WELCOME TO THE WILLIAMSON POST 394 AMERICAN LEGION RIDERS!
Click here to return to the Home Page
Click here for info on the Active Servicemen's Support Rally Poker Run Sept 15!!!
Click here for info in the American Legion Riders: http://www.americanlegionriders.net/
Williamson Post 394 ALR members ready for Wolcott, NY Bi-Centennial Parade on July 14, 2007
Article by Alice Irwin for the Sun & Record Newspaper:
Veterans supporting veterans – Legion Riders roll!
“The nation which forgets its defenders will itself be forgotten.” Words from the thirtieth President of the United States, Calvin Coolidge, ring so true today. News of what’s really happening with our troops overseas - the conditions and hardships they must endure, the lack of basic food and hygiene supplies, the list goes on and on - is stifled, and returning veterans are too often ending up with inadequate or no care for physical and emotional injuries that may last a lifetime. All across America and in China, Germany, Japan, and Great Britain, veterans are saying “Enough!” and, joined by a common bond of service to our country and a love of motorcycles, have come together to organize the American Legion Riders (www.americanlegionriders.net). There are currently 48 states that have an ALR presence, with approximately 665 American Legion Post-associated chapters, and the number is growing every day. In New York State alone, there are 33 chapters; the latest addition is out of Williamson’s Post 394, and is being organized by Del and Sandi Primmer, who are also members of the Legion Riders of Post 27 in Apache Junction, Arizona. Del served as a member of the US Army 14 Armored Cavalry in the early 1960's, stationed in Fulda, Germany.
Every day, thousands of American Legion Riders are getting on their bikes to promote the goodwill and dedication of the American Legion to veterans and their communities, and the causes they support are many. They provide donations to support the American Legion Legacy Scholarship Fund, which provides financial assistance for higher education for children have been “left behind” when parents were killed while on active duty. They participate in the annual POW/MIA Rolling Thunder rally each Memorial Day in Washington D.C. to honor the sacrifices of our veterans and make sure they will never be forgotten; they sponsor and participate in local and national charity events supported by their local Legion Posts; they raise money for VA hospitals, battered women and children’s centers, a myriad of veterans relief organizations, and have started programs like Operation Wounded Warrior which delivers health and comfort items to veterans and wounded service personnel in need and give them a personal welcome home. The success of this effort has been amazing, and continues to grow. A single Post’s efforts in 2006 were stunning: 42 motorcycles, 48 riders, and several trucks departed from Post 129 in Arizona with $80,000 of health and comfort items to personally deliver to “our wounded sons and daughters who served in harm’s way.” This list of ALR good deeds goes on and on, and is growing each day.
ALR members from Williamson Post 394 have “adopted” New York Army National Guard B Company 427th BSB (Brigade Support Battalion), and will be raising money and soliciting donations to support the Company when they deploy to Afghanistan sometime within the next year. B Company 427th FRG (Family Readiness Group) Secretary Missy Richardson (her husband Adam is the Company Commander) wrote to the Primmers, “B Company 427th BSB is a company of approximately 106 soldiers in the NY Army National Guard. They are a maintenance company, providing maintenance on the equipment, especially radios and trucks, of both the 427th and its parent unit the 27th Brigade Combat Team (BCT). The company will be deploying within the next year with the 27th BCT to Afghanistan as a part of Operation Enduring Freedom. In the past, members of this unit have deployed to Desert Storm, to Iraq for Operation Iraqi Freedom, multiple stateside missions (ice storms, Ground Zero, NYC Transit Duty, Ginna Power Plant, and Arizona Border Patrol). Thank you so very much for your support of our soldiers! We really appreciate it!”
Williamson Post 394 ALR is seeking riders to join them; you just need to be a member of the American Legion, Auxiliary, or Sons of the American Legion and it’s easy to join. The current group is small but steadfastly determined; they’re accepting donations that will be sent to B Company 427th BSB during their deployment in Afghanistan. The list of needed items is lengthy, and includes ready-to-eat food items like canned soup, chili, condiments, hot sauces (in plastic bottles), chewing gum, plastic tableware, individual packages of mayo, relish, etc., trail mix, drink mix packets, canned salsa, peanut butter and jelly (in plastic), etc. Personal and hygiene items include twin size blankets, lip balm, eye wash, deodorant, soft 2-ply toilet paper, band aids, thick cotton black socks, soft cotton boxer shorts, Bounce (for fleas) Lysol/Clorox wipes, Mag and other flashlights, zipper-bags large and small to wrap items, t-shirts, fine makeup brushes (also to clean guns), shampoo, shaving gel; for female personnel: soft cotton underwear, feminine hygiene products, hair bands and clips, small mirrors, non-aerosol hair spray, hair gel. Soldiers need to have fun too…model car or airplane kits and glue, paint, and brushes, current sports or computer magazines, Frisbees, disposable cameras, board games, baseballs and mitts, stationery with pens and envelopes, etc., International phone cards (be sure they are the kind you can use to call from the mideast to the US), AA and AAA batteries…you get the idea...
