Legion seeks building

Organization readies for returning vets

By Amy Widner

LITTLE ROCK — A regrouped Beebe American Legion is looking for a home - any home.

“Anything in Beebe would be ideal for us,” said John Voss, American Legion Post 91 commander. “We’re beggars. We’re not proud to say so, but we’re not choosey.”

The group is operating out of Voss’ home and holding meetings in the courthouse courtroom.

“In late December, we have a big influx of returning veterans,” Voss said. “They’re coming home, and physically, they may be OK, but you never know mentally how they are, so we’re expecting a large influx of work. We need a place that families and friends can identify to send them for help. If we’re just working out of my home, it’s really hard for people to realize that we are in town and in business.”

The Beebe American Legion used to have a building at City Hall, but the group dried up in 1972, and the city rented the building to the library on a 99-year lease. Voss has been before the City Council, but the citydoesn’t have an empty building or the money to get one.

“They called and let me know that they don’t have any money,” Voss said. “Since we’re a 501 (c) (3) (a tax-exempt, nonprofit organization), they can’t help us. We’re back out there without any direction right now, looking for someone to help us out.”

Beebe Mayor Mike Robertson said the Council would like to provide the Legion with a building, but it also wants to provide for the library. Initially they thought the issue would be simpler, but more discussions with the city attorney are needed to determine if anything can be done, Robertson said.

“They’re a good organization, and they’re doing a lot of civic work, and we need to support them as much as we can,” Robertson said. “It might come back up at the next Council meeting, the third Monday in December, or it might take longer than that. I wish we could just give them their building today, but that’s not an option at this minute.”

Robertson said a long-term solution could be to expand the current city complex, keeping the Legion offices there but moving the library. Library Board Chairwoman Ruth Couch said they are also interested in moving out of the space they’re in and getting a place of their own. She said the library has become pretty inactive over the last few years, and a change might help.

“I’m very interested in theoutcome of that, because if we could get control back over our building, then we could potentially get some things started again,” Couch said.

In the meantime, Voss is looking for a solution before late December. The American Legion is the largest veterans organization in the world, with more than 3 million members, he said. Their functions include: creating a network of fellow veterans for friendship and support; operating a wide variety of their own programs, such as raising money for families in need and programs like Boys State and Girls State; and connecting veterans with whatever services the group doesn’t provide, such as assisting them with finding employment or finding the right programs to fit their needs.

In whatever location they find, the Beebe American Legion would be a nondrinking establishment, Voss said.

Vice Commander Charles Johnston said, “We’re at our wits’ end, because we’ve tried everything we can do to get help from our local government, and they can’t help us. So we don’t know where to turn.” - awidner@ arkansasonline.com

Three Rivers, Pages 74 on 11/27/2008