Newsletter

To the entire membership of The American Legion George Beach Post 4,

Recently, there have been many questions and concerns regarding the financial status of the post. In

response, the Executive Committee and I took immediate action to address these concerns and

determine the current financial standing. Our first priority was to identify the issues, followed by

developing a plan to correct them.

Below is a statement from an outside source who generously volunteered their time to assist us in

this matter. I want to assure you that a plan has been implemented to resolve and rectify the

discrepancies found.

I would like to personally thank all members who attended either of the two meetings regarding this

issue. Your concerns were heard, your participation is greatly appreciated, and your dedication to our

post is truly felt.

To the Executive Committee of George Beach Post 4 of the American Legion

Re: Review and comments of the current procedures. Sirs and Madams. Last we met I offered my

services to assist in reviewing your current procedures related to bar management, pull tabs,

accounting procedures and cash management. I explained at our meeting that I am currently operating

an almost identical establishment, and we are very successful. I am also a member in good standing

with George Beach American Legion Post 4. I began my review on January 20th, 2025, at an 8:30

meeting with the Resource Officer Rhonda Brabbits and reviewed her procedures for starting a typical

day of counting bar cash and pull-tab cash. Entering all those results into the Legion’s spreadsheet that

tracked cash. I observed how the Pull Tab games were reconciled with the point-of-sale reports and

how final cash was tallied. My second meeting was on January 21st , 2025 with the 1st Vice Commander

Steve Chambers and the Finance Officer Michael Stillman. We discussed the daily procedures, checking

accounts, cash on hand, bookkeeping, payroll, bar access checkbook signatories.

Findings:

Daily procedures are pretty much in line with my establishment, and I would make no revisions to

those procedures. Checking accounts. There are multiple accounts that are not needed. I discussed

with Steve and Michael what I ran into at my establishment. Almost identical to your club. Steve

counted 7 separate accounts, not dissimilar to my establishment when I started. We are now down to 3

accounts. Payroll is being done in-house and the past bookkeeper not only calculated payroll but also

could sign the payroll checks without management review.

Bookkeeping. From what I was told by Steve the checkbook has not been reconciled since November.

That also means that any income statement or balance sheet from QuickBooks has no meaning.

Bar Access. From personal observation I have seen multiple people behind the bar without requesting

access from the bartender. I have observed members accessing the cash drawers without requesting

access from the bartender.

Recommendations: All of these have been discussed with Mike and Steve.

Daily procedures: BIG ITEM!!!!!!! There is a flaw on the daily spreadsheet. While it tabulates the daily

business and there is actually a column to put in the amount of cash in the safe there is no

reconciliation on how much cash should be in the safe. That opens the door for cash to disappear and

no one the wiser. (This happened at my establishment). I fixed it in the first 30 days of being

responsible. I reviewed this with Mike and Steve. Hopefully the fix is in place NOW. I offered to assist

Mike if needed. He seems to be very comfortable with excel and should not have any problems.

Checking accounts: These need to be minimized to simplify reconciliations and make Your officers and

bookkeepers life a bit easier.

Bookkeeping/payroll: Big Item!!!!! Unless management oversees financial statements, Bookkeeping and

payroll should be done out of house. Without the out of house bookkeeping NOT being signatory, I

introduced Mike and Steve to the bookkeeper I use. She has done my books for the last 5 years and is

very competent. Steve and Mike have brought her on board to close last year’s business and have

financial statements available to the Legion for the meeting in March. While it is necessary to have

more than one person capable of signing checks the best effort should be made that the financial

officer sign checks. It may not be a bad idea to have checks signed by two people at least until the club

is on solid ground.

I discussed bar access with Steve and Mike. My recommendation is that no one has access behind the

bar without bartender permission. That means no one!!!!! Commander, Senior Vice, financial officer or

past commanders.

Anonymous,

Hope I was a help.

--

Manny Madrid

Commander

American Legion

George Beach Post #4

602-571-6964

Our main event for January was the sponsoring of Winston and Wynn who are now in

training to become service dogs for Veterans. There is a shortage of service dogs, and

this event is one we are extremely proud of. Service dogs are not only companions to

our Veterans but trained to perform duties a Veteran cannot do. They have saved the

lives of Veterans and are extensively trained to help those suffering with PTSD.

It takes two years from the point a puppy is accepted into the program, to the point when

they complete their first leg of training. It is then when they find out if they can become

a certified service dog. After becoming certified and registered they are paired with the

Veteran to begin the next leg of their training, which is to train and collaborate directly

with their owner and handlers.

To learn more about the program and ways you can help, check out the following

website. Sponsor a Puppy - Canine Companions

God Bless You All!

Kathy Macke - Auxiliary President

608-214-0000

ksmacke@gmail.com

Did you know?

1. You can survive without eating for weeks, but you will only live 11 days without

sleeping.

2. Laziness and inactivity kills just as many people as smoking.

3. A human brain has a capacity to store 5 time as much information as Wikipedia.

4. Take a 1030 minute walk every day and while you walk, SMILE. It is the ultimate

antidepressant.

5. Don’t take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

6. Don’t compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all

about.

7. Help the needy. Be generous! Be a “giver” not a “taker.”

8. Each night before you go to bed, pray to God & be thankful for what you’ve

accomplished today!

George McCambridge

Chaplain

Sons,

A thank you goes out to all who helped set up our SAL award ceremony We've

received nothing but high fives clear up to the state level. Thank you!

Our chili cook-off is on super bowl Sunday February 9th.Entries need to be in by 1:45.

Chili will be served at 2:00 We'll have prizes for best chilies and raffles come on out

and eat some good food and support your Missing Links.

I've been corrected, anyone with a valid, current SAL member is welcome at our

functions, regardless of attire. Our goal was to hopefully have our riders members

attend our SAL meetings and functions with the same kind of pride they do when they

put on their vests for Riders events and function with the same kind of pride. I

apologize for any hurt feelings.

Tony Souders

Commander SAL 4

970-213-4410

 February 1st – Poker Night @ 6:00 PM

 February 11th – Rider’s Meeting @ 6:30 PM

 February 16th – Pancake Breakfast from 8:00 AM to Noon

January Volunteers

No events held.

Thanks to our regular Bingo volunteers

Meals on Wheels

Trina Craddock Marlene Staffordaff

This has been a busy time for everyone. Let’s work together to make the post work.

The Riders donated $6,700 and are challenging Auxiliary and Sons to donate as

well. Let’s keep it going. It is our house. Make it great.

.

Mick Dillan

Since our last posing we have done only two funerals, travelled approximately 91 total

aggregate miles with 24-man hours involved.

Summing up 2024, we did a total of 33 funerals. In addition, we did the three Memorial

Day services, Patriot Day (9/11), a Vietnam era flag pinning, our annual flag posting at

the senior center on Veteran’s Day, and we formed a color guard for the Fort Collins 4th

of July Parade. We also did several ceremonial flag foldings. To accomplish this, we

travelled approximately 2,403 miles with 1,985 man hours involved. We lost one of our

members – Robert Kingsbury, an Air Force veteran – who passed away.

Thanks for your great volunteer efforts guys. Hope to see you all performing again in

2025.

Anybody interested in joining our vital and fun organization, call me at (970)219-4546

or George McCambridge at (970)493-6412.

Terry E. Hartfield

2025 is upon us! Get your cards renewed before the first of the year or you shant be allowed to belly up at the bar!

instant credit with National Headquarters is to go to legion.org and click the RENEW button.

PDF for your printing convenience :)