American Legion Celebrates 100 Years

American Legion Post 245 in State College will host a party on Saturday to celebrate the 100th anniversary of both the post and the Legion, the nation’s largest war veterans organization. All are welcome to the event.

At the Paris caucus on Feb. 15 and 16, 1919, Theodore Roosevelt Jr. called the proposed American Legion organization, “an organization of veterans dedicated in peace to the same ideals that had inspired their service in war,” and such was the ideal of the organization’s founders of the American Legion. After two more caucuses, an act of Congress chartered the American Legion on Sept. 16, 1919.

Post 245 in State College applied and was granted a charter from the National Executive Committee on Aug. 27, 1919. This first one was a temporary charter, followed on Oct. 19, 1919 by a formal organization of 20 veterans at the Hotel State College (called Nittany Inn Parlors at that time).

The post has had several homes over the years. In 1935, it purchased the 10-acre Holmes Woods, west of Pine Hall (the post’s current property) and constructed a building across from its current location at 1900 Pine Hall Drive. The materials used were from a construction shack used during the building of Old Main on The Pennsylvania State University campus. Because these were depression years, materials were hard to obtain.

‘The Post in the Woods,’ as it’s come to be known, moved into the newly constructed building across from the original one in October 1990. The first building was burned down as a training exercise for Alpha Fire Company in 1990.

Saturday’s anniversary celebration has been months in the planning and promises to be a great family-friendly day for the vets and the public. 

A parade will kick off the festivities at 11 a.m. The formation will begin at the corner of Bristol Avenue and Saratoga Drive, proceed to Gwenedd Lane, Autumnwood Drive, Prairie Rose Lane, Foxpointe Drive and arrive at Pine Hall Road at the Legion post.

An opening ceremony at noon will start the celebration. There will be welcoming remarks from post commander Rich Seifert, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance, an opening prayer by post chaplain Ron Quinn and the national anthem.

Capt. R. Scott Young will speak at the noon ceremony. Young took command of Penn State’s Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps and assumed duties as professor of naval science in June 2015. 

The anniversary celebration will be a family event with live music, food trucks, games, fire truck lift rides, clowns, balloons and face painting. Handicapped parking and shuttle service will be available.

A catered dinner at 5 p.m. will feature Hawaiian chicken and pulled beef sandwiches. Tickets purchased in advance at the post are $8 for adults and $5 for children under 10. (Children two years and under eat for free.) Tickets at the door will be $12.

“We mainly want to get the word out that we’ve been here for 100 years and we want to public to know what we do here,” said Bob McCool, who will co-chair of the celebration with Adjutant Larry Hess, said.

McCool is a member of the Sons of American Legion because his father was a member.