COMMANDER – Al Norton
May has been a pretty fair month. We can tell summer is coming because business is starting to slow a bit.

Mothers Day brunch was excellent. Thank you Master Chef Gene Barton, head cook Neil Thornton for your outstanding performance. We had plenty of food. About 40% prepared was left over. We do need volunteers from the Legionnaires for the 2nd week of every month in the kitchen. Instead of splitting tips each person gets a free meal or 2 drink chips, which could be more then the tips.

Post 44 was able to give out seven scholarships for $500.00 apiece to very deserving students. A few of the students already have over 40 college credits before graduating High School. This is pretty awesome!

The Department of Veteran Affairs Rural Division is putting on a benefit fair on July 14th 2016, 9:00 am to noon at Post 44. We are hoping to have at least 15 vendors who provide services to Veterans here. I urge all vets to attend; there could be services out there that we aren’t aware of. The American Legion Service officer from Albuquerque is expected to be here.

Remember participation & socializing with friends at Post 44 is our life blood.

God Bless everyone and God Bless America

Charity & Education:
May distributions from Gaming proceeds to the community were $2,914.45. Recipients were American Legion Department, T or C Veterans Memorial Trust, Post 44 Auxiliary Care Packages, SCCA, Moose 2050, American Legion District 7 for Oratorical Contest Prizes, Elephant Butte Anglers for Kid’s Fishing Tournament, Hot Springs High School JROTC Scholarship Fund and T or C Community Theatre.

Finance Officer- Bill Conklin
No report

Activities Committee – Kathy Norton and Linda Amdal
Many thanks to all that helped clean up the cemetery! The many hands made for lighter, faster work. It looks so much better!

Sat, June 4th, the SAL will be cooking up brats, potato salad and sauerkraut as a fundraiser starting at 5 p.m.

Check out the new T-Shirts for sale! They are awesome and only $12.00. We also have new koozies available at the bar for only $3.00.

Congrats and many thanks to Melanie Millsap as our June “Volunteer of the Month!” Mel has helped with breakfasts, Wednesday & Friday kitchen duties & has brought in lots of goodies to share with members and employees! Thanks, Mel, for all that you do!

Sat, June 18th, we will be celebrating Frank Kapela’s 75th birthday! Come on in to help him celebrate!

Father’s Day, Sunday June 19th, the Post member father’s will be treated to a complimentary pot roast dinner @ 5:00. All other guests will be $8.00. The scotch doubles pool tournament will begin that day @ 3:00.

Heads up for July – Fireworks will be on Sat, July 2nd on Rattlesnake Island. We are also making noises about doing a “Christmas in July” Craft Fair on Sat, July 23rd. Watch for further info or contact Linde Polstin at the Post.

Thanks for supporting our Post and we look forward to seeing you there!!

POST 44
PO Box 1073 – 1005 Hwy. 195 – Elephant Butte, NM 87935
575-744-4144
WEBSITE – americanlegionelephantbutte.com

COMMANDER – Al Norton
April has been a rather slow month. Participation in Post activities is a must to keep the entertainment. The Wednesday night bands are being asked to start at 6:00pm per your requests. Except for the one night we have the people from the Vets home; it will start at 5:30 pm. We did have a new band audition; after we got the volume turned down they were very good.

Karaoke is in jeopardy again. We need to have singers here to keep it fun. Destiny Mitchell has started running some karaoke, boy, can that girl sing. Welcome Destiny.

Many people believe that Post 44 will go totally non-smoking as soon as the patio is complete. Our main goal is to be prepared when state law requires us to do so. No one knows when that will happen. We will encourage people to use the patio. It will give us more room for more seating capacity especially for larger events. We all know it can get very crowded in here.

Please continue to enjoy our activities. Come on down visit friends & members, have fun and drink responsibly. Use a dedicated driver when you need to.
God Bless all of you. God bless America.

Charity & Education:

A total of $3,977.24 was distributed by the Charity & Education funds generated by our gaming proceeds for the month of April.

Recipients include: American Legion New Mexico Department, T or C Memorial Trust, Post 44 Auxiliary for care packages and Department Assessments, Down Under Sports to help sponsor a student to participate in Track & Field events, T or C Elementary School Kindergarten and the first grade students for field trips, Friends of Elephant Butte Lake State Park for fireworks and Sierra County Sheriff’s Posse for free youth programs.

Finance Officer- Bill Conklin

No report

Activities Committee – Kathy Norton and Linda Amdal

Thank you, Bob Nellis and Bob Acre for fixing the juke box!!

Sunday, May 8th, Post 44 Mom’s will be honored with a complimentary pork loin meal, from 1 to 4 p.m. For other guests, the meal is $8.00.

Congratulations to Bill Laswell and Lucy Newton for being selected as our volunteers of the month! Besides working in the kitchen, Bill has volunteered to help fix things that need fixin’ at the Post. Lucy is always willing to lend a hand where ever and whenever we need her! Thanks, you two, for all you do!

The Lucero Challenge, Saturday May 28th has been cancelled because of the holiday. It will resume next month. Also that day at 9 am, we will be setting flags at the New Cemetery, then on to the Old Cemetery. Many hands make fast work, so plan to come out to help. The ceremonies will be on Memorial Day, Monday the 30th, 9 am, starting at the New Cemetery, then on to the Old Cemetery, T or C Memorial Wall and Ralph Edwards Park. Tuesday at 9 am, we will be retrieving the flags from the cemeteries.

Thanks to all of you for supporting the Post and we look forward to seeing you!