Detachment Commander: Fisher House does an excellent job!

Hello, American Legion Family!

This has been a busy month for me. I’ve put a quite a few miles on my vehicles traveling our great state.

I was invited to Granite Falls to speak with the members of Post 69 and the Sons of The American Legion Squadron there. It was a very interesting and productive meeting. Thoughts and ideas were exchanged on revitalizing the post and squadron, and I believe we all got something from the visit.

I would like to thank the members of the post and squadron for their hospitality and a special thank you to John Jones for the invitation.

Next, I went up to Legionville for the Minnesota Legion Riders Convention, also known as the Romp. I went to bring greetings from the over 11,000 SAL Detachment members to the American Legion Riders.

Note: Quite a few of the SAL are also ALR members.

I also had another motive for attending as I’m also an ALR member and the 4th District ALR representative and the chapter director at my home post. I will say that it was a most enjoyable time meeting with all of the folks in attendance.

My next visit was to the home of Becker Post 193 for its annual Fall Concert. It was a fundraiser for Fisher House. It seemed to be a huge success. The food was very good, and the band was rocking the house.

I thoroughly enjoyed myself, and I believe the folks in attendance enjoyed themselves, too. I got to meet many of the people who came, and their hospitality was fantastic. I also got to meet the managing director of Fisher House Minneapolis VA, Kim Bihm. She then offered to give me a tour of Fisher House at my convenience.

Luckily, I had an appointment at the VA the following Wednesday and took advantage of being on that side of the Twin Cities to take the tour. That’s quite the facility that they have there for the family of veterans getting care at the Minneapolis VA Medical Center who live 50 miles or farther away.

I would like to thank two of the officers of Squadron 193. Squadron Commander Andrew Lee and the Squadron Vice Commander and Chairman of the Fundraiser Concert Dave Anderson. You gentlemen did an outstanding job. Keep up the good work!

Then my final visit before writing this column was to the John Zagoda Memorial Disabled Veterans Deer Hunt at Legionville. The whole weekend was a very good time. I must say that the volunteerism that goes on up there is a wonderous sight. The Deer Hunt committee does a fabulous job of setting it up and taking care of the veterans and the volunteers who show up to put in their time to make it a success.

Quite a few deer were seen but out of five hunters only two got lucky enough to harvest a deer. Better luck next time to those of you who missed out.

With that I will close this column for the month with this wish to you, my brothers and sisters of the American Legion Family. Be well and be safe in your travels.

John Weiss of St Paul Arcade-Phalen Squadron 577 is the commander of the Detachment of Minnesota for the Sons of The American Legion. His theme is “Honoring the Past, While Moving Forward.”