13 - Southern Area

Meet & Greet - Squadron

31 South Miami

9/20 - 11th Dist. Roast of

PNC Jim Roberts - Squad-

ron 64 Okeechobee

Adjutant’s Corner 2

Fall Conference 2

2014-15 Detachment Officers

3

SAL College - Class of 15 Special Olympics

4

Convention Award Win-ners

5

District News 11th Dist. SAL Org Class 2015 Dues Increase

6

2013-14 Detachment Accomplishments

7

Inside this issue:

Commander’s Column Kirk Miller, Detachment Commander ([email protected])

The SourceThe SourceThe Source

Monthly Newsletter of the Detachment of Florida

August 2014 Volume 22, Issue 01

Top 3 District Standings

2nd 27.50%

15th 23.06%

6th 18.90%

Top 3 Area Standings

Eastern 14.59%

Central 13.95%

Northern 11.52

As of 07/31/2014

The Detachment Con-

vention is well behind

us, and what a Conven-

tion it was! It was very

productive and well

attended from all Squadrons around the De-

tachment. We had 756 registered Delegates

and Alternates, with attendance at the

meetings of over 325 delegates. This speaks

very well for the Detachment and for you the

members of this GREAT ORGANIZATION! The

Convention concluded with the Reelection of

Kirk Miller as Detachment Commander for

2014-2015. A complete list of the new De-

tachment Officers is published in this issue of

The Source.

We continue to be very successful in our pro-

grams. It was very evident in Membership

with another All Time High of 16,003 mem-

bers. We had a total of 85 year-end reports

submitted. This was down from last year's 110

reports. In addition, we had 102 National CSR

forms submitted. The Detachment Year End

reports submitted should have matched what

was submitted for National. Hopefully we can

regain the number of reports next year. I per-

sonally wish to THANK everyone that sub-

mitted the reports. From the reports sub-

mitted, a total of $702,675.00 was donated to

various programs and over 201,303 man

hours were recorded. A hearty JOB WELL

DONE to all Squadrons!

The Detachment Roster is in the works. Sever-

al Squadrons still have not submitted their

Squadron Officer Report forms. The District

and Area Commanders received a list of these

Squadrons at the Convention and will follow-

ing up with the various Squadrons during

installation of Officers. We have set a dead-

line of August 15, 2014 for this information to

be submitted. After this date we will be going

to print with the Detachment Roster. Without

this information on file at Department Head-

quarters, your Squadron will not receive any

information from the Detachment. If you have

any questions or wish to check and see if a

Squadron has submitted one since Conven-

tion, please contact Detachment Assistant

Adjutant Jim Roberts. He is compiling and

putting together the Roster.

By now all Squadrons should have received

their membership cards for 2015. The cards

were handed out at Convention. Any cards

not picked up at the Convention have been

mailed. If you still have not yet received them,

please contact Irene at Department Head-

quarters. Please remember that the per capi-

ta dues has increased. It has been voted on by

the Detachment and approved by the Depart-

ment Executive Committee. The new per capi-

ta dues are $8.00 per member. Any questions,

please feel free to contact me.

In closing, I wish to thank Detachment Com-

mander Miller and the Detachment Executive

Committee for reappointing me to serve as

your Detachment Adjutant. This starts my

33rd year as your Detachment Adjutant. We

continue to look for new and inventive idea’s

to make the Detachment better. If anyone has

any ideas or suggestions to help improve the

Detachment, please let me know and we will

look into them. Until next month!!

Adjutant’s Corner

Ed Sheubrooks, Detachment Adjutant ([email protected])

The Source Monthly Newsletter of the Detachment of Florida

The seventh annual Fall Conference will be held on November 7 - 9,

2014, at the Hilton Walt Disney World, located at 1751 Hotel Plaza

Blvd., Lake Buena Vista, Florida

All Detachment meetings will be on Saturday, November 8th. We will

have a Detachment Executive Committee meeting in the morning, fol-

lowed by the Committee and Commission meetings. We will then start

the general session. The afternoon session will be a training session.

