Sons of The American Legion

Congratulations to our Ernie Wilson, Jr. Memorial Scholarship winner, Nicholas Christian, from Dunellen Squadron 119!

If you are interested in becoming the Detachment Executive Committeeman (DEC) for your county, please contact me as soon as possible; efforts to solidify and train those that want to represent their county at the Detachment level will begin in August.

Greetings fellow Sons of The American Legion!

I hope this finds everyone safe and healthy. The Sons of The American Legion, Detachment of New Jersey, needs to fill a vacancy for the following position:

VICE COMMANDER

After three years of dedicated service, Vice Commander Greg Shaffer is resigning. He is going to remain active, but assuming additional responsibilities at the squadron and county levels, as well as a different role at the state level.

Anyone interested in this position needs to email me at mrthal@yahoo.com. In the email, please include your squadron number, Post name, the county you’re from, your phone number and all positions that you’ve held at the various levels of the Sons of The American Legion. I would like to fill this position as soon as possible, so please email me at your earliest convenience if you’re interested.

To those that expressed interest (and those who may be interested) in the Detachment Executive Committeeman position for their county, please reach out to me as well. The plan for the DECs at this time is to have everyone trained and in place by September 1.

The current social situation has dictated that we need to change some of the ways we facilitate communication. At the Detachment level, we are using an internet chat room and meeting room in addition to our conference calls. Local squadrons and county organizations can do the same. If you need help to learn how to do this, please contact me.

In an effort to keep everyone informed about current activities, I am using our website, www.njsal.org and posting information as needed. Please use the Events section to post activities once things are opened up—everything that we do does not wind up on Facebook, and many activities are reported after the fact. I, among others, would like to know what’s going on beforehand for possible attendance and participation, so please put your activities on the site.

Remember to contact your area’s Vice Commanders, or myself, if you have any questions/concerns.

Stay smart, use appropriate protection and stay healthy!

For God and Country,

Matthew C. Thalasinos
Commander
Sons of The American Legion
Detachment of New Jersey
2019-2021

May 23, 2020

Greetings!

I hope this finds our membership in good health. Although restricted by the effects of the Corona virus in regards to having physical meetings and a convention, our Detachment is still going strong.

First off, the information to the right is totally inaccurate; the membership total is way off and there is no American Legion Convention in Wildwood scheduled for 2020.

At a recent conference call of the Detachment of New Jersey, the following issues were addressed, along with a very brief synopsis:

FINANCES:
NATIONAL: The mandatory $3.00 National S.A.L. dues increase goes into effect this year.

STATE: A $2.00 Department requested dues increase was discussed. Although recommendations by the SAL FINANCE OFFICER and SAL FINANCE COMMITTEE were in line with the Department recommendation, there was considerable discussion and there will be an upcoming meeting to go over this issue again.

***There was a concern about increasing everyone with a total of a $5.00 increase between the National and State dues.

CHARITABLE FUND RAISERS: The current status of our fund raisers was discussed. The Children and Youth areas of CWF, COTA and Special Olympics, as well as NEF are progressing. The Commander’s Project has amassed $23,145 of the $25,000 I thought we could raise to give Department Commander Robert Newell to assist in the improvement of Veteran facilities. Each area still needs more funding; please continue your donations.

CSRs: The due date for submission has been extended to June 1. Please get these in!

AWARDS: There will be another meeting to discuss the issuing of awards after more CSRs are submitted.

MEMBERSHIP: Keep pushing; we’re behind nationally on our target goals. Buddy checks to see how our members are faring, is essential. Securing dues from members who have not paid up yet also needs to be addressed.

DECs: Recruitment and training were discussed. Those who had said they were interested will be contacted over the next few weeks. We are targeting August to have everyone on board.

As far as I know, everyone has remained in good health. I have not heard of any S.A.L. member having a serious issue. Let’s hope things progress smoothly.

Please practice safe behavior and stay healthy!

For God and Country,

Matthew C. Thalasinos Commander Sons of The American Legion Detachment of New Jersey 2019--2020

April 30, 2020

Hi,

I have a few items since the prior message:
CORRECTIONS TO THE MESSAGE
1. Our Vice Commander out of Belleville Post 105 is Steve Sangemino; I typed the wrong name in my previous message.
2. PDC Jeff Hicks is the Chairman for Corona Virus Information, not the Director.
ADDITIONAL INFO
1. CSRs are due to PDC Carl Albern, Jr. by May 1.
2. Keep pushing membership; reaching others by phone should be a little easier at this time.

Stay safe,

Matt Thalasinos
Commander
Sons of The American Legion
Detachment of New Jersey
2019--2020

April 27, 2020

Gentlemen,

I hope this finds you in good health. The ramifications of what the Corona virus has imposed on us severely handicapped the events, programs and personnel in our entire American Legion Family. It is my greatest hope that no more of us become affected by the virus. To those that are, I think I can safely assume that our entire brotherhood is praying for a healthy and speedy recovery for you or someone you know that is. This is a scary time, but we shall endure as we forge ahead.

The Department of New Jersey followed the lead of the National American Legion and has voted that all officers and personnel stay in office another year. As we are a program of the Department, we will follow suit. The Auxiliary is also doing the same. The extension of our terms of office gives us all more time to get our fund-raising goals and programs more time as we have already lost a quarter of our year. I anticipate we will match that (or more) between the months of June, 2020 and June, 2021, especially if projected reports that another round of a high percentage of Corona cases could return in October/November. Although I stopped my travelling in mid-March, I am fortunate in that I did an abundance of travelling throughout the year and achieved many strides in accomplishing my goals.

The restrictions imposed on us due to the Corona virus are handcuffing what we do as volunteers to assist our veterans, children, communities, state and nation. There are, however, some programs that we are pushing through. All our fund-raising projects are still in effect. Our Ernie Wilson, Jr. Memorial Scholarship will be awarded. A couple of other awards will also be reviewed for inclusion for this term. In a short time attention will be given to the DEC Development and Training program with our Chairman, Tony Gladden.

BUDDY CHECKS are ESSENTIAL!
Please report any situations to our Chaplain, Nick Wingler.
Our Vice Commanders, Henry Hasselhan, Larry McKenna, Mark Natale, Steve Severino and Greg Shaffer, are also staying in touch with the Squadron Commanders in their counties throughout the state. Continuous communication is vital.

PDC Jeff Hicks has accepted my offer to be the
DIRECTOR OF CORONA VIRUS INFORMATION.
If you have any questions or concerns about the virus, or know of someone who needs information, please contact Jeff. He can be reached by email (hicksfgjj@aol.com) or by phone (609-206-6583).

Please continue safety-first practices—social distancing is a necessity as well as wearing masks and gloves.

Stay healthy!

For God and Country,

Matthew C. Thalasinos Commander Sons of The American Legion Detachment of New Jersey 2019-2020