American Legion Greer Post #11 held its monthly meeting on December 19 with 38 members in attendance. Commander Rados thanked the cooks for a delicious meal. Chaplain Don Kotab gave the invocation which was followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. The Preamble to the Constitution of the American Legion was recited by all members. Commander Rados then called the meeting to order.

Minutes – Adjutant Dave Isebrands read the minutes of our last meeting. Minutes were approved as read.

Treasurer’s Report – Commander Rados read the treasurer’s report. The treasurer’s report was approved as presented.

Americanism – Americanism Officer Don Kotab stated he is working with Lori Kokes regarding the Trooper Academy and also noted there will be four scholarships offered again this year.

Service Officer – Service Officer Merle Stone gave his report.

Baseball – No report Legion Riders – Brrr! Bingo – Bob Kucera stated that the turnout for Bingo has been very good. Workers for December 22nd are Ray Soukup and Tony Krcil, for January 5th are Tom Schmidt and John Crisman, and for January 12th are Clayton and Jim Bastemeyer.

Veterans Service Officer – Veteran Service Officer Jerry Seiner reported that the VA is conducting an outreach campaign to enroll eligible veterans in VA health care. Included are approximately one million veterans who served in Vietnam, the Gulf War, Iraq, and Afghanistan. The campaign includes text messages, emails directly to veterans, as well as public service announcements and paid advertising. Eligible veterans should contact their local Veterans Service Officer. For those using My-HealtheVet, the user ID and password will be removed after January 31st. An Id.me or login.gov account will be required to sign into the VA websites. Help Desk to assist Veterans and their Caregivers through the secure log-in transition from MyHealthe.Vet can be accessed at the Sioux Falls Help Desk in the main lobby and at each CBOC.

OldBusiness –PaulKucera helped Clayton decorate the pickup for the Parade of Lights. The Pool Committee had a good turnout after the parade here at the Post for Bingo and lunch. Helping with Bingo were Clayton, John Crisman, Paul, and Jay. Paul and Clayton researched and purchased a new 7 cubic foot freezer as well as a new 18 cubic foot refrigerator to hold pop, etc.

New Business – Amanda Bechen is still working on our IRS exemption to bring us up to date. A ‘Thank You’ was received in memory for Jack Kuhlman as well a donation. A letter was received from the Wagner After Prom committee seeking a donation. Prom is on March 29th this year. A donation of $100 will be sent to the committee.

The Mid-Winter conference will be held February 14-16th at the Cedar Shores in Oacoma. District 8’s Mid-Winter meeting will be held March 29th in Tabor.

The Sweepstakes tickets are here tonight. There are 214 prizes and 1200 tickets will be sold. You can pick up tickets to sell after tonight’s meeting.

Mark Wiechmann built a replica of a MTHV Browning 50 caliber machine gun. He brought it here to display to the attending members. A big round of applause and thank you was afforded to Mark for his meticulous and authentic looking replica.

John Stone was the monthly drawing winner with the winnings donated back to the Post. Chaplain Don Kotab gave the final blessing and we closed in due form.