Commanders Corner

So incredibly proud of our little town! As Commander of American Legion Post 53 (Hillsdale, MI), I met yesterday with our American Legion Riders, our Club Manager, and 2nd Vice CMDR American Legion Dept of Michigan, in preparation for bringing Boys State to Hillsdale this summer! Great thanks go to Past Commander Corey J Murray, whose advocacy lurks somewhere in the history of this arrival, Hillsdale College, and the wonderful City of Hillsdale, whose performance welcoming the American Legion Oratorical Contest really laid a smooth glidepath for this coming to ground. If you're a high-performing Hillsdale area high school Junior, or know one, check eligibility and reach out to me about scholarships SOON! We'll engage our Hillsdale Composite Squadron Civil Air Patrol and combine our Flag Appreciation/Flag Retirement Ceremony out at the Legion Post, get some community service in, in the mix, and look forward to a speech by a Medal of Honor Recipient as the keynote for the week at the college. Its going to be a great 4th week of June, tuning up for the Great American Celebration that next weekend. Get your camp sites early!!! https://michiganboysstate.org

I’ve heard so many characterizations of who and what we are, some close to correct! If you’ve got a minute, I’d like to show you! Veterans, vets’ spouses, kids of vets, riders who love vets: What do you want to do? For God and country:

We support local veterans with VA care, locate local vet-friendly and vet-centric services, and even have a Veterans’ Court arrangement with our county judges to ensure vets get the dignity and services for which they’ve given devotion if not more in uniform.

We honor fallen fellow service members with military honors at their funerals and a Bible and flag to the family We lead the Hillsdale County Fair Parade as Color Guard.

We sit on the Hillsdale County Veteran of the Year Board and Hillsdale Hall of Valor Board of Directors, and team with our new Veterans of Foreign Wars team who’re living community service.

We join with Hillsdale College for events like their annual Veteran’s Game-day Eve Football Team Dinner and the Veterans' Football Game. We join with the US 12 Daughters of the American Revolution for their Veterans Day Memorial presentation at the County Courthouse Veterans Memorial each year.

We participate with Hillsdale Hall of Valor in recognizing a local veteran’s service and contributions in and after service in uniform. We received a grant from Hillsdale Hospital to buy and outfit a trailer and tow car, and we staff the Hillsdale EMS Mobile Canteen.

This vital unit provides warming & cooling as well as hydration and appropriate nutrition for local EMS teams on long-duration call-outs. This program keeps our first responders healthy and in the fight, serving our most in-need community members. This has served as a pilot for dozens of other canteens in our region.

We provide a LAW-53 Uniform Stipend to assist local Civil Air Patrol cadets with initial uniform purchase to help them excel in patriotic service. Our Honor Guard leads the 4th of July / Great American Celebration Parade. We've presented the GAC for decades, took a hiatus, and now have reclaimed that program and dedicated that celebration to the memory of Sheriff's Deputy Bill Butler. We’ve fund-raised & are putting up just a little cash to make sure #250 next year will be fitting to the auspicious occasion.

Around Flag Day, we hold a Flag Appreciation & Retirement Ceremony with the Brotherhood of the Protective Order of Elks and young patriots of the Civil Air Patrol and Scouts of America. We give honor and respectfully burn worn and torn flags as a service to our community. Our Legion Riders and I as Commander supported an Eagle Scout last year funding and sponsoring his Eagle project, putting a collection box in County National Bank downtown to make it easier for community members to properly honorably dispose of worn or tattered US flags.

We support local students attending Boys’ State, a National American Legion sponsored mock UN gathering allowing young high school-aged leaders to grapple with current geopolitical issues and practice debate, negotiations, and statecraft. Starting in June, 2026, Hillsdale College and we are hosting Michigan Boys State.

Thanks to Greg Paul & his wife, Diane, who brought Wreaths Across America to Hillsdale as an extension of our American Legion Post 53, and that event involves Civil Air Patrol Hillsdale Composite Squadron and veterans from all around the region marking graves across the county with wreaths commemorating the service of those interred.

We've held five "Running for Heroes” 5K fun runs in support of various local vets & 1st Responders organizations. We support staff and students out for dinner and social gathering who are in town for the annual national American Legion Oratorical Contest hosted by Hillsdale College – just one more way we’re bringing national tourism money into the Hillsdale economy.

We hold Trunk or Treat for a thousand or so local kiddos each year. Our Sons of the American Legion provide great support for our post's structural needs, and hold a Buck Hunter's Ball that is an annual social scene favorite Go-Do! Our Auxiliary provides camaraderie for veteran's spouses, and is famous for their Christmas season Feather Parties. Our Legion Riders sent a Ride to the Wall "Iron-butt" hero to San Diego, DC, and back home again this year and they hold a pancake breakfast each month for hundreds.

Those Riders in September post 22 lighted flags a day in our yard to raise “suix” awareness. We hold a Tip Up Fishing Contest with ice fishing training for kids by a local professional angler. We have Baw Beese Bash as a weekend of car show, fishing contest, steam boat cruise-in, and party in the parking lot with a band. We're scheming with fundraisers and coaches to put in a Legion Baseball Team next summer, 2026.

We host pool leagues and card nights, and have a full selection of pull tabs, Keno, and other recreational gaming – please play and socialize responsibly! By the way, we’ve got a beautiful property on Baw Beese Lake at 1611 Steamburg Road where our legendary Friday Fish Fries featuring Lake Perch, Taco Tuesdays, Burger Night, and other culinary delights complement our social lounge and come-one-come-all atmosphere. I’ve got pics, so you know it happened/happens! And I know I’m missing a bunch! There's more! We’re so much more than a pretty awesome pub on the lake. We are home to so many wonderful people… Membership has its privileges! Where would you like to jump in?