1. Following the Special Session of the American Legion Post 176, the General Membership Meeting was called to order at 2105 on 6 February 2007, with Commander Taborek presiding.

a. The Commander took roll. All officers were present except Finance Officer Cable and 3 yr Committeeman-at-Large Bailey who were excused.

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.

c. Commander Taborek made the following announcements:

1.) The Commander received a call that Walt Myers was arrested yesterday; he also was ordered to stay away from the Post.

2.) Volunteers are needed for the Audit Committee. According to the By Laws, the auditors must be independent of the governing bodies, i.e. the EXCOM and the Corporate Board. One person, William B. Herd, has been appointed and will serve. Other Post members who are interested in serving should contact the Commander.

3.) Commander Taborek will be gone from 10-20 Feb 07. 2^nd Vice Commander Bob Paige will be acting Commander during this period.

2. Committee Reports were as follows:

a. Commander Taborek gave the following report for the 1^st Vice Commander:

1.) Membership Committee: Eight new and fourteen transfer candidates were presented for membership this evening. The names were read and approved in block. The Legion Year 2007 dues are $25 (as of 1 Jan 07), $19 of which goes to Department and National, and $6 goes to the Post.

2.) Legislative: Maudie Price reported that the 17^th District Children & Youth Education Sub-committee is asking schools teach the significance of Veterans’ Day to their students.

3.) Ways and Means Committee: Sunday breakfast is 11 Feb from 9:00-11:00 AM. The Friday night dinners are scheduled every week from 5:30-8:30 PM. A meeting was held 16 Jan to plan the master schedule. The Commander will pursue more advertising.

b. 2^nd Vice Commander Paige reported on the following activities:

1.) Blood Drive: The next blood drive is scheduled for Tuesday 20 Feb 07 at the Post Home. Donors are needed. Please contact Joe Finch at 703-569-1552.

2.) Oratorical: The Post held its annual National High School Oratorical Contest on Sunday, 14 Jan. The winner was Colin Buss of Thomas Jefferson High School. He will compete at the District Oratorical Contest on 11 Feb at Post 270 in McLean.

3.) Sons of the American Legion (SAL): The SAL and the Auxiliary are supporting the Post Children & Youth Valentine’s Party on 11 Feb. It will happen after the Sunday breakfast.

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

1.) Adopt-a-Highway: Highway clean-ups occur four times a year along a one mile stretch of the Franconia-Springfield Highway. About 34 cadets participate from the Edison High School Junior ROTC. The Post provides lunch for the cadets after clean-up.

2.) Bingo: The Bingo Committee has four solid teams. A cashier is needed for one of the teams. The Bingo Chairman had to cancel Wednesday night bingo starting this month.

3.) Children & Youth: This Sunday is the Children & Youth Valentine’s Party. The party will feature Bob Brown and his puppets, and a hot dog lunch for the children. Klaus Dahlke reported that the Post contributed $300 for the puppet show and $200 to cover the cost of lunch and refreshments.

4.) Drill Team: The Junior ROTC Drill Team competition ended last Saturday (3 Feb) at Bealeton High School. Five schools participated. The team from Culpeper High School won the competition and will represent the Northern Region at the State finals.

5.) Junior Shooting Sports: Shooting events will start in May. The Edison High School team will have new air rifles that can handle multiple shots.

d. Finance Officer: The Finance Officer has been excused, but the monthly report for 1-31 January has been provided to the membership.

e. Chaplain:

1.) Maudie Price reported that she represented Post 176 at the Four Chaplains Memorial Service last Sunday (4 Feb) at Arlington Post 179. The memorial service is dedicated to the 688 troops who drowned in the North Atlantic on 3 Feb 1943, and the four Chaplains who gave their life preservers to save others from drowning.

2.) Chauncey Reed is terminally ill with leukemia. He is at home but he cannot have visitors. Please keep him and all our ill comrades in your prayers.

f. Service Officer: Ali Nikolai reported that she has visited wounded soldiers in the intensive care unit at Bethesda Naval Hospital. One in particular (Matthew Bradford) is a Dinwiddie VA resident severely injured in Iraq. He and his company were on patrol when an improvised explosive device (IED) went off and injured five Marines. Matthew lost one leg above the knee and one leg below the knee; He has fragments in his left elbow and right wrist, and broken bones in his right hand; He also lost his left eye and he has a small fragment in his right eye lodged next to the retina. Ali will visit the hospital again next week.

g. Corporate Board:

1.) Rich Tiner reported that the JarTrek revenue tracking system was installed this week. Quick Books is being used as a supplement. Everything now is automated.

2.) A Merrifield company has signed an $8500 contract to plant 50 evergreen trees in the buffer zone.

3.) Rich Tiner commented about the gate situation. He said the wall has two gates that have been broken twice by trespassers taking a short cut through the buffer zone. The broken gates have resulted in destruction of Post property.

h. Jr Past Commander: Lew Lipscomb reported that the Awards & Recognition Banquet will be held on Friday, 30 Mar. The evening honors our Past Commanders and Past Presidents, our Charter members, our Honorary Paid-up for Life members, and award pins for longevity in increments of five years.

i. Post Scripts: Klaus Dahlke has taken over the Post Scripts from Tony Dzierski. He thanked all the Post Script volunteers for their support, including three new people who want to work on the publication. The 15^th of the month is the submission date for articles.

3. Old Business

a. Rich Tiner announced that the new plasma TV was delivered to the lounge in time for the Super Bowl.

b. In reference to the 14 Nov 06 GMM minutes, para 4.e., Tony Dzierski has the flag that Comrade Bednarek requested for his apartment building.

c. In reference to the 26 Dec 06 EXCOM meeting minutes, para 4.b., Commander Taborek is still awaiting the draft revision of the By Laws.

d. A question was asked about cubicles for temporary storage. The Commander replied that cubicles could be built if the cigarette machines were moved.

e. A comment was made that bingo lights need to be checked prior to the start of the game.

4. New Business:

a. A motion was made and carried to pay the $80 entrance fee for the Edison High School Jr ROTC Cadets to participate in the Junior Shooting Sports in May.

b. A motion was made and carried to donate $200 to the Auxiliary for perishable items to help four needy families in the local area.

c. A motion was made and carried to increase the dues for Legion Year 2008 to $30. This is an increase of $6 from last year’s dues. The increase will be effective on 1 Jul 07. There was one dissenting vote.

d. The Auxiliary Unit asked the Post for $2000 of VA&R funds to support the National Auxiliary request for money to offset the cost of supporting servicemen’s dependents in Germany. Low ranking soldiers are not entitled to overseas housing.

e. A question was asked about why one of the lounge employees (Doreen Lommel) had been terminated. Rich Tiner replied that a notice was posted saying employees could no longer gamble. Ms. Lommel took exception to the notice and walked out on her shift.

f. There being no further business, a motion was made and carried to adjourn the meeting. Joe Finch won the 50-50 drawing and donated the amount ($74) to Children & Youth. The meeting was adjourned at 2200.

Ali Nikolai Ed Taborek

Vice Adjutant Commander