1. The American Legion Post 176 General Membership Meeting was called to order at 1930 on 5 June 2007, with Commander Taborek presiding.

a. The vice Adjutant called roll. All officers were present with the exception of Sgt-at Arms Thiebaut and Historian Nichols.

b. In accordance with the motion carried at the 5 Sep 06 General Membership Meeting, minutes of the previous meeting will be published on the Post Web site. Reading of the minutes was deferred until they could be posted.

c. Commander Taborek made the following announcements:

1.) The date for the June EXCOM meeting in the Post Scripts is wrong; it should be the 4^th Tuesday of the month.

2.) Ralph Nichols still needs an assistant to help with layout and organization of the yearbook.

2. Committee Reports were as follows:

a. 1^st Vice Commander Stone reported on the following activities:

1.) Membership Committee: Eleven candidates were presented for membership this evening. The names were read and approved in block. The Post now has 1679 members which is 96.3% of the Legion Year 2007 membership goal (1743 people).

2.) Legion Baseball: The 2007 baseball season is underway. The Post baseball team plays at Lee High School on 21 Jun at 7:00 PM.

3.) Legislative: There will be an instructional session to certify our Post delegates before departure for the Department Convention in July.

4.) Ways and Means Committee: Pat Peterson is the new Ways and Means Chairman. He is planning a pig roast and more parties for the social calendar.

b. Ray Stone gave the following report for the 2^nd Vice Commander:

1.) Blood Drive: The next blood drive is scheduled for Tuesday 19 Jun 07 at the Post Home. Thirty-five pints of blood were collected at the last blood drive on 17 Apr.

2.) Boys State: Boys State will be held the week of 17 Jun. The Post is sponsoring 16 delegates, including one home-schooled person.

3.) Oratorical: The 17^th District announced its Oratorical winners at last Saturday’s convention (3 Jun 07). The new season will start the middle of Aug; Jerry Mittelbach will visit local high schools to recruit contestants.

4.) Sons of the American Legion (SAL): This is Terry Breyman’s last meeting as SAL Commander. He thanked the Post for its support, particularly the $3000 donation to the Scout Troop. The money was used to purchase equipment for summer camp, and it also enabled two boys from needy families to attend the camp.

c. 3^rd Vice Commander Dzierski reported on the following activities:

1.) Adopt-a-Highway: The quarterly highway clean-up was held on 19 May. Members of Post 176 and Edison High School Junior ROTC cleaned a two mile stretch of road.

2.) Bingo: The Bingo Committee still needs callers. Ten percent of proceeds must go to non-profit organizations. The $3000 donation to the Scout Troop came from the bingo account.

3.) Children & Youth: No status to report. Tony Dzierski thanked Klaus Dahlke for chairing the committee this past year. He also thanked Maudie Price for her support of JROTC.

d. Finance:

1.) The Finance Report will be presented to the Corporate Board at the end of the month. The Corporate Board and the EXCOM may want to consider changing the order of their meetings so financial reports could be available at the EXCOM meetings.

2.) Accounting and bookkeeping issues are still being addressed. The Audit Committee is looking into accounting of 50-50 raffle proceeds. Only four direct deposits could be verified. Funds may have been co-mingled with other accounts. Ken Hanson, Tony Dzierski and Warren Divers (?) will assist Bill Hurd on the Audit Committee.

3.) The last Corporate Board meeting approved a transition plan for outsourcing financial records to a private company. This will save the Post $28 K a year, and will provide third party reconciliation for all transactions. The Post also will have running accurate totals of budget expenditures, along with a mid-year review.

4.) The IRS approved an extension of our tax return until 15 Aug 07. The IRS also imposes a fine of $50 per instance of cash paid for casual labor. The Post paid $60 in casual labor for tree planting. As a matter of practice, the Post should have a paper trail of expenditures for audit purposes. All club employees have W-4 tax withholding statements on file.

5.) Bob Cable reported that all bills currently are paid except a $900 bill from a Vienna bakery. All legitimate invoices will be paid.

e. Chaplain:

1.) Chauncey Reed was buried in Arlington Cemetery on 4 Jun with military honors. Maudie Price and four Post officers went to the internment. Maudie, Lew Lipscomb and auxiliary members attended Virginia Edwards’ viewing in Woodbridge.

2.) Comrade Joseph Lipomi died on Sunday (3 Jun), and the father of Linden Dixon, former 17^th District Commander, passed away. The mother of Ron Milshenski, past District Commander, also passed away.

3.) Comrade Walter Welc was in the Fairfax Hospital with broken ribs, and John Bednarek has been diagnosed with palsy. Please keep them all in your prayers.

f. Service Officer:

1.) In reference to the 1 May 07 GMM minutes, para 2.f.2., Ali Nikolai reported that she followed-up with Arlington National Cemetery about a question concerning a spouse who was cremated and buried at Arlington in anticipation of her husband also being buried there. If the husband decides to be buried in Florida, will the wife’s remains have to be removed from Arlington? The answer to the question is yes.