On September 15 the Williamson ALR are holding a Poker Run starting at the Williamson Legion and ending at the Wolcott Legion. The Sons of the American Legion will be putting on a breakfast; sign-up will be from 9 until 11 a.m. There will be loads of raffles and door prizes, and Country Pleasure will play from 4 until 7 p.m. Best of all, you’ll get to meet some of the members of National Guard B Company 427th BSB and their families at the Wolcott Legion after the ride!
For more information about the Williamson Post 394 American Legion Riders, how you can join and how you can help support their efforts to assist our troops, contact Sandi and Del Primmer at 315-594-6626 or e-mail chenadelone@gmail.com.
For an extensive list of items you can donate for our troops, please take a minute and visit http://irwinhome.freeservers.com. There’s a link on the home page.
Get rolling and support our troops and their families!
ITEMS YOU CAN DONATE:
FOOD ITEMS – ANY READY TO EAT FOOD ITEMS…EXAMPLES:
Vanilla Wafers
Graham Crackers
Coffee (ground, in vacuum packs)
Canned chili, ravioli, Spaghetti-O’s, etc.
Chunky soup-ready to eat
Boxed or canned potato chips
Canned salsa or chip dips
Canned fruit
Apple cider mix (packets)
Hot chocolate mix (packets)
Pre-sweetened powdered drink mixes (Kool-Aid, Gatorate, etc)
Canned tuna, or crab meat
Sunkist tuna “lunches to go”
Power, Energy, Rice Krispie, Granola bars
Any canned meat product
Boxed cookies
Beef jerky
Pop Tarts
Trail Mix
Chewing Gum
Candy bars (Bit O Honey, Baby Ruth, etc.)
Hard candy
Peanut butter, Jelly in plastic containers
Ritz, Wheat Thin crackers
Breakfast cereal, individual size
Lawrey’s Season-All – small size
Cavender’s seasoning
Small hot sauce in plastic jars
Plastic knives, forks, spoons
Paper plates, bowls
Small manual can openers
Individual packets of mayo, relish, etc. (can be purchased at bulk rate stores)
Zipper baggies, large and small, to wrap the food items to preserve freshness.
PERSONAL AND HYGENE ITEMS:
Twin size blankets, sheets, and pillow cases
UnderArmour brand t-shirts (olive drab #4039)
Insoles for shoes
Eye drops (for desert environment)
Lip balm
Eye wash
Travel size pillows
1” fine paint brushes (to clean fine dust out of guns)
Fine makeup brushes (also to clean guns)
Talcum powder – small size
Deodorant
Body wash – small size in plastic container
Hand sanitizer – small to medium size
SOFT 2-ply toilet paper
Personal/body wipes (similar to baby wipes)
Band aids
Shampoo (small sizes preferred)
Quattro Pro razors and refills
Mach 3 razors and refills
Disposable razors, double or more bladed
Shaving gel
Aftershave gel (no glass bottles)
Thick cotton black socks
Black shoe polish
SOFT COTTON boxer shorts (the funnier the better) Medium to XX-large
White crew socks for exercising
Nail clippers
Bounce (for flea control), flypaper, etc.
Lysol/Clorox cleaning wipes
Laundry detergent TABLETS or detergent in small boxes
Table top flashlights
Mag lights
Zipper-lock bags, large and small to wrap the items and minimize spill damage
FOR FEMALE PERSONNEL:
Feminine hygiene products
Hair bands
Hair clips
Small mirrors
Non-aerosol hair spray
Hair gel
SOFT cotton underwear
Any comfort/pamper item to help the gals remember that they really are still women…
RECREATION ITEMS:
Model car or airplane kits
Glue, paint, and brushes for model kits
CURRENT sport or computer magazines
Frisbees
Disposable cameras
Hand held video games (poker, solitaire, etc.)
Playing cards
Board games (used OK) up to 12” long box
Crossword puzzles
AA and AAA batteries
Compact disc players
Music CD’s
Personal size DVD players (used OK)
Movie DVD’s
Laptop computers (used OK)
Dominoes
Yo-Yo’s
Baseballs and softballs
Baseball mitts and catcher mitts
Stationery, pens, envelopes, etc.
Beanie baby type small stuffed toys
International phone cards (be sure they are the kind you can use to call FROM the mid-east TO the United States…
.
.
.