LOOKING BACK
Young Chang
Bill McKay, a first vice commander of membership for the American
Legion Post 291 in Newport Beach, boasts that the post is the largest in
California.
The Newport Beach charter is the only one in the world that has a
yacht club and a marina, McKay said.
He, like the 2600 members that make up the post, are proud to be part
of the nonprofit group. Everyone involved has had a taste of serving
their country, whether it’s directly or through husbands, fathers and
grandfathers.
“Our mission is to support the veterans organizations and the needy
veterans in the area,” said David Lambert, American Legionnaire and
finance officer. “We’re a community service organization generally.”
With Memorial Day coming up Monday, we thought we’d take a look back
at Newport Beach’s American Legion post.
It was chartered in 1924 and first located on 9th Street and Bay
Avenue. A dozen years later, the post relocated to 15th Street, where it
is now. In 1950, the Great Hall was added to the facilities. During the
tail end of the 1970s, the space was ravaged by fire.
Just a year later, legion members rebuilt the Great Hall and the
legion still stands in the 200 block of 15th street today. In recent
years, members battled everything from lease situations to a developer’s
proposal to build a hotel on their site. That developer abandoned the
idea earlier this year and it looks like the legion isn’t moving
anywhere.
Members are made up of American Legionnaires - men that served in
active duty through any of the major wars, the Womens Auxiliary -- women
who joined through fathers, grandfathers or husbands who had served, and
the Sons of American Legionnaires.
“Our fund-raising consists of everything we do,” said Linda
Christensian, office manager at Post 291. “We have parties, we have
barbecues, everything we do to make money goes to the charities and
upkeep and maintenance of our facilities.”
Charities supported by the legion include Boys State, Girls State,
High School Oratoricals, veterans and children’s hospitals, a leukemia
foundation and area law-enforcement agencies.”Last year, we donated
probably $40,000 to charitable activities,” Lambert said.
* Do you know of a person, place or event that deserves a historical
Look Back? Let us know. Contact Young Chang by fax at (949) 646-4170;
e-mail at young.chang@latimes.com; or mail her at c/o Daily Pilot, 330 W.
Bay St., Costa Mesa, CA 92627.
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