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