To the Editor:

Our Potsdam Amvets Post 282 held a flag retirement ceremony on Memorial Day at the post and we want to say thanks to our participants.

Led by Troop Leader John Burnham, the scouts handled their duties in a very professional and dignified manner. We had a good crowd of spectators enjoying the ceremony to watch the Boy Scouts retire the flag following the Pledge of Allegiance and securing the worn flag from the flagpole. We hope they enjoyed performing their duties as much as we enjoyed our role as spectators.

With the increase in numbers of young adults spending a lot of their free time behind a video game or television, it was refreshing to watch the Boy Scouts eager to earn points toward their badges. Many spectators took turns retiring flags that we had collected from the community and it was a very rewarding evening for all involved.

Our Amvets Post is happy to provide these quality community service events and are always looking for area veterans to stop in and check out what we have to offer. If you are not a member of Amvets and just want to stop in to see what we have to offer, please feel free to make a visit and let our bartender sign you in to our guest book. It’s that easy. Take time to swing in, we are certain you would find it as rewarding as we do to contribute to assisting our local veterans with the many community events we perform.

We offer a Sons of Amvets squadron along with our ladies auxiliary for those qualified along with our Amvet membership. We are convinced you would enjoy what we do, and the camaraderie and friendships available at our post.

Hosting an event like our flag retirement ceremony is just one of many behind the scenes activities we do to provide a quality community service organization for its members. We are proud of our membership and especially proud to be part of activities with other great organizations such as our Boy Scouts.

Thanks again to all involved including the Boy Scouts and our Amvets Post 282 membership that was in attendance for support and assistance. We had participation from the Sons of Amvets along with our auxiliary, making it an easy ceremony to support.

To the community members that attended, we thank you for your support and sincerely hope you enjoyed it.

Jerry Deon

Public Relations Officer/ 1st Vice Commander