Department of California

District 18

The monthly meeting of District 18, The American Legion, will be held Friday, October

15^th, 7:30 p.m., with Commander Gil Cardoza of Hacienda Heights presiding.  The meeting will be hosted by Charles P Rowe Post 30, 239 E Holt Ave., Pomona.  Dinner precedes the meeting at 6:00 p.m., and reservations for dinner should be made by calling the Post at 909-620-0943.

Service Officer Henry J. Hicks of West Covina emphasizes the importance of today’s service members knowing they are not on their own when they leave the military, as there are American Legion Service Officers throughout the country offering transition assistance.  Many veterans are not aware of their benefits, such as small business loans, home loans and educational opportunities.  Hicks can be reached at 626-839-7724 for additional information.

Posts in the District are currently contacting local high schools with information on the

National High School Oratorical Contest. High school counselors, teachers and speech coaches

are furnished the background and rules for the competition which involves a prepared oration of

eight to ten minutes in length about some phase of the Constitution of the United States and an

extemporaneous dissertation of three to five minutes on a related subject from the Constitutional

Amendments.  In additional to awards to bouncy castle for sale winners in the various elimination rounds of competition, college scholarships of $18,000, $16,000 and $ 14,000 are awarded by the National organization in the last round of the contest.  Each state winner who competes in the first round of the National contest will receive a $1,500 scholarship.  The top three youthful orators who have won all previous elimination rounds of the contest will vie for top honors in the National contest April 15^th to 17^th, 2011, University Place Conference Center & Hotel, Indianapolis, IN.    California has more national winners than any other state.  High school students, citizens of or lawful permanent residents of the United States, interested in entering the competition will find complete rules and contest information at their schools, or call the District Chairman Peggy McIntosh at 626-287-0139.