American Legion & Auxiliary members attend convention
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[The Auxiliary convention was conducted by President Louise Jones of Fairfield. Attendance at the convention was down this year with 371 voting delegates present. Representing the Chester Auxiliary at the convention were Ethel Horton, Dorothy Decker, Hilda Fey, Rudelle Rahlfs, and Betty Wagner. The Auxiliary convention was also greeted by representatives of the State Agencies and National Commander Marty Conatser. We were pleased to have the 2008 Girls State Governor address the convention. One of the highlights of the convention was the reading of his first place American Essay by Kevin Koeneman of Chester. During the election of officers, Carollee Junge of Matteson, IL, was elected President for 2008-2009. The Chester delegates attended the Gold Star and Past Presidents' Parley dinner on Thursday evening. Each year, a Gold Star member is chosen as the Gold Star Member of the Year and this year's winner was Ann Marie Lane. Names of candidates are submitted by their Unit and chosen based on their service to the community.
A joint memorial service was conducted in the Convention Center on Saturday morning with chaplains from the Legion and Auxiliary representing all 25 Districts within the State. During the ceremony, Betty Wagner, represented the 25th District of which Chester is a member. It was noted during the service that the Legion lost 10,000 plus members since the convention in 2007 and the Auxiliary lost 600 plus members since the 2007 convention.
The Chester Post and Auxiliary are no exception for lost members. Commander Roland Wagner and President Barb Welge encourage all who are eligible for Legion and Auxiliary membership to contact the Post Home for membership applications. The Legion meets the first Tuesday of each month at 7 p.m. at the Post Home at 500 Opdyke Street in Chester, and the Auxiliary meets the 2nd Monday of each month at the Post Home. The Legion and Auxiliary are both very active in the community and look forward to continuing to serve our veterans.