FYI All Post Leadership,
We have consolidated various sources of information that can help Post leaders to prepare to re-open; it begins with instructions for proper closure during emergencies as a preparation for a better re-opening. Please indulge the details herein and attachments as driven to this point by our very own Detachment Commander Chuck Treat and other contributors. This document will live with the unique inputs of each Post as it makes up its own plans, soon and for the future eventuality of disasters. Thanks, FOR THE COMMANDER: Angel
The attached file is the FINAL version of the Booklet titled: “The American Legion, Department of Arizona, CoViD-19 Legion Post Re-Start Booklet, dated May 2020” It is a 16 page booklet (to fit the Booklet format for printing if needed) with what should or could of happened at the closing and what has to be unraveled and added to Re-Start Post operations.
The final version’s filename is: 2020-PANDEMIC-Post Restart Booklet-044FINALfillable.pdf
The first couple of pages are intended to get people thinking about their own Post’s situation and the issues they faced when they shut down and what had to happen.
Many Posts had moved through a portion of the items listed but forgot some key issues and now must attend to resolving them before they can move forward. That is why there is a deconstruct of the "Closing Process”… to spark thought about their own needs specific to their Post and the Re-Start effort.
Then there is the “Build” of the actionable items to accomplish to move the Post into “Re-Start” mode and those actions that need to happen after and continuously once they are open. "Fudging it” at this point could result in a Post Closure AND awfully bad press if the worst-case scenario occurs. Not good for anyone in the Legion Family. We have a responsibility to safeguard the reputation of The Legion and The Legion Family.
The last half of the Booklet is fillable forms (including the calendar on the last page) for the Post using the booklet to type in a clean and easily read list and calendar for their internal action & communication purposes. The forms have been de-bugged, which was 40% of time in generating this doc. I used every trick I could find to shrink the file sizes. As they fill in the document…it gets rather large!
Also, please note: The first page has a hyperlink to Adobe for the free Adobe Acrobat Reader download. Some Posts will find their older browsers and computers have difficulty printing the forms and may want to update the PDF reader for use of this Booklet.
The last page has a button for the "Save-as” functio. It is suggested they save the document with a filename of their closing before completing the process. Downloading the form a second or third time will overwrite any work performed up to that point and it will be lost if they haven’t performed this step. Next to the “Save-as” button is the Print Button. It does the same function as Control P in most softwares…it takes the document to the local printer page to print.
I apologize for the lengthy time frame for delivery…life’s been a crush the last 4 weeks and it was a struggle to “git ‘er done.”
I would like to thank you for the information that was supplied last week…it took a while, but we are digesting the information provided. Post Commander Dave Coates (P-29) and I had a conversation about the material and I realized what you provided is a drink from a fire hydrant that cannot be skipped. Dave indicated as much as well. The more we read the material, the more serious the endeavor became, as the weight of failure began to sink in for both of us. To that end, thank you for taking this serious as the Post’s are depending on the State Level for the Education and information to get back to Open in a safe & recognized manner.
Of additional note, I have added the wording to the document to encourage the Posts to work through the chain of communication (i.e. District Commander, Area Commander) as those persons should and need to be aware of what is going on in their areas and be of service to their respective areas. The temptation for many Post’s in the past is to by-pass the communication structure and go directly to Department. That would be a bottle neck with regular Department operations mixed with the time-consuming questions and problem solving from all over the state when the issue could have more collaboration and local resources on a more local area of District or Area Staff/Structure.
One of the first issues we will have at the Post level that occurred to us (Dave and myself) is the “education” of the membership of not skipping one single step…to maintain discipline of protocols and safe practices. In the joy of coming back I can envision everyone wanting to make up for all those hugs they missed for the last 6 weeks…something we can’t do in good conscience, now.
Maybe sometime down the road we can come back to the hugs and handshakes, but for now, we have to consider each contact as having the potential to hurt someone we care about, including the person who wants the hug or handshake!
So while this is one very “Wordy" e-mail, let me thank you for being included in this project. I hope this makes a difference and has benefit to the Post’s here in Arizona. I am lucky to be a SON in Arizona.
I submit the attached files for your distribution as needed in hopes that this set of Docs will help the various needs of our Legion Posts’ initiate the "2020 Arizona Re-Start”
For God and Country
Chuck Treat
Detachment Commander 2019-2020
Detachment of Arizona
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