posted Feb 22, 2012 7:49 AM by Wayne Hale Jr
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updated Feb 22, 2012 7:50 AM
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My name is Wayne Hale. I was introduced to Mark many years ago by his lifelong friends Doug Higgs and Pook Bielak. I wanted to tell you about Mark’s life shared by a loving family- the American Legion family here in Medina- and I speak to you on behalf of the Sons of the American Legion, Squadron 204.
Mark was a member of the Sons for 8 years. He, like the rest of us, found comradeship and a patriotic calling at the Sons. We didn’t serve but we love our country and support our veterans and community through year-round projects. We have about 70 members and a small band of us, about 10, carry most of the load. We do it cheerfully and with a lot of fun. Mark was one of our band.
As secretary I take the minutes of all our meetings. The other night I looked back at 6 years of minutes and I found Mark’s name scattered throughout our meetings. In fact, he moved or seconded no less than 62 motions at our meetings. 62- More than any other member-ever. To say he was engaged in our discourse from the beginning is a gross understatement.
At one of his first meetings, he listened for a while, and then he crossed his arms with some impatience, and said, “what are you guys doing to promote the work you do?” We just looked at each other. Eventually, he ended up working 11 months developing a new website for us, then he wrote a manual to show us how to manage the site. Then one night he came to my house and trained us. I can’t imagine the hours he spent doing all that work behind the scenes.
We know he had a busy life, much of it devoted to the benefit of others, and he always found time to make the drive from Lockport for our projects. Our monthly clam nights, the Canal Clean-up in the spring, walking the Memorial Day Parade handing out flags, sealing the Legion deck, decorating veterans monuments with flags, coming to the meetings.
One of the projects I think he enjoyed most was the spaghetti dinner put on by the Auxiliary and the Sons. He seemed to know everything about organizing a spaghetti dinner and insisted on making the sauce. He even brought a batch to one of our Sons meetings for a taste test. The minutes of our November 28th , 2007 meeting read, “Mark shared the sauce he will serve. All agreed it was a gastronomic delight and declared Mark the ‘Sauce Boss.’” I can remember many a Friday night in the kitchen helping him cook mountains of spaghetti, or steam clams- always punctuated by a few beers and a few anecdotes, and every one of Mark’s was the unabridged edition. And many were delivered from his backside, bent over the kitchen sink bagging clams or washing dishes.
His narratives were about his youth, family, Matt’s sports career or Katie’s military service. He was proud of his kids. Mark brought Matt into the Sons in October 2006. He’s our first and only youth member of the Sons. Matt was respectful, even mature for his young years and worked right alongside Mark and us on our projects without protest. Obvious values and behavior inspired by a loving, attentive father and family. Katie too helped us one sunny evening with Veterans’ Flags, arriving from her base in Okinawa. And Mark stood by her in a personal ceremony at her grandfather’s graveside. Earlier I mentioned what we call the “American Legion Family.” It’s used in all the correspondence from the national level down and it can easily become trite, overused, and taken lightly. But I can tell you- I truly feel, and my fellow members of the Sons of the American Legion truly feel, that Mark was a part of each of us, a part of family, a brother.
We lost Mark only a few days ago but we’ve missed him for weeks. We’ll always feel cheated that he was taken from us so young and yet we must learn to be grateful that he came into our lives. Today is our chance to say thank you. Thank you for the life of a man I’m proud to call my friend; who the Sons of the Legion are proud to call our friend; whose generosity, dedication, and inner goodness will never fade from our memories.
Wayne Hale, Secretary Sons of the American Legion Squadron 204 |
posted Jun 12, 2010 7:03 AM by Gary Hill
Sloppy Joe and The Juice will be playing at the Legion on Friday, July 2nd from 9:30 to 1:30
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posted Jun 8, 2010 5:01 PM by Gary Hill
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Clam Night this Friday featuring steamers, world famous Weezy Burgers on those succulent EZ shop buns and shrimp cocktail starting at 5pm. Stop in and try some and take a chance on the Queen of Hearts! The jackpot is over $700 and it only costs a buck to win! The bar will be featuring $1 large drafts on Monday and Tuesday during June. See you at the legion!
