SOUTHAMPTON — Over the past century, members of American Legion Post 168 have impacted every corner of the community, whether organizing events, providing scholarships to students, or doing work behind the scenes to serve Southampton.
This year marks the post’s 100th anniversary and despite many changes and challenges, Commander of Post 168 Mark Nichols says the goal of the legion’s local post in Southampton remains intact.
“We continue to serve the community,” Nichols said in a recent interview with the Gazette.
Post 168 was established in 1926, just seven years after the national American Legion was established in 1919 by an act of Congress after World War I as a nonprofit to serve veterans and their families. There are more than one million members across 12,000 local posts, with departments for each of the 50 states and several other nations. Members of each Legion pay dues that help fund the organization’s mission.
A celebration was held for the post last month during Celebrate Southampton, the town’s annual festival at Conant Park, when Nichols and Massachusetts Department Commander Robert Jerdan spoke about the post’s success. Nichols first moved to Southampton in 1972 and served in the U.S. Navy when he was 19.
“For 100 years, Southampton American Legion Post 168 has stood as a steadfast pillar of strength, service and community spirit right here in western Massachusetts,” Jerdan said. “A century of continuous service is no small achievement. It represents generations of veterans who have answered the call to defend our nation.”
The two state legislators who represent Southampton, Sen. John Velis, D-Westfield, and Rep. Kelley Pease, R-Westfield, delivered a citation thanking the post for its contributions to the community.
After being active for a century, Nichols said the post is facing the same challenge that all others do, with membership declining and stagnant enrollment, especially in a small town. He said Southampton currently has 29 members, and the older members mostly served in the Vietnam and Korean War, as most World War II veterans have died.
“Like anyone else trying to get membership, we’re trying to do more community service based upon what we have for members and people in the community,” Nichols said.
The Legion has organized a number of initiatives in town, including dishing out two scholarships to graduating Hampshire Regional High School seniors, helping maintain the cemetery and organizing the Memorial Day Parade. Members also set up the American flags on utility poles in town and hold a Southampton person of the year award.
This year, Southampton’s 59th Citizen of the Year was Susan Teece, who has worked as a coach for the nonprofit Girls on the Run, managed the community pallet garden, and much more. Teece was an educator in Southampton for 38 years, and also holds a yearly vigil to commemorate the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in 2012.
“This is a wonderful community, we are so lucky we have each other,” Teece said at Celebrate Southampton.
Nichols has been a member of the post for 18 years and commander for six. He said Southampton’s post has never had a bar like Easthampton and Northampton, both of which have closed. Instead, he said members used to meet in the old Town Hall, now the Police Station, and now meet in the current Town Hall when needed.
Nichols said as time moves on, one of the hardest parts is seeing friends pass away. Last year, the post lost one of its dearest members last year, Ted Hendricks, who was 79. Nichols said it is people like Hendricks who have helped steward the post and sustained its involvement in the community.
