THE AMERICAN LEGION PETER WOLLNER POST 288
Executive Board Meeting 25 March 2025
The meeting was called to order by Commander Kristin Burkart at 1900 hours followed by the appropriate opening ceremonies.
Roll call of officers was taken with 14 present and 1 absent.
Guests: None
COMMITTEE REPORTS
1st Vice Jim Lee – Jim reported the Post is at 94.55% of its membership goal. The Post is currently 16 members short of goal. Jim will be following up with those members who have yet to renew their membership.
2nd Vice Gene Szudrowitz – No report
3rd Vice Jerry Smith: Jerry reported there are 62 days till Memorial Day. At this moment, there are no jeeps or bands in the parade although Jerry hopes to remedy these issues soon. Members of the Memorial Day Committee will next meet Thursday, April 17th at 10:30 am with Ann Lopez from Webster Middle School to begin formulating plans for Veterans Day. Military Funeral Honors Friday, March 28th, 1 pm, Emmanual Cemetery, 7 riflemen are scheduled to participate. Jerry would like to order replacement of uniforms for Military Funeral Honor and Color Guard participants as many of the uniforms are showing wear and tear. Cost would be covered by the Memorial account.
Motion and second to purchase new uniforms (as needed) with funding from the Memorial Account. Motion carried.
Finance Dennis Loberger – No report
Bar Report Rick Siefert – Rick reported he deposited around $7,500 from the Fish Fry and paid $1,580 in bills. Of the $7,500 deposit $2,169 was rent and donations. All in all, March has been a good month. He is looking at raising bar pricing and will report back to the board next month with his findings.
House Chair Ed Downey – Ed reported the basement lights have been repaired. The electrician found a dead short in one of the fixtures. The refrigerators/freezer in the kitchen were examined for proper operation and temperature last month. At present, no bills have been received for that service. There are reported issues with the Scouts storing items around post. Ed will speak with the scout leaders to find a storage resolution. Sinks in the restrooms, bar and kitchen are draining too slowly. Ed will schedule a plumber to snake sinks.
Chaplain PJ Glavey – No report
Judge Advocate Tom Ingram – No report
Past Post Commander Dennis Jaeger – No report
George Maumee – Excused
Debbie Gabert – Debbie explained she has a Google Sheet with member’s email addresses but there are quite a few names with no email addresses or wrong or incomplete information. She requested help from all assembled to bring the Google Sheet up to date.
Ray Ronchetti – Ray commented on the Post Walkthrough for Ray McCarville and the lack of participation by Post members. Besides the Honor Guard there were very few members present. A discussion ensued centered around better systems being required for notifying members. The matter will be studied.
Janet Radtke – Janet will be out of town during the April Fish Fry and will not be able to launder the Kitchen towels as she has done in the past. Someone will need to step-up for the month of April and fill-in for her. Also, Janet’s daughter Becky would like to clean the house of a needy veteran who is unable to perform that task themselves. Jim Lee said he knows of such a veteran and will provide their information to Janet.
Adjutant Bob Batty – No report
CORRESPONDENCE
Commander Burkart read a letter from Ozaukee County Historical Society describing their upcoming WWII encampment to be held May 16th and 17th at Ozaukee County Pioneer Village in Saukville. The letter asked for the Post’s participation in the form of a donation.
Motion and second to donate $250 to the Ozaukee County Historical Association for the WWII encampment next May. Motion carried.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Finance Officer Loberger announced several bills to be paid totaling $5,211.05.
Motion and second to pay all the bills. Motion carried.
Commander Burkart asked how many were interested in signing up for the Rolling Equity Lease Contest and would be willing to participate as contest judges. The viewing and judging will be held at the Post on April 7th. If interested see the commander at the close of the meeting tonight.
Auxiliary Unit 288 has asked if the Post would be willing to donate money again this year to Sweat4Vets.
Motion and second to donate $1,000 to Sweat4Vets. Motion carried.
The Garden Club has asked the commander if they could set up a table in the Post vestibule at the April Fish Fry to sell tickets for their upcoming plant sale. After a brief discussion it was decided to grant the request.
Motion and second to allow Garden Club to sell Tickets for their annual plant sale at the April Fish Fry. Motion carried.
Commander Burkart announced that nominations for post officers will be held at the April Post General Meeting. The nominating committee is Dennis Loberger, Dennis Yeager and Bob Batty. If you are a current officer and DO NOT wish to continue in your office contact one of these three individuals. Nominations will also be taken from the floor at the May General Meeting.
Commander Burkart reminded the board that the basement and storage/utility room need to be sorted and reorganized. Beginning with the storage room off the main hall it was recommended to install shelving. A lengthy discussion ensued with several members against putting shelving in the storage area. It was decided to allot the money for the shelving if the board decided to move forward with the shelving.
Motion and second to appropriate the money to buy shelving not to exceed $600.00. Motion carried, 3 nays.
NEW BUSINESS
None
FOR THE GOOD OF THE LEGION
- National Vietnam War Veterans Day, March 29th.
- Puzzle Contest, April 6th.
- Veterans Day at the Capitol, April 22nd.
- 2nd District Spring Conference Saturday, April 26th, Watertown Post
- Sweat for Vets Saturday, May 17th. See the commander if you want to run/jog S4V with her.
- Post Fish Fry April 18th.
- Thursday morning coffee at Jim’s Grille 10 a.m.
- Vietnam Moving Wall Replica, Antioch, Illinois – July 11 – 13.
- Bob Batty presented a donation check from Joe & Lisa Fazio for $500. Commander Burkart will write a Thank You letter.
There being no further business the meeting ended with the appropriate closing ceremonies and was adjourned at 2000 hours.
Respectfully submitted,
Robert S. Batty, PDC
Adjutant
Peter Wollner Post 288
Department of Wisconsin