2.) Lew Lipscomb reported that he provided assistance to an out of town veteran who was in need of temporary lodging. His bags were lost at BWI airport. Lew put him up at the Hunter Motel and also gave him food money. He came from the West Coast to take a security guard position at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

g. Veterans Affairs & Rehabilitation: Tony Dzierski reported that the ambassador from South Korea will be present at the Korean Memorial on 25 Jun to honor the Korean War veterans.

h. Corporate Board:

1.) Rod Carlone congratulated Dennis Stokowski on his election as Director-at-Large. He also thanked Pat Peterson for serving on the Board as 1 yr. Director-at-Large.

2.) Rich Tiner reported that the 50 evergreen trees have been planted and certified by the County. Rod Carlone thanked him for all his hard work on the buffer zone project.

3.) There are many changes planned for land redevelopment in East Springfield. Monument Realty, the County redevelopment group, will address a Special Membership Meeting on 27 Jun to discuss the redevelopment plan and changes that may affect the Post. The buffer zone and the grassy area next to Circuit City may be areas the Post would want to offer up for redevelopment.

4.) Rod Carlone reported that our Post business is improving dramatically. The profit for the first four months of 2007 was $55 K (compared with $26 K for all of 2006). Suki Knarr, our General Manager, is working hard to realize cost savings and bring back services to veterans. There has been a cost savings of $31 K since Suki changed the contract for linen service. The Post has collected $100,000 in revenues for banquets and hall rentals through November. Breakfasts and lunches also are profitable. The ultimate measuring stick of service is member satisfaction. Seventy new members have joined the Post since Suki became General Manager.

i. Post Scripts: Tony Dzierski thanked Pat Peterson for helping with Post Scripts. The committee has five new volunteers. More work needs to done on packaging the Post Scripts because of the additional zip codes.

3. Old Business

a. In reference to the 1 May 07 GMM minutes, para 2.f.2., and the 26 Dec 06 EXCOM meeting minutes, para 4.b., the EXCOM decided at the 22 May meeting to review proposed changes to the By Laws at the next regularly scheduled meeting.

b. In reference to the 14 Nov 06 GMM minutes, para 5.e., and the 6 Feb 07 GMM minutes, para 3.b., John Bednarek asked about the status of the bronze plaque and the flag ceremony discussed at the 3 Apr 07 membership meeting. The flag for his apartment building was donated by American Legion Post 176 and a plaque was purchased to attach to the flag pole. It was noted that the Post would schedule a flag-raising ceremony, and Junior ROTC members would participate. Commander Taborek said he would have the plaque put up and arrange for the flag-raising ceremony.

c. In reference to the 6 Feb 07 GMM minutes, para 4.c., and the article in the March 2007 Post Scripts, a question was asked about the effective date of the $6.00 increase in dues. The increase (to $30) will be effective on 1 Jul 07. The dues increase was necessitated because effective this calendar year, the Post had to pay National Headquarters $4.50 more for each registered member. Post 176 has to pass this dues increase along to its members. The $30 rate scale should be used for Paid-Up-For-Life memberships.

d. The Installation Dinner for newly elected officers will be held on Saturday, 24 Jun from 6:00 to 8:00 PM. A social hour will precede the dinner.

5. New Business:

a. A motion was made and carried to for the Post to include home schooled boys as candidates for the Boys State program. Names can be obtained through the home school network. Candidates will be considered on a case by case basis.

b. The Department of VA Convention will be held from 12-15 Jul 07 at the Fairview Park Marriott in Falls Church, VA. The Post will have 35 delegates. It was decided at the 1 May GMM (para 5.b.) that anyone who attends the 17^th District or the Department of VA Convention will be a delegate to the convention. Registration and fees are required for all social events.

c. A notice will be published in the July Post Scripts for nominations for the vacant post of 1 yr. Committeeman-at-Large. Voting will take place at the Aug membership meeting.

d. Past Commander Jimmy Jones who conducted the 50-50 raffles disputed an accusation that he was involved in the mishandling of 50-50 funds. He ran the raffles honestly and turned monies over to the Commander when the Sgt-at Arms was not present. The Finance Officer made a point of order that Comrade Jones had not been accused of anything. Commander-Elect Lipscomb also reiterated that no one was accusing him of improperly handling the money, and asked him not to take anything personally. The funds were not properly accounted for.

e. New keys have been made for the Commander’s office. People who need access can sign for a key from the bartender.

f. In commemoration of D-Day, 6 Jun, FM radio will run war announcements of the D-Day invasion.

g. There being no further business, a motion was made and carried to adjourn the meeting. The meeting was adjourned at 2106.

Ali Nikolai Ed Taborek

Vice Adjutant Commander