Indiana Post 350 membership was in the single digits until SAL Squadron 350 formed with a focus on rebuilding.
Walter Hoyt American Legion Post 350 in the small town of Perrysville, Ind., was down to less than eight members when Wayne Bush stepped in with an idea to help save the post.
“’How about we start a Sons (of The American Legion) squadron here and let us help you out,’” Bush said to Post 350 Commander Bob Stein. “He replied, ‘I'll take all the help we can get, buddy.’ We got our charter last year and we're up to 35 members (Legion has 20 and Auxiliary 24). Things are going well,” said Bush, now Squadron 350’s commander. “Everything we do is based towards trying to rebuild the Legion post.”
The squadron has helped Post 350 host a Veterans Day dinner, Halloween trunk-or-treat for kids, Christmas parade and party with Santa Claus, a fish fry and more. “The community’s response to all of this has been, ‘We are just delighted to see something happening in the Legion again.’ Everything right now is just kind of working. We're on the uphill swing, I'll put it,” said Bush, who added that money raised is going toward updates to the Legion post, which also includes monetary donations from a local church.
“Like I said, it’s all geared towards getting the Legion hall up and running because it’s not only our Legion hall, it's kind of the community center here in town because it's the only large building we have, and people rent it for parties and anniversaries.”
While the Post 350 Legion Family is investing in growing membership, it’s also investing in its community members who need their support.
An 11-year-old boy in town was diagnosed with cancer, and his single-mom was driving him over an hour away to Indianapolis for treatment while also trying to work to support her other two children. The Legion Family held a chili cookoff to benefit the young boy and raised nearly $24,000.
“It was wonderful, and I’m happy to tell you that the boy is now cancer free,” Bush said.
Bush’s passion to see Post 350 thrive stems from his time growing up in the post. “I was a Legion kid,” he said. His late father, Russell, was a lifetime member of Post 350 and served as commander, and his late mother Gladys served as Unit 350 president. He brought forth the idea for a Sons squadron years ago, but members at the time didn’t want one, so he joined Squadron 263 in Cayuga, Ind., where he was a member for 13 years before chartering Squadron 350.
“I didn't serve in the military; I wished I had it. That's one of my regrets in life now that I'm this (70 years) old,” Bush said. “But I think that I have known all my life from being in the Legion with my folks that we owe everything we have to the veterans. So we have to keep this going. The Legion is their thing as far as a place they can come to talk to each other. We've got to support it and do everything we can to keep it going. That’s what we’re trying to do. It's all about helping them.”
- Dispatch