MEMBERSHIP
One of our signature events is the Wounded Warrior “Hit the Beach” event, held the last Friday in August at North Beach in Hampton. This event features our Post and the local surf community taking our wounded warriors and their families into the ocean for a day and introduce them to surfing. The main job of the majority of our members is to run the concession stand at the seawall. All proceeds are donated to the Wounded Warrior Foundation, New England Disabled Sports, and the Manchester VA.
Post 35 maintains our Global War on Terrorism Monument, which has the names of all the service members from NH who have died in the GWOT since September 11, 2001. This monument is the first of its kind in the state of New Hampshire, and among the first in the country to honor these heroes. The Post conducts a rededication ceremony of the monument every September 11 at 6 pm. We invite the families of the fallen, and the general public.We have almost always had the Governor attend, and have been honored to have the National Commander of the American Legion as our guest on several occasions.
Although separate organization, Post 35 members administer and support the Run for the Fallen NH, which is held the Saturday after September 11, at Waterville Valley in central New Hampshire. The Post has members who volunteer to be honor guardians at the posters of some of the fallen whose family members are unable to attend. We have over 300 runners and we host over 300 Gold Star family members at a post event barbecue lunch.
We are the charter organization for Boy Scout Troop 177 in Hampton, and we sponsor an annual spaghetti dinner for the Troop Court of Honor each October.
We host 4 Veterans Day ceremonies in the area.
We provide Thanksgiving baskets and contribute to the local schools Christmas Giving Tree program to ensure some of our local veteran families enjoy the holidays.
We host the District 3 American Legion Oratorical Contest in February. This is a contest for high school students to learn about the US Constitution and speak on it, without notes for 8-10 minutes. Winners are eligible for serious scholarship money!
We work with Winnacunnet High School to support the American Legion Boys State program, a week long learn by doing exercise in state and local government.
We provide school awards for the graduating 8th graders in the area, as well as provide two scholarships to WHS seniors each year.
We host 4 Memorial Day ceremonies, and 2 parades, all before 1 pm on Memorial Day! We also like to go into the local nursing homes to honor our fellow vets on Memorial Day and Veterans Day.
We participate in the Wreaths Across America events in the area, as well as conduct the opening ceremonies.
We have recently formed American Legion Auxiliary Unit 35. Membership is open to the male and female spouses, grandmothers, mothers, sisters, and direct and adopted female descendants of members of The American Legion.
Since we don’t have a bar, we are highly dependent on fund raising, so we have multiple ways of raising much needed funds.
We are a registered charity with the State of NH, and are involved in fund raising at Ocean Gaming Casino on Hampton Beach. We run bingo, every Monday, and one weekend a month at Ocean Gaming.
And we also sell concessions at swap meets held on the last Sunday of each month during the season, at the NE Dragway in Epping.
Our Post has approximately 300 members, and we generally will see 30-40 members for our monthly meeting, which is an extraordinary number for the state!
Our monthly meetings are every third Monday of the month at 7 pm, at 69 High Street in Hampton.
I also like to say that you can do as much, or as little, as you would like.
We would love to have join, and you are more than welcome to stop by at any of the upcoming events, or show up for our next meeting.
Our Post website is post35nh.com, (which is a work in progress…) and we have a Facebook page. If you would like more info, don’t hesitate to contact us!
We look forward to meeting you!
Berk Bennett
Commander
Post 35
USN/USNR 1978-2002
A Few Words About Legion Membership
If you have served at least one day of active military duty since December 7, 1941 and were honorably discharged or you are still serving active military duty honorably, you are eligible for membership with The American Legion.
A letter from the Commander:
I am glad to hear of your interest in Hamptons American Legion Post 35!
First of all, we are different from a lot of Legion and VFW Posts in that we don’t have a bar! As I like to say, we are not a bunch of old guys and gals sitting around, drinking beer and telling war stories!
We do like to give back to the community, and generally have a bunch of events going on.