Photo by Clay Lomneth/The American Legion

99th National Convention begins Friday in Reno

The American Legion's 99th national convention in Reno, Nev., begins Aug. 18 and will conclude Aug. 24 with the election of a new national commander. While in "The Biggest Little City in the World," Legion leadership will attend commission and committee meetings, participate in workshops, hear from noted speakers, vote on resolutions and more.

For a detailed convention agenda, with times and locations, click here.

A few activities held during convention to take note of include:

Color Guard Contests on Aug. 18
A blood drive on Aug. 18
The national convention parade and post-party (hosted by the Department of Nevada) on Aug. 20
A free screening of the documentary “Blood Road” on Aug. 21. The film documents a daughter’s 1,200-mile journey by mountain bike on the Ho Chi Minh Trail to find her father’s crash site.
Legion Family Night with the Reno Aces baseball team on Aug. 21
DoD and U.S. Army at convention hall Aug. 18-20 to answer questions about ceremonial rifles, static displays, mortuary concerns and more.

Several workshops and conferences also will be held in conjunction with the convention. They include:

National Veteran Employment Summit, Aug. 19
100th Anniversary Workshop, Aug. 21
The Conference for Women, Aug. 21
Veterans Small Business Summit, Aug. 22
Hiring our Heroes employment workshop and job fair, Aug. 22

To register for the workshops click here, and for the women’s conference click here.

Once the national convention convenes on Aug. 22, country music star Neal McCoy will serve as master of ceremonies. He too will perform at the National Commanders Banquet that evening.

On the convention floor, delegates will hear from special guests including Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin, Medal of Honor recipient Donald Ballard and others. Several national convention events, including all three days on the convention floor, will be streamed live on www.legiontv.org. Click here to see the complete schedule.

To keep up with what’s happening at the Legion’s biggest annual gathering, follow online at www.legion.org/convention, on Facebook (www.facebook.com/TheAmericanLegionNationalConvention) or on Twitter (https://twitter.com/AmericanLegion). The Legion’s National Convention mobile app is also available for download, free of charge, from the Apple Store or Google Play. The app includes maps, information from meeting times to registration and shuttle hours, social media links, a guide to Reno and more. It will continue to be updated with information, headlines and alerts throughout the convention.