The Independence Day Parade in Houston will be held on July 1 at 4 p.m., sponsored by West Plains Bank & Trust Company.
As we have in the past, American Legion Post 41 will be serving Freedom Dogs during the parade. Quality charcoal-grilled frankfurters with trimmings and cold bottled water will be provided free of charge to all comers. See us at the Lone Star Plaza pavilion from 2 p.m. until we run out of hot-dogs!
On July 6, the Melba Performing Arts Center in Houston will present the movie, “The Girl Who Wore Freedom.” The time will be 1 p.m., admission is free and the sponsors are Houston Senior Center, Texas County Military Museum, American Legion Post 41 and Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 6337. Bring the family to see this patriotic movie about D-Day in France and a little girl with a dress made from the Stars and Stripes.
A brief report on our May 20 Armed Forces Appreciation Day event.
Just about everyone we talked to said that our event at the Texas County Fairgrounds was a great success. We counted around 170 veterans and their families, a total of 400 attendees. The Veterans Service Officers told Post 41 Commander Bob Joens that they had helped more veterans in the five-hour event than in the last six months. The State Deputy Commander of the American Legion attended, and he wondered how such an event was so thoroughly planned and carried out. The answer was that we started planning it in January!
Free hamburgers and hotdogs were served to everyone who wanted them; we didn’t get a count, but there were a lot of them. The grill was provided by VFW Post 6337 of Licking, and Post members provided a steady stream of hot burgers and franks. Coffee and light refreshments were provided by West Plains Bank in Houston. The event was sponsored by American Legion Post 41, Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 473 of Cabool, and Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 6337 of Licking.
We don’t know what the future will bring, but we hope to do this again next year!
Veterans organizations in Texas County:
•American Legion Post 41 meets at 6 p.m. on the second Thursday of each month at the meeting hall on the west end of Chilton Oil Company in Houston (just north of Pizza Hut). Changes to membership eligibility now allow U.S. veterans of all branches and periods of service to join the American Legion.
•Veterans Of Foreign Wars Post 473 meets at 6 p.m. on the first Thursday of each month at its meeting mall on U.S. 63 north of Cabool.
•Fleet Reserve Association Branch 364 meets at 2:30 p.m. on the fourth Sunday of each month at the American Legion Post 41 meeting hall in Houston. The FRA exists to serve all veterans and active-duty members of the U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Coast Guard.
•Veterans Of Foreign Wars Post 6337 in Licking meets at 5:30 p.m. on the third Monday of each month at the meeting hall on Main Street just south of Highway 32.
Houston resident Robert E. Simpson is a retired U.S. Navy chief electronics technician who served from 1969 to 1990. Email gfjjkaa@gmail.com.
