President’s Corner
LoAnn Dick – Department President
Photo courtesty: IceBerg Art, Candace Berg
Hello North Dakota Auxiliary Members,
It seems that some of us are having spring-like days, while others are facing winter times. You just never know what to expect, but it is all God’s gift to us. I would prefer to be in the winter part, but I happen to live in the spring part. It is so funny how all that works. I will love it all, and hope that is the same for you.
So, what is coming up that we need to work on? NUMBER ONE: Membership! We NEED to get our membership dues all paid! Membership is our lifeblood! Go after those members that you haven’t gotten renewed yet! Go after the hard ones to access, or hard ones to get to renew! We need them all! Their eligibility veteran still wants to know that they are part of the ALA. And if they have passed on, the remembrance of their service is still totally valuable to the veteran’s family, to the Unit, to the Department, to National, and to America. We must not forget them or let their service be forgotten.
We are rapidly heading toward the end of our Department year. Our Impact reporting is now past. I truly hope that you reported all of the wonderful activities you did for our precious Veterans. They are our pride and joy! They are our purpose! May God bless each one of them, and may He bless each one of you who advocate faithfully on their behalf.
April is CHILDREN AND YOUTH MONTH when we work to honor and bless the children and youth in our units and communities.
Our Legislative team from the Legion, the Auxiliary, and the Sons just came back from their trip to Washington D. C. where they met with our Legislators and all the Legislative teams from around the country, and of course, with the National Leaders who allowed them to see into the inner workings of our National Defense. They returned inspired and informed in how we can all advocate for our Veterans legislatively. There is a way we can all be actively involved in working for our Veterans with bills going through Congress. The Link is: grassroots action center. You can go to that and sign up and receive daily, weekly, regular notifications about which bills the Legion needs us to tell our Legislators how we want them to vote. We can make our wishes known as often as we like because the more they hear from us, the more we motivate them to consider our bills. So, let’s join The Legion in their fight to get all the benefits that our Veterans need, and what was promised them when they signed up. Let’s go to work for our Veterans!
Our Department Convention is right around the corner. It will be held at the Ramada by Wyndham in Fargo on June 27 – 29. Please get as many of your members together as you can and come to the Convention! It is our time together that helps us grow, keeps us encouraged, keeps us informed about all that is happening in our Department, and in our Units. PLEASE COME!!!
The National Convention will be held in Tampa Bay, Florida from August 22-28. If you could go to the Convention and would like to be a delegate for the Department of North Dakota, please let me know as I will be putting a list of delegates together. The delegates will be finalized on the last day of the Convention.
National Convention attendees. Standing (l-r): LoAnn Dick, Department President; Marcy Schmidt, Department Secretary; Carol Wolf Poppy Co-Chairman and District 1 VP ; Shantel Covert, Delegate; Judy Twete, NEC and Past NW Division Vice President; Gloria Covert, Past Department President; Tammy Ryberg, Past Department President and Past NEC; Susan Degner, Department Treasurer; Virginia Satrom. Past District 1 President. Seated (l-r) Pages Shelley Schuster, District 2 President and Chloe Weyrauch. Constitution & Bylaws Chairman
Our National President, Trish Ward, will be coming to North Dakota to attend Girls State. She will be here from June 9 to June 11. We are working on plans to have dinner and meeting time with her on the night of Tuesday the 10th. If you can possibly get to Grand Forks for that night with Trish, I promise you will love it!!! She is FABULOUS!!!!! Please do everything you can to get a group of members together to come to meet and listen to this absolutely wonderful lady!!! She will inspire and uplift you!!!
I love you all and look forward to seeing you at the District Meetings, at a Night with Trish, and at the Department Convention!!!
Yours for our Veterans,
LoAnn Dick
Department President 2024-2025
- April 2025 Unit Mailing
- March 2025 Unit Mailing
- January 2025 Unit Mailing
- December 2024 Unit Mailing
- November 2024 Unit Mailing
- Message – March 2025
- Message – December 2024
- Message – September 2024
Department President-Elect
Candace Berg – Department President-Elect
Photo courtesy: IceBerg Art, Candace Berg Membership
Candace joined the Auxiliary as a junior member under the eligibility of her father, Harland Berg, a Vietnam veteran. During her years as a junior member, Candace served as the trumpet player (bugler) for Memorial Day programs until graduating from high school.
Candace is active with the York unit as well as the Devils Lake Neathery-Simenson VFW Auxiliary, having served as a flag bearer, unit secretary, unit chaplain, and several chairmanships.
Candace is also involved with Ramsey County 4-H, serving as the treasurer and a 4-H leader. She emphasizes community service projects with her group that are veteran-focused, such as learning the meaning of the US flag, flag folding, honoring businesses and homes who display the US flag, putting together veteran food and supply packages, and helping with veteran and patriotic holiday services.
Candace currently lives and works in Devils Lake and is the proud parent of 3 children and a menagerie of pets. She is a licensed foster care parent, and in her spare time she enjoys volunteering at White Horse Hill National Game Preserve, sketching, photography, genealogy, watching hockey, exploring nature, and spending time with loved ones.
Candace’s focus this year is to embrace the programs of the American Legion Auxiliary and meeting as many veterans as possible.
(Department Staff Article)
Meet your Department Vice President
Sandy Smith – Department Vice President
Membership Co-chairman