Sister districts face off in dept. commander race

By Tim Engstrom
Come to the Department Convention and be part of the election of new statewide officers and see the change of ceremony. Here, Commander Linda Dvorak is pinned by her husband, Mark, in 2025.

Convention has 2 contested races; also talk of redistricting

WILLMAR — The 107th Department of Minnesota Convention features two contested races — commander and chaplain.

Interestingly, the commander contest pits sister districts. Garylee Davenport of Spicer Post 545 in the 7th District faces Pam Krill of Fairmont Post 36 in the 2nd District.

The Minnesota American Legion has 10 districts, and the sister pairings are 1st & 3rd, 2nd & 7th, 4th & 5th, 6th & 9th, and 8th & 10th.

Krill is an Air Force veteran. Davenport is an Army veteran. Both are past district commanders and past department vice commanders.

The chaplain race has Cynthia Yanchury of Eagan Post 594 in the 3rd District running against Dean Knutson of Ashby Post 357 in the 7th District.

For contested races, in the months before the convention, posts typically vote on who they want their convention delegation to vote for. Candidates had endorsements printed in the Legionnaire. Searching their last names at legionnaire.org also will yield the same endorsements.

Uncontested candidates are:

  • Carla Tappainer of Apple Valley Post 1776 in the 3rd District for vice commander, serving the 1st and 3rd districts.
  • Thomas Behrends of Brewster Post 464 in the 2nd District for vice commander, serving the 2nd and 7th districts.
  • Carroll “Bird” Partridge of St. Paul 3M Post 599 in the 4th District for vice commander, serving the 4th and 5th districts.
  • Frank Grittner of Zimmerman Post 560 in the 6th District for vice commander, serving the 6th and 9th districts.
  • Matthew Berens of Hopkins Post 320 in the 10th District for vice commander, serving the 8th and 10th districts.
  • Sandy Gessler of Austin Spam Post 570 in the 1st District for historian.
  • Joe Bares of Jordan Post 3 in the 3rd District for sergeant-at-arms.

 

Redistricting by county

The story about redistricting The American Legion in Minnesota continues to play out at each statewide gathering. The Department Convention will be no different.

A resolution from the Ad Hoc Department Redistricting Committee calls for any redistricting to be performed along county lines.

The Department Constitution presently calls for the districts to be formed along congressional lines.

After the Legion’s founding in 1919, convention delegates used the map the Legislature created in 1913 based on the 1910 census. Legionnaires were all set for a change in 1921 after the 1920 census. But guess what? The Legislature refused to redraw the map because of the ever-present urban-rural power divide. Lawmakers froze it, instead.

With the census of 1930, Minnesota was set to lose a seat in Congress in 1931. Because the state failed to create new maps, the Legion districts simply were not redrawn or ever redrawn. Thus, the congressional lines Minnesota had for 1913-1931 remain alive and well in the map of the Minnesota American Legion.

It results in Hennepin County being split by the 5th and 10th districts. Plus, Ramsey County has one post assigned to the 10th District. That would be Tri-City Post 513 of New Brighton.

If approved, the new language in the Constitution would state:

“The American Legion, Department of Minnesota, shall be organized in units termed districts and no county shall be divided between two or more districts.

“A review of the district boundaries shall be conducted by the Department Executive Committee every 10 years (following the Census), and any restructuring be completed at the end of the following membership year.”

If you like history, here is the rest of the tale on Minnesota congressional boundaries. From 1931 to 1933, Minnesota had no congressional districts. Zip! All nine seats were elected at-large in 1932. There was no map for the Legionnaires to go by.

The courts forced a congressional map in 1933, which itself wasn’t replaced until another court-ordered map in 1962. In a massive failure to do a constitutional duty, the Minnesota Legislature has not produced a congressional district map without court intervention since the 1913 map that the Minnesota American Legion still uses.

Even then, the 1913 map was made two years late. The last time the Legislature did its mapping job properly and on time is 1881.

 

National Media & Communications Awards

Department Communications Director Tim Engstrom will present national awards for media at the convention. National used to present them at the National Convention.

Bruce Camerer, Scott Kallberg and Larry Larson of Glenville American Legion Riders Chapter 264 won first place among posts up to 249 members for public relations in the 2026 American Legion Media & Communications Contest. They won for garnering area news coverage related to their chapter winning the bid to have Albert Lea be the kickoff and finish for the Nation of Patriots Tour.

The ride kicked off May 16. It returns to Bergdale Harley-Davidson in Albert Lea on Sept. 18.

There is only one Chairman’s Award, and it is given by the National Media & Communications Chairman Holly Lewis. It went to Jennifer Cole and Engstrom for the revamp of the department website at mnlegion.org. Cole is an Auxiliary member with Zimmerman Unit 560 and the dynamo behind Legion Social.

The duo also won first place for websites among all departments and districts.

Cole also won honorable mention in the website category for posts 250-749 for her work on the new Fairmont Post 36 site.

Engstrom also won first place among all department and district publications for The Minnesota Legionnaire.

 

Everything else

Minneapolis VA Director Pat Kelly will provide an update at 9:30 a.m. Friday, July 10.

See a full schedule for the convention on Page 10.

Some committees meet Wednesday, July 8.

There will be a Department Executive Committee at 8:30 a.m. Thursday, July 9. The convention begins in earnest at 10 a.m. that same day, with the gambling seminar at 2 p.m.

The convention has many reports from all the committees. It also is a time to meet the Eagle Scout of the Year, the Boys State governor and the Oratorical Contest champion.

Department Service Officer Jason Storm will present the Pat Cliff Award, recognizing a post for its efforts to assist struggling veterans.

Membership Director Joe Bares will present his final round of membership awards: the Gold and Silver Brigade winners.

Wednesday and Thursday nights are open for members to choose the evening plans of their desire. Members of the Legion Family are encouraged to pack Willmar Post 167 at 220 19th Ave. SW on Friday evening to hear live music and to participate in an off-the-cuff short program.