American Legion refocuses efforts on service projects

Denny McClain, left, dishes up Novelle Browne's dinner Sunday afternoon at Nevada's American Legion Leon Ogier Post No. 2 annual Christmas festivities. The Legion has hosted Christmas activities for more than 80 years to provide toys to area needy children and as well as a traditional Christmas dinner for anyone who does not want to be alone on Christmas Day. This year, they delivered 38 meals to people who were homebound and could not attend and provided toys for about 80 children.

By Ralph Pokorny

Nevada Daily Mail

Over the past 10 years or so the Nevada American Legion post has gotten the image of a strictly social organization with their bar as the primary reason for their existence.

"We are not just a bar," Ronald Browne, information service officer for American Legion Leon Ogier Post No. 2, said.

"That is our social quarters. We have a bar for socializing, but we are primarily a service organization to provide assistance to veterans and their families as well as to benefit the community," he said.

During the last three or four months, the Legion members have started to work on turning things around.

One change is obvious the minute you walk in the door of the American Legion building on east Cherry Street. The pervasive smell of old cigarettes that immediately saturated your clothes and hair is largely gone.

Smoking is still allowed most of the time, but members are working to make it a less prominent environmental presence to benefit both smokers and nonsmokers who enter the building.

Browne said that they have spent a lot of time cleaning years of grime from the building in recent months.

"We still need to get a smoke-eater installed," Bob Bryan, Legion finance officer, said.

Their goal for next Christmas is to ban smoking from the building while the kids are there for their annual Christmas program, Browne said.

Browne and the current leadership of the Nevada Legion post have big ideas of where they want to go and what they might like to be involved with.

Some of the programs the Legion is going to consider include things like Legion baseball, the American Legion Junior Shooting Sports Program, the National High School Oratorical contest and flag education programs.

The local organization already participates in the Boys and Girls State programs, which teaches high school students how the government functions.

"We're getting ready to put it before the members to see what programs they want to participate in," he said.

However, before they can do much they need to increase their ranks, which currently numbers about 115.

Browne said that they plan to reach out to the guardsmen who just returned from Iraq.

"We have arranged to go to the next Guard meeting and will present them with applications to join the Legion," he said.

Over the next year Browne said that he hopes the post's membership will grow to number 200-300 people.

"We want to extend a hand to all those guys and gals just back (from overseas) to come and see what we have planned for '06," Browne said.

In 2005 the Nevada post had three new members.

"We have some very dedicated people who are going to help the Legion grow," he said.

One service the American Legion currently provides is help for veterans trying to work their way through the government bureaucracy to access health care benefits, pension information and survivor benefits, Browne said.

As the information service officer for the Nevada post that is Browne's job.

If a veteran needs some help with navigating the system, Browne said that he has information on many of the available programs. In the future, he said that people will be able to access information over the Internet.

"If they need help with the VA, we'll help. We do have a lot clout," he said.

Browne said that he would also like to see the Legion here provide activities for the children of veterans and the guardsmen who have been called up -- things like skating parties, movies or weekend campouts.

"When the veterans are serving their children deserve a little bit more," he said.

Veterans needing assistance can call Browne at his home, (417) 661-1066 or the American Legion building at (417) 667-9830.

The Nevada American Legion Post No. 2 meets the first Thursday of the month at 6:30 p.m. Officers are commander, Melvyn Ludwan; first vice commander, Roger Bain; second vice commander, Mike Wood; adjutant, Delvin Chubick, and chaplin, Denny McClain.