Finding the 'diamond in the rough'

During a recent revitalization effort in the Department of Ohio’s Ninth District, more than 120 headquarters post members were transferred over to local posts in the district. But acting District Commander William Dittebrand said the effort wasn’t just a success in terms of pure numbers. "(The district posts) are probably going to find a diamond in the rough that’s going to step up and going to help that post – maybe eventually be a post commander,” said Dittebrand, commander of Andy Nowacki-Lake Erie College Post 807 in Painesville. “There’s always that person. You just have to find them.

“There are a lot of good members out there who don’t belong to a post who would be a good fit for a (local) post. It will help the post out, and the community.”

During the three-day effort – which was based out of Post 737 in Lake Milton – national staff worked with department Legionnaires to connect headquarters post members with one of the 38 posts within the district. "Making that connection is critical," said Ninth District Second Vice Commander William Keller, who doubles as the district’s Direct Mail Solicitation chairman."The biggest thing is so they can have an opportunity to participate in a local post and become a part of that post family,” said Keller, a member of Jay Wilson Post 112 in Madison. “They can see what each post has … and (members) can explain … what the post is all about, what charities (it) sponsors), what (the post) does in the community.

“(And) we can be of great assistance in helping them if they would have some kind of disability. The post family could help them out.”

Department of Ohio Commander Jim Campbell, a member of the Ninth District's Post 700 in Howland, said the area being revitalized has been impacted by the local economy.

“The Ninth District is surrounded in the area by the steel industry,” Campbell said. “Over the years the population in this area has really diminished because of the structure of the businesses that have left the area. So finding our population of veterans in this area is becoming harder.”

Overcoming that is critical. “Without our base of membership, we can’t help our veterans,” Campbell said. “We can’t do our programs. We can’t help our children. We can’t help our VA hospitals. We need that membership. We need to reach to any avenue that we can.”

Though the revitalization effort directly impacted Campbell’s home district, that wasn’t the reason he was there. “My interest is not only here,” he said. “It’s in other districts. I owe it to each one of the members of the state of Ohio to do whatever I can – in this position as a leader – to make (the Legion) stronger, to make it better, to make sure the Legion continues to serve our veterans.”

Dittebrand said he was “ecstatic” with the results of the three-day membership drive. And Keller said the revitalization effort didn’t end on its final day. ”It’s going to be very, very beneficial to the Ninth District,” he said. “There’s an electricity and energy in the district.”