The complete schedule is not yet formatted. Please see the next issue

of The Source for more information. Please make your plans to attend.

2015 Fall Conference


New Detachment Officers for 2014-2015

Detachment Commander

Kirk Miller - 275 Dunedin

National Executive Committeeman

John Jennings - 72 Mulberry

National Executive Committeeman Alt

William (Bill) Kelly - 137 Jacksonville

Detachment Vice Commander -

West

Ed Thomas - 356 Lynn Haven

Detachment Vice Commander - North

Joe Eckenrode - 120 Holly Hill

Detachment Vice Commander - East

Bernie Wildrick - 183 Fern Park

Detachment Vice Commander - Central

Tom Klinger - 7 Clearwater

Detachment Vice Commander -

Southwest

Steve Gordon - 103 Punta Gorda

Detachment Vice Commander - South

Michael Higgins - 269 Lantana

Detachment Adjutant

Ed Sheubrooks - 40 Ft Pierce

Detachment Assistant Adjutant

James Roberts III - 4 Lakeland


Tim Bell - 4 Lakeland


Raymond Leventhal - 323 Lehigh Acres

Detachment Chaplain

Randy Collinsworth - 7 Clearwater

Detachment Historian

Ron Van Wie - 104 Pinellas Park

Detachment Judge Advocate

Allen Holley - 139 Tampa

Detachment Sergeant-At-Arms

Michael (Doc) Bowen - 119 Largo

Congratulations to you all!!!

event send me an email and invite me. I will also be attending the National Convention in Charlotte at the end of the

month.

Remember we are building bridges across the four pillars of the American Legion. They are Veterans Affairs and Rehabili-

tation, National Security, Americanism, Children and Youth. Start totaling your hours now for your year end reports; it

makes it much easier at the end of the year.

In closing I am very proud to be serving a second term as your Commander. I am very proud of the Detachment of Florida

and all they do for the Legion Family. So till next month, keep up the good work.

(Continued from Commander’s Column page 1)


The Detachment Member Training and Development Committee has opened the application period for those

who wish to participate in the College Class of 2015. The Florida SAL College is open to all members of The

American Legion Family. The college is made up of 3 courses that will help to build leadership skills by teach-

ing students the basics of leadership. The courses include a half day course on Communications that will take

place at the Fall Conference. This course will go over items relating to written & oral communications and

delivering presentations. The last 2 courses will be held in the Spring and will be on Personal Administration

and Personal Development.

In order to attend you must complete an application & introduction essay and be approved by your Squadron and Post. Submit the com-

pleted application to the Member Training & Development Committee for review and approval.

Applications will be accepted up to September 5, 2014 and will be reviewed by the committee.

If you have any questions feel free to e-mail Chairman Jim Roberts by e-mail at [email protected]

Florida SAL College - Class of 2015

Special Olympics Bernie Wildrick, Chairman, Detachment Special Olympics Chairman ([email protected])

Wow, what a great Convention. I am always impressed at the generosity demonstrated by the Sons of The

American Legion Detachment of Florida.

The winning Squadrons for the Greeley Paine Memorial awards were as follows: 2nd runner up Squadron 347

Lady Lake, 1st runner up was Squadron 283 Jacksonville, and the winner and top contributor was Squadron 138

Tampa.

I would like to take this opportunity to detail the process of donating to the Special Olympics through the De-

tachment:

Please do not keep your monies earmarked for the Special Olympics in your bank account for any length of time. It will cause confu-

sions when reporting your finances to your legion post. So, write your check make it out to Special Olympics. Photocopy your check

before mailing. Send the check to me at Bernie Wildrick 612 Prairie Lake Drive, Casselberry, FL 32730. Then email me letting me know

to expect a check. When I receive the check I will email you a confirmation. This process will insure your squadron will receive it's well

deserved recognition.

If you choose to not follow this process:

Make sure you photocopy your check and receive a letter of confirmation from whoever you give your check to at Special Olympics.

