American Legion Oro Valley Post 132, Auxiliary and SAL activities and info relevant to veterans, August 4, 2021
No Post and Auxiliary Unit meetings during the months of July and August. Next meeting date for both Post and Auxiliary Unit is September 16, 2021
Upcoming Dates and activities to remember:
August 14, “Stuff the Truck” with pet supplies: Tucson Veterans Serving Veterans (TVSV), the sponsoring organization of the August 18 Stand Down Resource Fair event for all Veterans in Need, is conducting a Stuff the Truck event. This event is specifically to collect items for the pets of homeless Veterans attending the Resource Fair. If you have a love of animals and would like to help our less fortunate Veterans, this is a great opportunity. When: Saturday, August 14, 10AM-2PM. Where: PETSMART at 4374 N. Oracle Rd. Tucson, AZ. What is needed: Wet and dry kitten/cat and puppy/dog unopened food, treats, toys, leashes, collars, blankets, harnesses, collapsible bowls and portable water bowls. Note: Cannot accept medications and open packages of food. Post and Auxiliary Unit 132 are sponsoring partners of TVSV.
August 16, clothing collection: new socks, underwear and hygiene items and new and gently used casual clothes for the veterans in need attending the August 18 Stand Down event. Bring your bagged or boxed hygiene and clothing donations to Splendido at 13500 N Rancho Vistoso Blvd only on Monday, August 16 between 8:30am and at 9am.
August 18, Stand Down One Day Resource Fair for all Veterans in need. Purpose of Stand Down is to provide a safe environment where the veterans have access to services such as medical care, employment opportunities, housing, legal services, disability claims, meals, clothing, care for their pets and much more. Sixty plus local assistance/service providers will be present. Location: Grand Luxe Hotel, 1365 W Grant Rd., Tucson, 85745. Volunteers needed August 16 for sorting of donated clothing, August 17 for event setup and August 18 for the day of the Fair. Fair day volunteers needed for registration, the clothing “store”, food service, escorts, security and other tasks. (not required to be a member of the Oro Valley Post or Auxiliary to volunteer). Signup to volunteer at https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0C44ABA62BA2F4C16-tucson If you experience issues with the Sign-up Genius site or wish to volunteer as a group, contact Bruce Hamilton at 623-687-5552 or tucsonveterans.bruce@gmail.com
August 21. The 2021 annual golf tournament fundraiser: Dear members and friends. As with just about any service organization, fundraising, whether we like it or not, is a necessary and vitally important activity. As we are currently without an income producing facility of our own, fundraising and individual donations are what allow us to sponsor our “care and assistance” programs which have been recognized and honored by military organizations and other veterans’ groups. The annual golf tournament is our “main event”. Quote: “The American Legion Oro Valley Post 132 has been a steadfast ray of hope to our less fortunate veterans by providing care and assistance when most needed”. Words recently spoken by the Chairman of the Tucson Veterans Serving Veterans Alliance. We ARE making a difference. To help us carry on our mission of hope, we are sponsoring our 12th annual charity golf tournament. This year’s golf tournament is Saturday, August 21 at The Views G.C., a favorite of golfers. One hundred percent of the proceeds stay within the greater Tucson area, and will be used to provide care and assistance to local homeless and other veterans in need, and to the families of struggling soldiers of our “adopted” Arizona National Guard and Reserve Units, our citizen soldiers. Every member can help in some way even if not a local resident. If you golf, get a foursome together and encourage others to do the same. Friends, neighbors and merchants will welcome the opportunity to help veterans and services members in need. Donations of any amount are gratefully accepted and are tax deductible. POC is Steve Didio, golf tournament chair, at 520-332-9481 or stevedidio@comcast.net or go to our website https://ovamericanlegion132.com/12th-annual-golf-tournament-aug-21-2021-help-us-to-help-those-in-need/Please see the attached tournament flyer in pdf and jpg formats.
**September 26. The annual picnic**: the annual picnic will be held at the Cataline State Park, Oro Valley, Sunday, Sept 26 in the Gila Pavilion from 12:30pm to 2:30pm. The Gila picnic area is located in the Group Picnic Area. Post 132 will provide complimentary BBQ fare and sides, and beer, wine, soda and desert. The picnic is our way of thanking members of the Post, Auxiliary, SAL and Riders for their loyal membership and continued support of the post’s award-winning programs. It also is an opportunity for the membership to show their support of the officers and of those who give of their time to the many Post programs. Two guests max please per Post, Auxiliary, Rider and SAL member. RSVP number in your party to help us plan. Contact Bob Franke 520-909-2070 or bfranke206@aol.com Don’t delay. (Park entrance fee per vehicle. A 50% per vehicle discount with proof of veteran status)
Past Activities and Information:
June 4, Rest in Peace:: Members of the Post’s Honor Guard had the honor of performing at the memorial service for fellow Post member Gordon “Buzz” Hackett, an Air Force veteran. A two-person Air Force team performed the flag folding and presented it to his wife, Mary Lou. Post 132 Commander Wayne Larroque gave the eulogy. Buzz’s children, all three active-duty Army, were present to honor their father.
