July/August 2026 Newsletter

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Newsletter JulyAug 26 SS.pdf

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From the Post Commander

Greetings Owatonna American Legion Family,

Greg Ernst was hired to complete an Energy Audit through Owatonna Public Utilities. Greg

found we had hail damage to the roof and the rooftop HVAC unit. Greg has been a huge

help identifying problem areas and coming up with solutions to help us save on our utility

bill. Malo Roofing repaired the roof damage and were gracious enough to donate their

labor. Secura Insurance will be helping with the cost of replacing the HVAC unit. H&M

Heating and Cooling will be doing the HVAC replacement work just in time for summer.

Chow time/Post/Auxiliary Meeting

No meals before the Post meetings, no Tuesday night Veterans meals, meals will

start again in September. Next post meeting is Tuesday, July 7th at 6:45 PM.

Recent Post Charitable Donations

SEMCAC $500, Clay Target Team $1000, Semper Fi $500, Healthy Seniors $500, House of

Shields $500, Harry Wenger Festival $500, Gold Star Families Wknd $150, Owatonna

Schools Closeup $500, Humane Society $500, SAL Golf Tournament $500

The Hack is Back

Our thanks go out to the Chief Mechanic Ken Gleason along with Dick Wodnik, Don

Matejcek, John and Tom at Sweet Repair and Monte Mowry who assisted Ken with

technical and mechanical issues to get the hack running again. Ken and his helpers donated

their time for the labor involved. Also thank you to Kevin Cristey who covered the cost of

parts. The Hack made it through the Owatonna Memorial Day parade, and we plan on

having it on display during downtown Thursdays in Owatonna along with driving it in the

Medford Straight River Days parade and Blooming Prairie 4th of July parade.

Post Business

Due to a lack of volunteers to help with financial oversight and a recent incident we have

hired a Certified Public Accountant. We have also hired The Computer Store of Owatonna

to provide IT services for the post.

Food at the Bar

Tenders, popcorn chicken, mozzarella sticks and shrimp are $8, Cheesy potato bites, onion

rings and Taquitos $6, egg rolls $3, fries $2. We also have Heggies and Firehouse pizzas

available.

Airborne!

Our Vice Commander Drew Joenks and Jeff Schuster jumped with the Phantom Airborne

Brigade! “A platform and place for Active Duty, Retired and Veteran Paratroopers to

continue jumping in the manner that they were used to, while serving”.

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SAL NEWS

Next meeting October 17, 2026 at 11AM. The SAL Par 3 Golf Tournament was held on June 6th at the Straight River Golf Course.

A total of 17 teams participated. Things moved back to the Legion Post for pulled pork sandwiches and the awards ceremony.

The winning team was Cody Grems, Will Crowley, Aaron Litke and Zack Radke who received new hats. The golf committee thanks our hole sponsors and volunteers for making it a success. We will announce the amount of money raised for Beyond the Yellow Ribbon once the bookkeeping is completed.

Gordy Hanson, SAL Commander

Auxiliary News

No recent news to report