LR American Legion post casts net wider

It seeks out newer vets but says revamped facilities open to broader use

— The state’s oldest and largest American Legion post wants to hold onto the past while reshaping its future.

M.M. Eberts Post 1, a fixture in downtown Little Rock since its inception nearly 100 years ago, intends to remain in its present location but wants to broaden its appeal beyond the aging World War II veterans that formed its core for decades and reach out not only to younger veterans but the broader community.

“There’s a misconception out there that this is just a place for veterans to smoke and drink beer,” said Stephen Finnegan, the post commander. “It’s much more than that.”

Post 1 is among about 15,000 posts in the United States and abroad that are part of the national Legion, which was chartered and incorporated by Congress in 1919 as a patriotic veterans organization devoted to mutual aid. It bills itself as the nation’s largest wartime veterans service organization and is open to those “currently on active duty, serving the United States honorably, anywhere in the world, or have served honorably during any ... eligible war eras,” up to and including the Persian Gulf War and what has been called the war on terrorism.

The Little Rock post, one of about 400 posts in Arkansas, was organized the same year as the national Legion. It is named after Melchior McEwen Eberts, a Little Rock native, 27-year-old West Point graduate and Army captain who died after the aircraft he was piloting crashed shortly after takeoff on May 15, 1917, in Columbus, N.M.

The post has been situatedin an unassuming building at 315 E. Capitol Ave. since the late 1960s. The post enlivens the otherwise quiet block two or three nights a week with dances featuring live music, as well as weekly bingo, all of which are open to the public as well as to veterans and their families. A recent Saturday night dance attracted more than 100 people, although Sunday night dances generally attract smaller crowds.

Under Finnegan, a 48-yearold Army veteran and smallbusiness owner, the post is trying other activities. Besides increasing its membership - it’s up to 1,600 and climbing, according to Finnegan - it has opened up its cavernous ballroom and a separate meeting room to serving as venues for wedding receptions, high school reunions, meetings for outside organizations and other events.

“We’re a large part of downtown Little Rock,” said Jack Murphy, 87, a World War II veteran, former Little Rock finance director and post member. “We have a good place to meet. We are under new management.”

Finnegan also is inviting outside speakers to its meetings. The Legion’s national commander spoke earlier this year.

“Downtown is a very important part of the city,” said Sharon Priest, executive director of the Little Rock Downtown Partnership, who was among the invited speakers. “The fact that we have the American Legion post here is very good for us.

“We need to let them know we appreciate them, and the fact they have a building for them down here.”

The building also hasundergone a makeover: The ballroom has a new floor, the commercial kitchen has been renovated and the meeting room has been remade with, among other things, a wall that was dedicated this summer to Nick Bacon, Arkansas’ last living Medal of Honor recipient before his death two years ago.

Some of the increased activity at the post is seen as a way to increase its revenue after a few years of shaky finances that some members said threatened its future. The post sold property it owned several years ago that yielded about $500,000, which has been used as a reserve.

But since that time, the post has dipped into that money every year to cover annual operating expenses that membership dues and other revenue was unable to cover, Murphy said. In addition to the dances and bingo, the post or its ancillary organizations such as a women’s auxiliary and the Legion Riders support American Legion youth baseball, offer financial assistance to veterans and support other charities, most involving military members and their families.

The post’s most recent publicly available Internal Revenue Service Form 990, a document all nonprofit organizations must file annually, showed the post ran a $40,000 operating deficit in 2009. It showed the post received nearly $79,000 in income that year but had more than $119,000 in expenses. According to the form, its net assets dropped to about $526,300 at the end of 2009 compared with the $566,600 it had at the beginning of the year. The previous year it had a deficit of nearly $33,000.

If nothing was done, Murphy said, he figured the post would use up its reserve, which has fallen to about $300,000, within a few years. A finance committee has drawn up the post’s first annual budget in memory and cut expenses. Those moves haven’t stopped the bleeding but have slowed it appreciably, according to Murphy.

“If we handle the money diligently and the crowds at the dances are enough, we might reduce [the operating deficit] to zero, which would be a tremendous mountain to climb,” he said.

Northwest Arkansas, Pages 7 on 09/04/2012

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