American Legion opens post

The skies over Green River may have been dreary throughout the weekend, but that dreariness didn’t follow people into the new American Legion Post No. 28 Saturday.

The Tom Whitmore Post No. 28 welcomed visitors during an open house and grand opening celebration at its 38 North Center Street location.

“It’s a great organization. It’s a safe place for veterans to meet and hang out,” Mike Erickson, an army veteran and post member said.

For Erickson, it’s also a place where he can talk about his experiences and the equipment he’s used and know someone will understand and know what he’s talking about.

Green River has always had an American Legion Post, though it hasn’t always been active. The post was one of the first posts created after World War I. The post was renamed after Whitmore following his death a few years after the post was organized. Membership waned during the 1960 to the point where it became inactive, with its documents and items eventually being donated to the Sweetwater County Museum by the legionaries’ family members.

The items, including six antique Craig rifles, are displayed in a corner. The rifles flank a table displaying the bell originally used to call meetings to order, an old guide of subversive publications published in the U.S. and a leather document bag. To get everyone’s attention prior to the legion’s ribbon cutting, Post Commander Tony Neimic rang the old bell, which still creates a loud and resonating sound.

“It does my heart good,” Vice Commander of Wyoming Tom Dean said. “Green River needed an active post.”

The post reorganized itself last November and hosted a number of fundraisers to fund work needed to renovate their building. Robert Smith, a Navy veteran and member of the post said the community and local businesses were very supportive of their efforts, specifically mentioning help the City of Green River gave the group.

“It’s nice to have the upstairs done. It was a lot of work and the place was kind of nasty looking when we started,” Smith said.

Neimic said they still have a lot of work to do with the building. Currently, only the top floor is usable, with renovations to the bottom floor expected to occur within the next year. The energy surrounding Post 28 has led to an increase in membership. Neimic said the post has more than quadrupled its membership in the past several months. They also initiated the Sons of the American Legion and Auxiliary branches Saturday. The Sons of the American Legion is a group consisting of sons and grandsons of Legionaries while the auxiliary is the legion’s women’s organization.