FORT LORAMIE — The meeting of the Fort Loramie American Legion Auxiliary, Post 355, was held on Oct. 14. The meeting was called to order by Cindy Plas, president. Thirteen members were present. Chaplain Jeanne Boerger opened the meeting with a prayer and a moment of silence was observed. The colors were put in place and the POW/MIA table was set in place. The Preamble and Pledge of Allegiance were recited.

The minutes of the previous meeting were read by Secretary Sue Hoying, and were approved as read.

Treasurer Lynn Crow gave the report.

Deb Albers, membership chairperson, reported the Auxiliary has 107 members with a goal of 178. The Auxiliary is expected to meet the department goal soon. At the district meeting it was learned that “great” granddaughters can no longer be signed up. If they are already signed, they are grandfathered and can be counted. Granddaughters are able to be signed up.

Rose Meyer of St. Michaels Parish spoke on “Lighten Up… A Catholic Woman’s Night Out”. There will be a meeting held in January with a speaker and it will be sponsored by St. Michaels Parish and Saints Peter and Paul Parish. They will be doing a quarterly get-together and would like to use The Legion Event room and have the Auxiliary help out with sandwiches and snacks. Food would have a small charge, which would make up for the non-rental charge. It was tabled and will be discussed at the next meeting.

The date for The Quarter Auction is Nov. 19 at 7 p.m. Tickets are $3 each and doors will open at 6 p.m. The Auxiliary will sell ham sandwiches, cookies, pie and chips. Donations are being collected.

It was brought to the attention of the Auxiliary that a new food pantry at Shelby County Veterans Center was opened in October. The Auxiliary planned to collect items at the Veterans Day Assemblies at the schools and donate those items to the pantry.

The Dayton VA will be having their Christmas party on Dec. 13, and are asking for volunteers. The party starts at 10 a.m. The Auxiliary was asked to donate candy and nuts to The VA Christmas Shop, and Sue Hoying will check with Menards in Sidney about possibly donating or selling to the Auxiliary at cost. She will report when given an answer.

A discussion of the yearly Fall Auxiliary Raffle was discussed and it was decided to hold the raffle in April 2020 with the deadline to turn in all tickets set for March 31, 2020. Each member will be given four books. Pricing was done by Deb Albers and it was decided to print 20,000, with no dates on them. A motion was made by Jean Boerger and seconded by Deb Albers.

A discussion was made to hold the District Orientation for the Buckeye Girls State on Wednesday, April 29, 2020, or Sunday, May 3, 2020. The Auxiliary decided not to hold the orientation on Sunday, May 3, as it will be First Communion Sunday at St. Michaels Parish. President Cindy Plas will check with Shirley Maurer on details.

There was a discussion of doing a monthly Diaper Drive that was tabled and will be discussed at the next meeting.

Legion Trustee Roger Bertke brought to the Auxiliary’s attention to either movie or get rid of the piano in the event room due to lack of use. The Auxiliary agreed to get rid of the piano.

Sharon Ernst and Deb Albers reported on “Angels in Demand” for active duty soldiers in the community. At present time there are eight soldiers in the community. These soldiers are presently getting pictures printed by Jolene Ahlers.

A door prize was given out to Natalie Mescher.