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Jan - Feb 2026 Newsletter

Check out the Highlights or Download the Full PDF below!




Commander

Seasons Greetings Fellow Members, The Post has been busy and that is good. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Vaughn Smith,

Commander Post 112

1st Vice Commander

Vacant, Consider the option


Adjutant

Winter is here and I cleared my driveway twice while writing this article. It occurred to me that this is my 5th anniversary at Elk River Post 112. I remember calling the number on the internet and Greg Artman invited me to the “Donuts with the Commander” on a Saturday and then introduced me to everyone. As I sat in the parking lot that first Saturday I wondered if this was something I really wanted to get involved with. Now it seems like I’ve known many of you all my life. So, if you have a little extra time, don’t be afraid to get involved. We could use you as much or as little as you want

Our Membership goal for 2026 is 310 and we are already at around 230. However, we seem to only have around 30 members that are involved. Which reminds me of the story of a Ham an Egg breakfast and the difference between involvement and commitment? The chicken is involved but the pig made a commitment. We just need a few more chickens.


If you haven’t paid your membership dues please do so. And thanks to Bill Stevenson for his tireless work as the membership director. It’s our members that keep us strong.


So now we’re going to concentrate on our upcoming events, the BBB, (Breakfast, Bloody Marys and Bingo) on Jan 18, to support a local baseball team and then we start our annual Lenten Friday night Fish suppers in February. We cannot overstate how important the Fish suppers are in keeping our post in the black. If you can help out, please sign up.


And if you can’t please come as a customer and enjoy a great meal.


The Honor Guard is always looking for a few good Men [and Women] to fill our ranks so if you might be interested let us know. It’s a very rewarding experience and doesn’t take as much time as you think. We are working with VFW 5518 to do some joint missions. There are many dual members who belong to both posts and worked together in the past. As always good place to learn how to get involved would be to come to our donuts with the commanders on Saturday mornings at 8:30. It’s a good way to meet people and see what’s going on. Sometimes the Mayor stops by and gives us updates about what’s going on in Elk River.


We welcome back Tom Kulkay who has been to a couple coffee with the commander get togethers. We wish him the best as he continues to recover from his knee surgery.


Stop on by the post to say hello and sign the book.

Gregory Crow (G2)

Post Adjutant

PS. If you’re going pheasant hunting it’s a good idea to practice a little ahead of time if you want to hit anything! Don’t ask me how I know.



Auxiliary

Hello to all the Unit 112 Auxiliary members, I attended Fall Conference in St Cloud great speaker John Kriesel his book is Still Standing. Holiday Bake sale was December 5th with a great fundraiser to help veterans. Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns or if you need prayer. 763-300-6061 is my cell number.

Michele Smith

President Unit 112



Volunteer of the Month Nov 2025

Mary Murphy


Auxiliary Membership

I would like to welcome our new Auxiliary member, Janice Krupicka


Diane Telfer


Post Chaplain

The following is the 15 OCT to 14 DEC 2025 summary of Post Chaplain duties performed:

Personal Visits, Home, Assisted Living 182

Messaging, Text, Phone 89

Letters of Condolences 1

Chaplain Support AL Events, Spiritual Counseling 70

American Legion Chaplain’s Calendar: New Years 1 JAN, Vietnam Ceasefire 27 JAN, Americanism Month FEB, Four Chaplains Sunday (1 st Sunday) FEB, Presidents Day (3 rd MON) FEB

The main focus these past two months involved planning, coordinating, and recognizing Veterans

Day events. 88 Veterans in Senior Care and Assisted Living (Guardian Angels 5 Campuses, Bee

Hive 1 Campus, Wellstead 2 Campuses, and Centra Care 1 Campus) were recognized with a personal Veteran Lapel Pin, personal Note of Appreciation by the Post 112 Auxiliary, a Certificate of Military Service Appreciation, a personal Hand Salute, and two Campuses had a Post 112 Honor Guard with the Colors presented.


In total there were 14 Veterans Day Honor Guard representations (Note there were 8 additional Honor Guard School Sports and Celebrations of Life events): additional ceremonies included presentation of colors at 3 schools, and 2 Veterans Community Support Agencies events that were conducted over a six-day period. Thank you and well-done Honor Guard and Auxiliary!! 16 Veterans Day public Invocations and Benedictions, and 4 Veterans Day Messages were presented. Continuing weekly and monthly vet visits and Sunday Worship services at the Wellstead Assisted Living Centers. Continuing weekly and monthly vet visits to five local Guardian Angels Campuses, and one Centra Care Campus. Starting next year, will have 88 total vets to visit at least monthly at four different Independent Senior and Assisted Living Centers. I want to personally as well as your Post 112 Chaplain thank you the Post 112 Members and Auxiliary for your encouragement and for your continuous, faithful support in fulfilling the requirements of my office. We did it together! I could not have done it without you!


Wishing all Post 112 members a very blessed Christmas and New Year!!

Paul Deneson, Chaplain

Post Service




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