COMMANDER'S LETTER

September brings some challenging changes to our post. As everyone is aware, the membership voted to turn our building into a tobacco-free facility. There has been lots of "bar" talk about why we did this and how we are going to implement the change. I want to take this opportunity to explain the process that took place.

This discussion was not a spur of the moment discussion. This process started in November of last year. The debate was over the use of marijuana in the facility rather than smoking in the facility. In November, this was more of an informal discussion over the new laws over medical marijuana and how those laws affected smoking in our establishment. 

Our discussion carried over into January, February, March, April and finally voted on in May. The reason for the lengthy discussion was in hopes that the Oklahoma legislature would take action on marijuana in public places. This did not happen, and even with the latest changes that go into effect on September 14, the law still references the "Smoking in the Work Place" legislation. Under this law, marijuana is allowed to be used anywhere; smoking is permitted. The critical thing to remember is the vote that we took was to address the issue of marijuana use in our facility and the only way to solve this and remain a viable organization was to make the facility a smoke free facility. As it stands, there is still the issue that marijuana can be used in the smoking area that will be built. 

Another issue that we are addressing is the increase in beef prices. The executive board has looked at the current costs and have found that there is a need to increase the amount charged for steak night. We are still looking at this issue and will discuss at the next membership meeting in September, so if you have an opinion, please make a point to attend the meeting.

Lastly, the American Legion is celebrating its 100th anniversary. Pryor's Mayor proclaimed the last week of August American Legion Week. During this week, there were several articles published in local news describing the successes the legion has seen in the past 100 years. During this time, we have also changed our membership requirements, which now allow all Veterans to become members. Despite our differences of opinions on some decisions that are made and have been made, we must always remember that our mission is to support all Veterans. With the current change in membership requirements, there is ample opportunity for our legion to grow. So I encourage all members to work together and make our facility a place where all Veterans are available.