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posted May 25, 2010 11:16 AM by Wayne Hale Jr
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This is meeting week for all the organizations, the Auxiliary will meet on Tuesday at 7, the Sons will have a change in their schedule and meet on Tuesday at 6:30 to put flags on the graves, and the Post meets Thursday at 7:30. Next week is Memorial Weekend so plan on watching the Medina Parade at 11am on Monday the 31st and stopping at the Legion afterward for a picnic lunch. The Womens Auxiliary will have hotdogs, burgers, sausage, salads and desserts for only $6 a plate. Take a chance on their basket of booze raffle, $2 a ticket or 3 for $5. The ladies will be serving from noon to 3. Stop in and try your luck on the Queen of Hearts, the jackpot will be over $600 this week. See you at the Legion! |
posted May 18, 2010 10:38 AM by Wayne Hale Jr
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Stop in and check out the basket of booze the Women's Auxiliary is raffling off on Memorial Day......$2 a ticket or 3 for $5. Plan on making the Legion part of your Memorial Day plans and join us for a cookout from noon to 3pm. The Auxiliary is serving burgers, hots, Italian sausage, salads and homemade dessert for only $6 a plate. See you at the Legion!!!! |
posted May 11, 2010 6:31 AM by Wayne Hale Jr
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Cash Bash Winners!!! $500 Don Sloper, Scott Carlton, Guy Eaton, Gary Hill and Wayne Hale $400 Tim Tierney, $300 Irene Dunn, $200 Marcia Heveron, $100 Cindy Hewitt, Virginia Baldwin, Chris Barone, Anita Nudd and Kathy Parker, $100 Lola Burt, Guy Eaton, Gary Hill and Cindy Baker, $100 Marlene Hill, $50 Carl Prawel, and $50 Marlene Hill. The Queen of Hearts pot has grown to $490. This Memorial Day, plan on having a picnic lunch at the Legion. The Womens Auxiliary is hosting a cookout from noon to 3pm featuring hot dogs, hamburgers, italian sausage, salads and dessert for only $6 a plate. Join them after the parade!!! The ladies are also selling tickets on a basket of booze to be drawn that day, so stop at the bar and get yours! See you at the legion!!!! |
posted Apr 27, 2010 8:09 PM by Wayne Hale Jr
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updated Apr 27, 2010 8:12 PM
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This week is meeting week for the organizations, the Auxiliary on Tuesday at 7, the Sons meet Wednesday at 7:30 and the Post meets Thursday at 7:30. The Cash Bash drawing is May 8th, so make sure to get your ticket. Only 100 sold for chances on $1800 in prizes. See you at the Legion! |
posted Apr 20, 2010 9:15 PM by Wayne Hale Jr
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updated Apr 20, 2010 9:21 PM
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Clam Night this Friday with shrimp cocktail and those world famous Weezy Burgers on E-Z Shop Buns! The Sons start serving at 5pm. See our calendar of events for more details. Cash Bash tickets are selling well so make sure you get yours for a chance on $1800 in prizes. Stop in and take a chance on the weekly Queen of Hearts drawing for only $1 per ticket - the pot is over $275. See you at the Legion! |
posted Apr 14, 2010 8:59 PM by Wayne Hale Jr
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updated Apr 14, 2010 9:04 PM
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Next Saturday is Canal Cleanup Day for the Sons, so anyone who wants to help, show up at the Legion at 9am. Clam Night is Friday, April 23rd starting at 5pm, featuring clams, Weezy burgers and shrimp cocktail. Cash Bash tickets are going quickly, so make sure to stop in and get your chance on $1800 in prizes!. See you at the Legion! |
posted Apr 4, 2010 7:21 PM by Wayne Hale Jr
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updated Apr 4, 2010 7:44 PM
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Happy Easter!!!!! The Legion Euchre Team holds on to the top spot in the Club League with the position round Monday night. Cash Bash tickets are available for the May 8th drawing. Get your chance on $1800 in prizes for only $25. Only 100 tickets sold so don't miss out. The Sons will be hosting a clam night on Friday April 23rd. The Annual Sons Canal Cleanup will be Saturday, April 17th at 9am so bring some workgloves and help pitch in. See you at the Legion! |
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