May 14. Flag etiquette and flag folding demonstration: Post members, commander Wayne Larroque, Ray Baldwin and John Madaloni were the guests of a local civic organization where they were invited to talk about flag etiquette and to demonstrate the proper way to fold an American flag. By doing so, the Post is fulfilling the role of a community partner.
Post and Auxiliary Unit support our military kids: Post and Auxiliary Unit 132 combined to donate $750 to the Arizona Heroes to Hometowns’ backpack for military kids program. The backpacks, filled with back to school supplies, were distributed to the children of our “adopted” Guard and Reserve soldiers stationed at the Marana facilities.
June 17, Post 132 general membership meeting: A formal installation of the Post officers for the 2021-2022 leadership year was conducted by members of the American Legion District 2 installation team. Post 132 has been fortunate since its inception to consistently assemble a solid core of officers who take their responsibilities to the Post and its members very seriously. We have many new members on the leadership team this year. The officers are: Wayne Larroque – commander, Steve Didio – 1st vice commander, George Eveland – 2 vice commander, Gary Smith – adjutant, Gene Wickey – Judge Advocate, Carla Hodge – Service Officer, Steve Kendall – Finance Officer, Dan McGregor – Historian, Rick Gonzales – Sergent at Arms, Danny Lemon – Chaplain, Jim Barnhart – Executive Committee Member, Bob Franke – Executive Committee Member, John Madaloni – Executive Committee Member, Laurnene Frey – Executive Committee Member and Tom Roblee – Executive Committee Member. Thank you for your commitment to the Post and its members. (note: names are in order of Post position, not in photo order)
.June 18, SAL Squadron 132 presents awards to JROTC cadets: In a first for our Sons of the American Legion Squadron, ribbons and medal sets were awarded to 5 outstanding cadets of the Flowing Wells JROTC during the Unit’s award ceremony. Congratulations to these outstanding cadets!
June 24, snacks for deploying Guard Unit: Post member Dan McGregor assembled and delivered, to SFC Christopher Hagenian, 30 travel snack bags for the deploying soldiers of Peace Vanguard Detachment which operates out of the Silverbell Army Heliport. 1SG Benzi and SFC Hagenian were very grateful and expressed their sincerest appreciation to the Post and to the Family Readiness Group for supporting their deploying soldiers.
June 27, breakfast burritos for deploying Guard Unit: Auxiliary Unit member Rosie Gonzales and AZ National Guard Family Readiness Group representative Linda Miller were up long before the sun to prepare breakfast burritos for the deploying solders of Peace Vanguard. Linda is also a member of our Post and of the Auxiliary Unit. The Peace Vanguard Det. consists of Arizona Army National Guard personnel who provide helicopter training and maintenance support to helicopter pilots of the Republic of Singapore through the United States Army Flight Training Detachment (USAFTD).
June 30, donation to the Tucson Fisher House: Post Chaplain Danny Lemon presented a $200 gift card to the management of the Tucson Fisher House. This is part of our ongoing commitment of support for the Fisher House. In addition to financial support, twice a year our members take over the kitchen and cook and prepare up to 50 individually packaged complete meals for the residents. The residents, who stay at the lodging facility at no cost to them, are the family members of Veterans who are receiving in-patient medical care at the adjoining VA medical center.
See attached July Executive Committee meeting minutes below.
Contact Info: Facebook: Please like, follow and share with others to help spread the word about our Post and its award winning programs. www.facebook.com/ovamericanlegionPost132
Post Website: www.ovamericanlegion132.com
Post Mailing address: Oro Valley Post 132, PO Box 69665, Oro Valley, AZ 85737
SAL Squadron 132 email address: ovsquadron132@gmail.com
Post 132 commander – Wayne Larroque 520-301-5303 xlcajun@gmail.com
SAL Squadron 132 commander – Ed Davis 520-229-1064 egdavis@att.net
Riders Chapter 132 Director – Rick Bernard 510-493-1559 rreb59@gmail.com
Service Officer: Carla Hodge – 602-255-3373 chodge@azdvs.gov
Auxiliary Unit president: ovunit132@gmail.com
Ed Davis, Past Commander/Newsletter Editor, 520-229-1064, egdavis@att.net