Many of us can remember a beautiful old ballad sung by Sarah Vaughn entitled September Song.  The most memorable line from that song goes “Oh, the days dwindle down to a precious few”, and yes, I can hear some of you already singing it to yourselves. Well, the days are dwindling down to a precious few and if you haven’t yet registered for this year’s reunion time is quickly running out.  The 2018 Reunion is just over a month away and we want to remind everyone that the reduced room rate for the hotel expires on August 24^th.  Make your reservation today, you can cancel up to 48 hours before the reunion without charge, but when the rooms are gone, they’re gone.  Don’t be left out, we want to see you there to reminisce and appreciate the excellent support the Regiment is showing the Association.  

   Our own Brett Reistad, past President and longtime Membership Chairman will be the keynote speaker at the dinner.  As most of you know, by the time the banquet rolls around in September Brett will have been elected as the National Commander of the American Legion.  The American Legion National Convention is scheduled for the last week in August and will be held in Minneapolis this year. So all you Legionnaires bring your Legion caps to show your support for the Legion and its new National Commander. It should be fun to see how many States and Posts are represented.

   The optional Thursday tour is selling out quickly with only a few seats left on our 55 seat luxury coach.   The tour promises to be one of our best ever with a full day spent visiting the US Capitol Building, having lunch in the Capitol dining room, and then moving on to an afternoon stop at the fascinating Newseum.  The Newseum, located right on historic Pennsylvania Avenue, is a dynamic, engaging interactive museum of news that allows visitors to experience the stories of yesterday and today through the eyes of the media while celebrating the freedoms guaranteed to all Americans by the First Amendment.

   For the President’s Reception on Thursday evening Vice President Flip Godfrey has already been working feverishly to secure both interesting and desirable items for the live and silent auctions.  Flip has vowed to surpass the outstanding job he did last year when the auctions raised more than $3000 to be used in support of the soldiers of the Regiment.  Your support of the auctions is what makes it all possible and we certainly look forward to having you there.  Sergeant-at-Arms Dave Barrow went above and beyond the call of duty raising extra funds so that he can provide a Reception and Hospitality experience everyone will enjoy.

   The Reunion will once again be held at the beautiful and convenient Sheraton Pentagon City where we’ve been able to secure a well below market room rate of $129 per night with free parking and in-room wifi included.  The registration forms for the Reunion and the optional day trip are on the website (oldguard.org) and you can fill them out online or print them out and mail to the address shown on the form.  Come for some fun and fellowship with those who shared your experiences in the best Regiment in the Army, America’s Regiment.  We’ll see you in the Hospitality Room starting Wednesday evening where the beer and wine are always flowing and always part of your registration fee.

OLD GUARD!

Marty

Martin J. Cassidy, President