Pictured is Gary Hinton after being named the new Commander of the Easley American Legion.
Jeff Holt | The Easley Progress
EASLEY — Gary Hinton has been dialed in on building up the memberships of the Easley American Legion.
Dan Frawley, meanwhile, played a huge role in updating the bylaws of Post 52 and of helping out with the American Legion baseball team.
And last week, Hinton and Frawley ran against each other for the prestigious title of Commander of Post 52. Hinton edged Frawley 19-13 in the votes and he will replace Walt Carter as the new Commander.
“I want us to build more unity and try to get more of our members involved,” said Hinton. “I want to follow-up on all of our members. We are a veterans organization and that is our function — to help our fellow veterans. I want to get more in-tune with our membership. I’ve noticed recently that several of us have those magnets on our cars and some of us have the decals on the windows. It is nothing gaudy or bad, but it is amazing when you pull into a parking lot, someone looks at it, and says are you some kind of state official. They don’t know what it is until you tell them. Then, they say ‘Oh I didn’t even know we had that.’ It’s been an eye-opener for me.”
Post 52 currently has 207 members who have renewed their membership — they need 34 more to hit 100 percent.
Added Hinton, “I want to see with this post that we build a close-knit veterans organization and make our presence known. We’ve done a good job thus far. We are recognized on the state level, the district level, and we can continue to grow.
“Even though our membership goals are lower, we seem to be one of our more active posts in our District 13,” he said. “Probably, the Greenwood post is the only one that would be the most comparable in what we are involved in. I want us to continue to grow and find these veterans. We have a good working relationship with Upstate Warriors.”
Local military veterans from Post 52 to keep in your prayers (Sick Call): Critter Humphrey, Larry Holcombe, Raymond Crapo, Lonnie Saxon, Steward Baylor, Dr. Shepard, Charles Vaughan, Ben Houston, Phil Prevatte, Harold Whitlock, Jim Stewart, James Taylor, Micky Medlin, Jim Rudd.
Reach Jeff Holt at 864-855-0355.