Americanism <> Children and Youth <> Membership <> Activities <> Athletics <> Veteran's Affairs/Volunteer Services <> Executive
                                                                                                      '- Fund Raisers

The American Legion has a broad range of programs at the National, Department (state), and local levels, and maintains several committees at each level that each focus on a smaller section.  Some committees are permanent, standing committees that continue on year after year, even though the members of the committee might change.  Others are Ad Hoc groups that are put together for a single purpose and then disbanded afterwards - the same committee might be reconstituted at a latter date, but each would be an Ad Hoc group (the best example of this is the Nominations Committee, a new group is appointed each year to recommend the next year's officers, but each is a separate Ad Hoc committee).

Standing Committees are lead by an elected Chairperson, and normally feature the prior year's Chair and a mix of new and old members to get a wider range of opinions and options.  Each committee meets as needed, as the Chair is responsible for reporting their actions to the Post at the regular monthly meetings.


Americanism:    The Americanism committee is charged with the promotion of activities and events that encourage patriotism and community involvement.  Key programs include Boys State, the Oratorical Contest, County Government Day, "Get out the Vote" programs, flag awareness, Memorial Day, Veteran's Day, Law Enforcement/FireFighter/EMT recognition, Boy Scouts, and more.  Americanism is one of the more active committees in the Post, and there are still more activities that could be done in this area if more volunteers were available to help.

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Children and Youth:  Concerned primarily with the welfare of all children in the community, this committee focuses on Child Safety, Temporary Aid for Needy Families, and Special Olympics.

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Membership:  Primarily composed of the Post's "Go Getters", this committee is charged with recruiting and retention of post members.  They set incentive programs, organize "calling parties", and look at ways to improve the recruiting process, and retain the posts current members.  By post bylaws, the First Vice Commander is the Chair of this committee, and oversees all membership activity.

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Activities:  With probably the broadest scope of all the committees, Activities covers every event the Post holds, including those organized by the other committees.  The activities committee is generally the workforce organizer of the post, and is charged with helping to line up volunteers and publicity for all Post activities.  According to post bylaws, the Second Vice Commander is the Chair of the Activities committee.
     Fund Raisers:  There are many Ad Hoc committees that are formed throughout the year to organize the various fund raising activities of the post, and volunteers are always needed for both the committees and the events themselves.  Recurring fund raisers include; the fall Charity Night (or Turkey Shoot), Horse Races, the spring raffle (for Baseball), and Monster Burgers.

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Athletics:  Technically a  sub-division of Americanism, Athletics has long been regarded as it's own Committee.  The most publicly known face of Legion Athletics is American Legion Youth Baseball, but this committee also covers Youth Shooting Sports, other youth athletic teams, and Legion member athletics such as Bowling and Golf.

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Veterans Affairs/Volunteer Services:  Charged with programs to assist and comfort our fellow veterans, the VAVS committee works with other area groups to identify and fill needs in this area.  With the distance separating Aberdeen from VA care centers (hospitals and retirement homes), much of the committee's focus falls on non-VA facilities that house veterans in the area, the CBOC (community based outreach clinic), and providing drivers for the DAV Van that transports veterans to their appointments in SF or Fargo.

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Executive:  Unlike the other committees mentioned above, the Executive ("Exec") Committee members are all* elected by the post during the regular elections each April, and each serves a three year term.  The Exec committee meets on the first Monday of each month, or in special session as called by the Post Commander, to deal with the administration of the Post, and any other items that have been referred to them by the "Floor" (regular meeting of the Post), or that might require attention before the next regular meeting.  The actions of the Exec Committee are recorded in their minutes, and these minutes are read at the next regular meeting of the post - and are approved by the post through the acceptance of the minutes.  The Exec Committee is chaired by the Post Commander, who steers the meeting, but has no vote except in the case of breaking a tie.  All member's are welcome to attend the Exec meetings, but only Committee members are allowed to vote on the proceedings there.
(* The outgoing Post Commander each year is an automatic member of the Exec Committee for a three year term, as provided in the Post bylaws.)

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