Busy summer ahead at Saranac American Legion Post #1618

PLATTSBURGH | Summer activities at the Saranac American Legion Post #1618 are in full swing. With its Legion hall headquarters, summer event venue and airy outdoor kitchen out back, the post is host here for family events, private celebrations, summer picnics and, for the Town of Saranac Bicentennial, the Barn Dance on July 20. The Sun spoke with Post #1618 Commander Richard "Rick" Fournia and previous Commander Todd Perry about the volunteerism and the wide range of support they provide to area veterans and to the community at large. Both are military veterans, Fournia served in the U.S. Army in Vietnam and Perry is a U.S. Army veteran. "We have 153 veterans in the post," Fournia said. "We've been up and down, a few years ago we were at 120." The roster is supported by three chartered organizations affiliated with Post #1618. Official certificates, some nearly 80 years old, are carefully framed and hung in the Legion Hall. "We have about 100 members in the Sons of the American Legion," Fournia added, "and 50 to 60 members in the Post Auxiliary." The Saranac Legion Riders motorcycle organization is coordinated out of Post #1618. The Saranac American Legion received its formal charter on July 3, 1947, though their number 1618 was assigned on Dec. 11 the year before. With membership and affiliation approaching 300, the contribution to community reaches many organizations, area school and youth programs, civic organizations, fire departments, town events, and families who are celebrating life and loss and birthdays in between. Fournia has led the Legion since 2016. In that time, the veteran's park on their front lawn added an entire row of membership monuments. They've added venue space and continued to improve the halls and grounds. Altogether, their venues can host 200 guests in the dance hall, which has a stage, and 60 in their main dining room, not including the sprawling, well-kept acres that reach from Wilson Road to the Saranac River. "We do everything," Fournia said. "We cook for the school awards banquet. We hold fundraisers. We cook the meat for the Redford Picnic. We cooked for the Lady Mariners' dinner, that was for 400," he said without batting an eye. As summer heats up, the Legion's goal of providing a place for veterans to get together remains central to their purpose. Perry said the camaraderie is important for transition into civilian life. And Legion personnel help veterans sort through benefit options and resources. Finding a way to help out is a way to fill free time. CONTINUED SERVICE Having served their country in the U.S. Military for years, the legionnaires continue to serve through volunteerism in all corners and of all stripes. Exactly how their teamwork comes together seems unspoken through a kind of silent dedication. "We host special benefits with all proceeds going to families. We recently raised $14,000 in one day for a family with a medical need. We do that a lot," Fournia said. When there is a funeral or a final gathering to celebrate a veteran's life, Post #1618 only charges for the cost of food. "We are all-volunteer," Fournia said. "That's for cooking, clearing tables, and clean-up." Volunteer efforts include Perry's skills in the kitchen and at the grill plus all of the staff that help run venue events and in the hall where lunches are served on Tuesday from noon until the food runs out. The Annual Legionnaire's Family Barbecue is a community-wide event and scheduled for July 7 this year with fireworks to finish the night. Perry's grills turn out hot steak and chicken dinners and their industrial sized steamer provides fare for the Steak Barbecue and Clambake, set for Sept 1. "We sell out every year," Fournia said of the clambake, "probably 400 dinners. And that's all run by volunteers." Their headquarters on Wilson Road in the Hamlet of Redford is only the center from which all other events are coordinated. Reaching further into community, the Post Riders provide an escort for every North Country Honor Flight. And legionnaires form the color guard for many civic events, parades and ceremonies. "We have two members going on the June Honor Flight flight," Fournia said, "Gerald Rabideau and William Waldron. We sponsored a flight a few years ago," he added. "We paid for the whole flight out of this post. We held fundraisers to pay for it." In 2022, Fournia was the escort to his father, veteran Joseph Fournia, on a trip to Washington, D.C. FUNDS FOR COMMUNITY funds raised with events go back into community. The post contributes to the Albany Housing Coalition, which provides permanent housing for homeless veterans. They recently donated $5,000. Scholarships for Saranac High School students come from the Legion, the Auxiliary and the Sons of the American Legion at $1,000 each. This year, seven graduating students will receive Legion award funding. When Saranac Cheerleaders needed funds for bus transportation to the state championships, the Legion provided. They did the same for the boys hockey team a month later. Post #1618 built the fence around the new playground in Redford and just purchased a new swingset to add to the youngsters' park. For the Saranac Bicentennial, the legionnaires have purchased a clock for the Town Green at Pickett's Corners. "It will be dedicated to veterans," Fournia said. SUMMERTIME Asked how their summer schedule is going, Fournia opened the calendar book. Nearly every weekend is filled in. There are family memorials, funeral gatherings, retirement and wedding parties and baby showers. Their work continues through fall with the Ladies Auxiliary Harvest Dinner, which is on Oct. 13 this year before the venue hall on the back lot is eventually closed up for winter. Post #1618 has already put in its order for Wreaths Across America and will be placing them in December as part of the national nonprofit project. In Saranac, there will be 465 wreaths placed at veterans' gravesites ahead of the Christmas holiday. Post #1618 honors the fallen at four area cemeteries: Hillside in Redford, at the Church of the Assumption, and two at St. Joseph's in Dannemora. This year, the Wreaths Across America theme is "Live with Purpose." The Saranac American Legion Post #1618 meets on the third Saturday of every month at 10 a.m. Commanders and members invite young veterans to come up to the post to join in. Headquarters is located at 275 Wilson Road in Redford. To learn more about the venue hall, call 518-293-7936.

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Busy summer ahead at Saranac American Legion Post #1618

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