The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1923-05-24

It shall be loyalty;
It shall be freedom and opportunity
And liberty without license.
1t shall be honor to God and Country,
Love for brother,
Justice for fellow man;
And above all these,
1t shall be friendship,
Greater recompenSe than which
Comes not for any man.
Observance of Patriotic Holidays
Your committee on POST activities
has this to say about the observance
of patriotic holidays. 1t is recognized
that the American Legion must now
take the lead in seeing that these
days are properly observed. Proper
observances may consist on the one
hand of quiet, dignified program of
speeches, selected vocal and instru-
mental music and reverent tributes
to the soldier dead, as on Memorial
Day. On the other hand it may prop
erly. consist of celebrations, ball
games, races, flying exhibitions,
dances, etc, as on the Fourth of July.
Both days are becoming more and
more American Legion days. The
character of their observance should
be, however, quite different and dis
tinctly so.
In connection with the observance
of Memorial Day this year it occurs
to your committee that not every
post officer in Minnesota realizes
that this is the day for dignified and
reverent tribute to the soldier dead.
The ball game and the dance should
be taboo. This is the one day in all
the year when we can afford dignity,
reverence, place, quite, restfulness, a
refreshment of our memories. We
can play ball and dance and do other
things most any day of the year.
but Memorial Day alone should be
dedicated to the sacred memory of
those who made the supreme socri-
flee; a day of quiet observance and
not one Of celebration. Some posts
have passed resolutions condemning
ball games on Memorial Day. In most
cases resolutions have not been
necessary when it became known that
The American Legion would frown
on any celebration, ball game or
dance. Most communities automati-
cally have accepted the Legion idea.
The Legion leads.
There is another feature of this
Memorial Day observance. We Legion
fellows have been hogging the lime
light a-plenty during the last four
or five years. Let us not forget that
Memorial Day was established as
such by those who lost relatives in
our Civil War and until recent years
it has belonged almost exclusively to
the memory of veterans of that war.
Only lately has it been regarded as
more inclusive. The Boys of '61 will
not be with us long, but while they
live let us accord them the high place
OF honor. Let those grand old veter-
ans of the grey and the blue wear the
olive branch and occupy the pedestal.
Our turn will come soon enough.
While those grand old boys live let
us lead in giving them the first and
highest honors. Had they not saved
the nation once, our chance for glory
would never have come at all.
And finally, let US one and all, in
dividually and collectively, see that
the graves of our soldier dead in
France and England and Belgium are
appropriately decorated. Contribute
personally to the Legion's permanent
fund for overseas graves decoration.
See that your post contributes. See
that the gold star mothers and faith
ers, the lodges and the general public
IN your town have a chance to con-
tribute. See that your particular part
in raising this important fund is
wholly and completely done.
ALLEN L. MOORE,
Chairman, Post Activities Committee.
A Little Child Leads
Maybe this will grow flowers on
my brothers grave in Flanders. A
nine year old Minnesota lad scrubbed
this thought on scrap of paper in
sending his savings to the American
Legion trust fund for the decoration
of graves of American war dead in
France, Belgium and other countries
overseas. In sending in her contribu-
ton, Mrs. Sara McKibbon of st. Paul
writes: 81 wish I could give more.
If Minnesota's quota is $4,000. and
but $1,000. has been subscribed, it
looks as if the buddies who came
home have all but forgotten the bud
dies they left behind. 1t is such a
small thing to do for the boys who
gave so much. Nothing we can do for
them will add to their glory, but a
sence of gratitude should surely
prompt some token of remembrance"
Since Mrs. McKibbon wrote, humid
reds of donations have been turned
in, but many more are needed to fill
Minnesota's quota. Mark checks "For
Legion Overseas Grave Fund" and