Holiday's are you as busy as I am

With the Holidays coming soon it is surprising on how busy you can be. I have been on 2 Tours, the 10th District and the 18th District. What fun it has been to see the different units and posts along the way. Special thanks to Don and Deb Meskill for keeping me on track and taking care of me on the 10th district tour,  and to the 18th district for coming out to the Post's and meeting me and showing us a great time. 

Membership roundup was a success, but the Auxiliary needs to do better next time. We will be better prepared to collect dues the next time. We did collect over 100 dues with in that two days, so we did good for not doing it before. There is another one coming in March and we will be ready to round up more new members. 

The War Bonnet was an Unit function in the 18th district that was extra fun, the Indian Doll that was presented to our Honorary Junior President Chelsea was awesome, I received my feather and the Commander his Headdress, Detachment Commander Verville also received his feather. What a good time, what was extra special about this was honoring people for continuous membership years. I makes you proud to see these members that have stayed with the Legion for over 50 years. This is a commitment worth mentioning.  

The Junior mixer is coming up this weekend. I am going to be having fun with helping the juniors make cookies and work on there patches. I hope to see some new Juniors share in this fun. 

This blog has been a challenge for me to keep up, I am trying to stay focused and keep you up to date. I hope you have a great Thanksgiving. We have a lot to be thankful for. I'll email you after my vists to the Gift shops, I cant wait to see how the Hospitals help the Veterans during the Holidays. 

God Bless you All, Your President Carrie

new posting for the blog

Great news.. Fall conference was a lot of fun. From the Opening to the Closing, lots of new things were learned. Each of the chairman put on a great program, and they told us lots of new things going on this year. It was hard work and I wouldl like to thank them for doing it. This was the first time that I was able to pack ditty bags for a stand down, what a great way to find out what goes in those bags. Now I know what to be looking for to help with that project. Also the Elmobilty room was set up and I looked around in there sat down and read a book. I looked up and there were Junior girls all around me waiting for me to read out loud. What fun we had even though I needed to be quiet so that we wouldn't inturupt the meeting. We were able to do a raffle for Creative Arts, Claudia Barber-Martin donated her painting that she won last year in the Creative Arts program in Michigan. We raised $550.00 to go for the Presidents Project. This fund is growing and I couldn't be more proud. This weekend I will be attending the 10th District tour. It will be fun to see all the different Post Homes. There are so many that I have not visited and I have found each have there own unique personalities. Well that is my quick note for this month more to come. Until next time.. remember anytime you can donate to your community or your Veterans are truly appreciated. When you give your gift of time you cant go wrong. God Bless... President Carrie

Adventures

Wow, the days go by so fast. What fun we are having. Commander Chatman, Detachment Commander Verville, and Honorary Junior president Chelsea and I all made it up to the Wilwind Lodge in Trout lake Mi for their open house. It is an eye opener of what the Legion is  trying to accomplish with this property. The soldiers retreat is a spot that is just restful. Sitting out on the porch just slows your day down, it is so peaceful. But the 98 year old Lodge has such lot of history to it  that it is a must see. 

Jan shared National President Carlene Ashworth from Texas and the Honorary Junior President Sabrina Cobb from Ohio, with us as we tried to show them some Michigan hospitatly.  We had our days packed full of things to do. We went to the John D. Dingell Hospital for a tour of the Hospital, they are adding new things yearly. Also that day we were privileged to be able to serve the Veterans lunch. It was a hot day but very rewarding. The next day there was a Memorial service in Plymouth, a luncheon in Livonia, and then the Tigers game that night. It was a bonus that we won. It was so busy that the time just flew bye. I think that everyone enjoyed themselves. I was real pleased that all of the officers but Sue could be there. Mary Ann, Sandra, and Nancy all said that they enjoyed themselves too. 

With this fun done, it is now time to buckle down and do the nuts and bolts things, like budget and getting ready for National Convention where I will be installed. I'll right you next month to tell you how things are going. Talk to you soon.  President Carrie

President Carrie

So far my first week has been great. I have been able to see two different groups at, Greenawalt Flarety #42 Charlotte Post, The Legion Riders, and the Sons of the American Legion , and both have contributed to my Presidents project. With the fines that were collected at my first Executive Board meeting for phones going off, and a personal donation, the Balance so far is $740.00. wow I am speechless, only $14,260.00 more to my goal. I know we at least will have enough for one Veteran to get a stipend if they are picked to go to the National Creative Arts Festival in the upcoming year.

My next event is traveling to the 16th District American Legion Joint installation, in Southgate MI. What fun I will have installing the new District President Rose Callahan. More news to come after I have been there.

Sunday I have the privilege to be in the Chesaning Showboat Parade. I hear it is a great parade and my mom loves a parade so I think we will be having a great time.