New Post 124 to be dedicated

A dream in the making for over 10 years is about to come true for some anxious members of the Walhalla American Legion. Harold Welborn, Post Commander is quoted as saying, “Our old building on North Church Street in Walhalla, which was constructed by the Beiman family around 1936 and given to the post for as long as we needed it, has been in a perpetual state of decline for more than 30 years. A little over 10 years ago we started a new post building fund with the notion of locating and securing some property for eventual construction of a new post meeting hall. Three years or so back Legionnaire Rick Gibson was named chairman of a property search committee. The wonderful folks at the Golden Corner Church over on Earle Street, owning some 25 acres of property were contacted by Gibson about our need and one thing kinda led to another and before we knew it Rev. Mark Bagwell and the great folks at Golden Corner came to our rescue, donating two and half acres of land to us.” Jerry Dyar, Public Information Officer for the Walhalla Veterans organization said, “We then got real busy raising funds for what would become our new Legion home. Mr. Gibson and I headed up the finance committee and a whole lot of community citizens, business and commercial folks around the county helped us raise almost $140,000. Early last spring, Dave Bertges, a post 124 member with the able assistance of Jimmy Hall, was named to head up the “volunteer” construction team after Jack Arve got us started, and, with the help of more volunteers than we could ever name; Oconee County, the City of Walhalla included, we got busy self-constructing the building shown in the photo and now, some 10 months later we are set to dedicate our new Post Home with a ribbon-cutting ceremony this Sunday afternoon, Dec. 10, at 2pm. Our very first official use of the building will take place the following night, Monday, Dec. 11, at 6pm as we host our annual Christmas Dinner for members and wives. The building, containing 3,200 square feet is located next door to the Oconee County Veterans Affairs Office at 319 Kenneth Street and the American Legion Post members hope it will become a highly sought after meeting place for other organizations, groups, etc. We really believe our building will be very much in demand for interested groups who might want to rent a very nice facility for various outings. Our goal is for the new Walhalla American Legion Post Home to become a big asset to the community and county.” The entire community is invited out to the ribbon cutting and dedication ceremony on Sunday, Dec. 10, at 2pm.