Friday March 29th, 2024 4:44AM

Celebrate 100 years of Post 7 of the American Legion Saturday

Since 1919, members of the Paul E. Bolding Post of the American Legion have shared in fraternal bonds on the shoreline of Lake Lanier but come Saturday, Legion members are eager for the Gainesville and Hall County community celebrate their 100th anniversary at the post.

The all-day party begins at 10 a.m. and will end at 7 p.m. Senior Vice Commander George Smith said they are commemorating 100 years with a summer festival that is open to the public, complete with patriotic displays, vendors, food and indoor, outdoor and lakeside activities.

The celebration first and foremost highlights the patriotism Legion members stand for. The Gold Star Memorial Wall honoring Gulf War veterans will be on display outside of the post’s front door. Smith, along with several of his fellow Legion members, will take turns guarding the wall, 24 hours a day for three days, while it is on Post 7 property. Executive Committee Leader for Public Affairs Johnny Varner said the wall is a traveling exhibit that honors Gulf War veterans and beyond.

“We’re going to start off with a little history on the Gold Star Wall,” said Varner. “The Gold Star Wall is an assembly memorializing veterans killed in action, except this is more of an era of veterans that have been killed in action since the start of the Gulf War until present day.”

“It’s quite an impactful thing. It’s a wall, it has gold stars and those stars all have the names of the veterans that were killed in action. It’s probably about 100 feet long – it is a traveling wall and it’s based out of Buford, Georgia, with our sister Legion 127,” said Varner. He said the Gold Star Memorial Wall will be up until the American Legion Riders that are stopping in Gainesville on their trip to headquarters in Indianapolis leave on Tuesday, so the public is encouraged to stop by and see it. He also encouraged anyone in the area who had lost a loved one in conflict to reach out to him or the post about getting a gold star on the wall. 

 “Our Legion Riders Legacy Run is going to be on the 19th and that’s in celebration of our 100th anniversary also,” said Varner. As a bonus, the National Commander will come out and see the inner workings of leadership government program Boys State. “They’re actually coming to visit, at least having a look at Boys State, because a lot of people don’t know where it’s housed at now. That’s going to be pretty impactful – there’s going to be 350 motorcycles coming down Riverside Drive.”

In addition, the Gainesville mayor and the president of Riverside Military Academy will read proclamations. Varner said they partner with Riverside Military for the yearly Boys State, a leadership government program. Smith said their chaplain will lead the post in a prayer and honor the past commanders of the post in a ceremony.

Civilians can share in the fun at the festival Saturday. A total of $1,500 in prizes is up for grabs to the best bingo players and a classic corn hole tournament is also on tap. Kids can play on the inflatables, run the obstacle course or the whole family can get a close-up look at a series of military vehicles on display. Take a tour of the post, or check out the arts and crafts vendor booths will be alongside food trucks. Live music and entertainment, including Rockasaurus, will take the stage later on for those who want to dance the night away. Sportsman who want to celebrate on the serene waters of Lake Lanier can fish from their personal boats in the cove or on the shoreline that bumps up to the post’s iconic pavilion.

“We’ll have a good time and get to know people more too,” said Smith. Unwavering from the Legion’s mission to support their fellow veterans, Smith said they also planned to have a lawyers and some of the local funeral homes available at Saturday’s event for those veterans who needed help with estate planning or had trouble getting the benefits they had earned. Smith said he hoped those activities, along with the patriotic displays like the Memorial Wall, would bring veterans out of the woodwork. “We’re always looking for new members, ‘cause a lot of us are getting too old,” he laughed.

The Paul E. Bolding post is the seventh established post in the entire nation. It was named after the first man to die in combat in Hall County. The American Legion was initially created to cater to World War I veterans, with several chapters established in 1919. As wars continued to be fought and times changed, the need to reach local veterans through the Legion’s services grew too. “We have three World War II men still and we have a lot of Vietnam veterans. It just keeps on going,” said Smith, who is a Vietnam veteran. “They changed to new rules so that you just have to be veterans, which will help (membership) even more.”

“The American Legion Post 7 was actually the end of the trolley that used to come from Gainesville. It ended here, it ended at the post itself and it used to be a big park area. There are some pictures in [the post] that show it there before the lake was even there,” Varner said. “So it’s been around awhile and we wanted to show that aspect of it.”

The halls of the Legion post are covered in framed photographs of post members and their wives dressed for formal dances, photographs of leaders that have walked the halls, yearly composites showing members when they were fresh-faced and in uniform for the first time, newspaper clippings detailing the post’s successes and awards won by Legion members from baseball tournaments to national recognition gleam in trophy cases.

Those who can’t make the party should know the post is open to the public at least twice a week, with a Bingo tournament every Thursday night that sometimes has a kitty edging close to $800 and a Friday night dance to get you off your feet and dancing to what Smith described as “the oldies.” Varner said they are also open to rent, for birthday to wedding parties.

The Legion Post meets the fourth Monday of every month at 7:30 p.m. at the post. The post also hosts other civic organizations, like the Lanier Dance team, the Elks Club and the Vietnam Veterans group. They also offer a safe gathering place for veterans struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder.

Additional parking will be located on the Riverside campus, with shuttle service to the post.

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  • Associated Tags: gainesville, American Legion Post 7, centennial, American Legion
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