Then scan and email those documents to me at [email protected] and I will send you a confirmation that I have received those doc-

uments. I have a few issues I am working to resolve, if you have any questions about recognition please feel free to email your docu-

mentation and I will research your questions.

Again thank you all for you generosity and I look forward to seeing you at Fall Conference in November.


Detachment Convention Award Winners

Membership

1st 100% Squadron – Interlachen #293

1st 100# District:

Category I – District #4

Category II – District #1

Category III – District #6

Category IV – District #16

1st 100% Area – Eastern Area

Largest Squadron – Madeira Beach #273

Charles McEvilly Memorial Largest % Increase

10 – 100 Members – Indiantown #398

101 – 1000 Members – Lady Lake #347

Reports

Don Halliday Memorial – Best Year End Report

Winner – Lehigh Acres #323

1st Runner Up – Largo #119

2nd Runner Up – Bradenton #24

Mark Mast Memorial Americanism Report

Winner – Lehigh Acres #323

1st Runner Up – Tampa #138

2nd Runner Up – Dunedin #275

Children and Youth

Winner – Arlington #283

1st Runner Up – Holly Hill #120

2nd Runner Up – Palm Bay #117

Greeley Paine Memorial – Top Contributor Special Olympics

Winner – Tampa #138

1st Runner Up – Arlington #283

2nd Runner Up – Lady Lake #347

Jim Mitchell Memorial – Top Contributor CMN

Winner – Dunedin #275

1st Runner Up – Arlington #283

2nd Runner Up – St. Petersburg #14

Albert J. Farhforth Memorial SAL Member of the Year - Tom Soeder #347


District News

Sons of The American Legion 16th District Officers ( AKA: The Posse) showed why they are called "The Posse". On the

Installation trails doing installations at St. Pete Beach, Post 305 and Treasure Island, Post 158.

As they rode into Post 305 with 11 - SAL Officers. With that said 4 as Detachment Officers from the Detachment of

Florida, and 1 - Past Detachment Officer. All went well at Post 305 being the home Post of the Squadron Commander

and the 16th District Past Commander, Paulie Micieli.

Next they continued their riding onto the Treasure Island Post #158. We all hitched up our Horses tighten up our

spurs adjusted our Caps walked into Post 158, that's where everything broke loose! This Post and Squadron have

been struggling in the past years, but Post 158 showed the Mighty 16th District how they Prevailed ! SAL District

Commander Bill Fuller and Past District Commander Paulie Micieli Honored this Squadron with "The S.A.L. Mighty 16th Most Improved Squad-

ron of the 16th District Award". Yes it was a proud moment and a great day for that Squadron and its Legion Family.

The SAL Commander of 158 Greg Tong turned around and surprised SAL District Past Commander Paulie Micieli with a Beautiful Trophy, pre-

senting it to the "S.A.L. All Star Band". Paulie and his SAL band members played for many of their Squadron's benefit events. Now this is when

it all breaks loose, the next thing you know The Mayor of The City of Treasure Island gave a nice speech addressing the Post members and then

he received a Trophy award along with all the City Officials in appreciation of all the good work they have done this year for the Post events.

After that, the Legion Family members, Legion Volunteers were all receiving Trophy awards in appreciation of all the good work they have

done for this Post’s past events. It was truly very heart-warming.

Then It was time for the S.A.L. 16th District Posse to move on, as their Job was done. The Posse mounted on their horses and rode off into

the sun set until the next Installation..................

Bill Fuller - 16th District

Commander

The 11th District Sons are hosting Course 2 of the Florida SAL College System “SAL Organizational Course” on August 30, 2014. This course

is all about the Sons and will provide attendees with a video history of The American Legion, history of the Sons, officer duties, meetings,

membership and much more. To attend visit our homepage and click the link to register on-line this will guarantee your spot in the class

and a certificate of completion.

Course Check-in will begin at 8:00am with class starting at 8:30am and going until about 5:00pm. The course will be held at American

Legion Post 268 located at 1690 Avenue H West in Riviera Beach, FL 33404.

