May 2007 Greetings from Marty Conatser the Leading Candidate for National Commander of the American Legion and TEAM ILLINOIS It has been more than 5 years since Marty Conatser started on the journey to become the leading candidate for National Commander of the American Legion. In a few short months he will stand for election as the candidate from Illinois for National Commander. During that time Marty has been exposed to many of the Legion programs. He has and continues to travel to Legion Departments learning about programs and meeting Legion Family Members throughout the country. At the recent Department Executive Committee meeting, TEAM ILLINOIS campaign chairman Clay Lofton remarked, "Marty has met a lot of nice people during his travels and they have met a nice guy too!" So now the final PUSH TO RENO is on. TEAM ILLINOIS has a major event scheduled at the Spring Meetings and National Executive Committee meetings to be held May 6th - 10th in Indianapolis. During the meetings, Marty will again host a hospitality room on three evenings. It will again be an opportunity for our National leaders to meet with Marty. For the red shirts of TEAM ILLINOIS it will be another opportunity to show our support for Marty. When the campaign began, TEAM ILLINOIS set a goal of $1.00 per member from Illinois to help support the campaign costs. We are almost there. So that is why we refer to the closing months of the campaign as the PUSH TO RENO. The Legion Family still has some fund raising events scheduled for Marty. Recently a letter from TEAM ILLINOIS was sent to each Post Commander reporting campaign activities. We thank you for the support and donations. However, there were a number of letters returned because of bad addresses. If your Post commander did not receive a letter, check your address with Department. Marty continues his travel and he is booked most weekends until the National Convention. He is expected to be out of the country for a time this month. We will report more on that trip next month. Marty's travels are posted on his home page at www.martyconatser.org Remember, if you are attending the National Convention in Reno, NV in August make arrangements to be there August 30 for the National Election of Officers. Then plan to attend the Illinois Party that night to celebrate the election! Correction: Last month we listed an incorrect email address for SAL Fundraising Chair Tommie Cisna. His correct email address is: cisna813@consolidated.net. APRIL 300 Club Winners $500 - Aubrey "Typhoon" Storm $250 - Post 1172-Evansville $150 - Mary Beth Revoir The above is a report on the activities of Marty Conatser and "TEAM ILLINOIS". Written by Chuck Zelinsky, it also appears in the May 2007 issue of the Department News newsletter.