American Legion 100th Birthday celebrated at Medfield Day

MEDFIELD DAY SEPTEMBER 2019

By Ed Kinnen Post 110 Historian

What’s more typical of the end of summer but Medfield Day in September. We’ve all been to them. Families, neighbors, friends - and all things to eat. A bit of a stretch, but since the American Legion was celebrating its Centennial this year the Beckwith Post 110 decided to join Medfield Day and then created an attractive booth.

A long table under a canopy, an American flag and our Post flag on either side, setup on the grass over and beyond the Meetinghouse Pond. Handouts were available concerning the Beckwith Post, others describing American Legion membership benefits. Colorful signs in rows on each side had the names of the Post’s community projects - Boy Scouts, Boys and Girls State, Legion baseball, High School scholarships, Memorial Day Observance just to name a few. Nine posters lined up on each side lead the eye to the table display.

The message of our booth was clearly two-fold. The American Legion in Medfield is both a gathering place for military veterans and an organization providing community support particularly for our young people.

We were there to attract potential new members to the Post. Older vets need to be told about the American Legion. So also the younger vets of our Nation’s ongoing wars.

We were fortunate to have Raquel McComas from the Veterans Administration with us ready to explain the health care benefits now available from the VA here in the Boston area. In Addition Medfield’s Veterans Agent Jon Cogan greeted veterans and provided answers to their questions and concerns.

For added appeal we had ordered a colorful 3’ by 2’ sheet cake in honor of the American Legion’s 100th Birthday. The cake was served to visitors to our booth and fortunately it was all gone before a brief rain. The shower triggered a quickened effort to take down the booth. The canopy, flags, table, signs gathered up and into Post Commander Al Manganello’s nearby truck.

So was the planning, preparation and doing-it effort worth it? Of course! We anticipate adding 3 or 4 new members to the Post. And we reminded our neighbors that the American Legion is more than a gathering of aging veterans, we are also continue to be active participants in the Medfield Community.

But one more! We have since learned that our booth was awarded recognition as “ The Most Informative Booth” in this year’s Medfield Day. Great. Our prize? A free booth next year – and we just might go for it.