For more information see the flyer in this issue of The Source or e-mail Detachment MT&D Chairman Jim Roberts by e-mail at

[email protected].

11th District Hosting SAL Organizational Course

The Sons of The American Legion Detachment of Florida membership approved a $2.00 increase in per capita dues to become effective

with the 2015 membership cards. Squadron Adjutants, please make sure that you now send in $8.00 per member when you transmit your

2015 cards to Department HQ. The Membership Transmittal Form has been updated and can be downloaded from our website at

www.floridalegion.org/sons.

Dues Increase for 2015 Membership


www.facebook.com/FloridaSAL

The Florida Sons of The American Legion with over 16,000 members this year has donated hundreds of thousands of dollars and hours to the many programs of The

American Legion Family.

For More Information about the Florida Sons of The American Legion, visit us on

the Internet at:

www.floridalegion.org/sons

Or e-mail us at [email protected]

This is your newsletter. We are looking for input

and information from the Districts and Area’s to

print. Please send all articles to Ed Sheubrooks by

the 1st of every month. We go to print on the 15th.

Articles can be e-mailed to [email protected].

SOURCE ARTICLES

2013-2014 Detachment Accomplishments

All TIME HIGH IN MEMBERSHIP - 16,003 members

DONATIONS TO OUR VARIOUS PROGRAMS

FLORIDA SPECIAL OLYMPICS - $54,755

CHILDRENS MIRACLE NETWORK - $20,800.00

CHILD WELFARE FOUNDATION - $25,962.00

FLORIDA CHILDREN & YOUTH - $13,437.00

ALL CHILDRENS HOSPITAL - $18,250.00

N.E.F. - $6,000.00

VETERANS AFFAIRS & REHABILITATION - $42,660.00

DOLLAR CONTRIBUTIONS TO AMERICAN LEGION POST - $184,782.00

VARIOUS OTHER PROGRAM DONATIONS - $329,928.00

TOTAL DOLLAR CONTRIBUTIONS - $702,675.00

HOURS CONTRIBUTED TO OUR VARIOUS PROGRAMS

HOURS TO AMERICAN LEGION POST – 52,513

COMMUNITY SERVICE HOURS – 70,549

HOURS FOR VETERANS AFFAIRS & REHABILITATION – 15,034

VARIOUS OTHER HOURS – 63,207

TOTAL MAN HOURS – 201,303

Scan the QR Code below to

visit our website

Florida Sons of The American Legion College System Training / Course Announcement

The Detachment Member Training & Development Committee will be delivering the following training / course.

Course Title: Sons of The American Legion Organization (FSCS-02) Date: Saturday, August 30, 2014 Location: American Legion Post 268 in Riviera Beach - 1690 Avenue

H West, Riviera Beach, FL 33404. Time: Registration 8:00am, Course from 8:30am - 4:00pm Registration: http://www.floridalegion.org/sons/programs/mtd/FSCS/registration.htm

The course is made up of 8 units that will cover many things relating to the Sons of The American Legion. Items that will be covered include a video history of The American Legion an overview of the history of the Sons of The American Legion and the accomplishments of the Florida Sons. Additional units will cover the responsibilities of Squadron Officers, an overview of running a Squadron Meeting, programs supported by the Sons, membership and the Sons reporting requirements. We will end the day with a roundtable question & answer session. There is no fee to register for this course and an online registration form is available on our website at - http://www.floridalegion.org/sons/programs/mtd/FSCS/registration.htm - Registering online will guarantee the student will have a certificate upon completion of the class. Those that register the day of the class will have to get their certificate electronically after the class. Students must be in class for the entire class to receive the certificate. This course is being hosted by the Sons of The American Legion 11th District and is open to attend.

Jim Roberts Chairman Detachment Member Training & Development Committee

http://www.floridalegion.org/sons/programs/mtd/FSCS/registration.htm

http://www.floridalegion.org/sons/programs/mtd/FSCS/registration.htm

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