STERLING — Members of Hiram O. Taylor American Legion Post 189 want to get the word out that they welcome all veterans and active military to join them for the annual Memorial Day and Veterans Day parades.
Senior Vice Commander Ed McNamara said that while they have 70 or so post members “on paper,” a core group of eight to 10 members faithfully attends monthly meetings.
“We’re here every month,” he said, adding that they need more bodies, at least for the parades. “We definitely want to keep the post going.”
McNamara noted that people are busier these days.
“I don’t think we are much different than similar organizations, such as the Masons, where people just don’t seek out those kinds of relationships anymore. They are busy and they have families,” Post Finance Officer Everett Pierce echoed.
Post Commander Jerry Boynton said they offer dinner before their monthly meetings — held the first Monday of each month — which they were hoping “might bring in a few people … but we don’t get the draw.”
“The problem is that we are not the younger group, and we are all going to fade out,” Boynton said of the group of five post officers in their 70s who gathered at the School Street headquarters on May 1 to voice their concerns about the post’s future.
“It centers around camaraderie,” Pierce said. “We have a meal before the meeting with people exchanging experiences and things like that.”
He went on to say that they are deeply committed to carrying on “the traditions that we grew up with,” including the parades and putting up the Avenue of Flags.
“There has always been a lot of respect and tribute to veterans,” Pierce said while reflecting on past parades.
McNamara said there are 600 male and female veterans in town, not including active military, which he said they would be very glad and honored to have join in for the parades.
Most of the involved post members are Vietnam War veterans, he said. They can’t seem to get Gulf War and Desert Storm, “the younger group” of veterans, to join them.
“Just to run a parade, the color guard and firing squad requires 13 individuals,” McNamara said. “We have maybe half a dozen veterans that can walk the full parade route.”
He noted that every year they have had to cut back the number of flags they put up due to lack of volunteers to help.
Boynton said their meetings “are very quick” and that they mostly talk about the things they are going to do, such as the parades and flags. But they all stressed that veterans do not need to be members of the post to participate in the parades and activities surrounding them. They can just show up.
With the Memorial Day parade right around the corner on May 27 at 11 a.m., they are hoping to get more people to march with them.
“Just show up here at 10 o’clock and come on the bus with us to march in the parade; no uniform is OK,” McNamara.
He remarked that other veteran organizations in the region “that don’t have a problem with attendance are the ones that have bars because they hang around afterwards.”
“That’s how it used to be with all the posts,” McNamara said of the participation that used to be much higher. “But even they run into trouble getting people to march in the parades.”
Post Chaplain Mike Menear moved to town in 1990 but didn’t join the post until six years ago because, he said, he “didn’t know they were here.” Once a former Legionnaire told him about the post and the meetings, he stopped by one day and “joined for life.”
Menear said he has walked down Main Street and asked businesses to donate gift cards for their fundraising events, and that they have “always given.”
“We really appreciate their support,” he said.
Post Sergeant-at-Arms Joe Chiavrolotti was also at the May 1 gathering. Among the five veterans, they represent more than 240 combined years of living in town. They talked about other American Legion posts in the region, including Princeton, which closed years ago, and how Holden and others are still going but also struggling.
If Post 189 isn’t able to get the numbers for the parades that they need to keep them going by their end of year deadline, they are in danger of having to disband and shut down the post.
“We could all go to another post, but that doesn’t help our town with the parades and the flags,” Pierce said.
“Our focus is on trying to recruit people,” McNamara said. “If we can get six or seven more people to walk in the parade, that would keep us going. It’s not a factor of money. We just need more people for the parades and putting up the flags.”
“This is not about marching in a parade to get recognition,” he said. “This is about the town of Sterling and a fitting tribute to the sons and daughters from town who served their country. And doing what is right to honor its veterans.”
The annual pre-Memorial Day parade post supper is slated for 5:30 p.m. Saturday, May 18, at the First Church downtown. For more information, follow Hiram O. Taylor American Legion Post 189 (facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064934882176) on Facebook, contact Ed McNamara at 508-612-7704 or edmcnamara@comcast.net, or stop by the post table at The Sterling Fair Sept. 6-8.
