News
Willow City American Legion Post 112 has honorable history
Heather Milbrath
06/25/2013
Editor’s Note: Bottineau Courant staff writer, Heather Milbrath, will be writing a series on veterans’ posts and organizations in Bottineau County. This week, she looks at Willow City’s American Legion Post 112.
“All veterans gave something, some much more, and some everything.”
These were the words of Orlan Dryer, Willow City Legion Commander, who gave a Memorial Day sermon. The Legion, in conjunction with the Legion Auxiliary, hosts a Memorial Day program every year. This year, the highlight of the program was the dedication of the statue on Main Street.
Every year this program includes a speaker, a dinner provided by the Auxiliary and memorial ceremony at the cemetery. This year over 80 people attended the Legion’s Memorial Day ceremony.
The Willow City Legion was chartered on Sept. 1 1921, under the name Lyle B. Rich Post 112. Rich was a World War I veteran from Willow City. Rich died from the flu while in training and is buried in an American Cemetery in France. The post was named in his honor, and money was given to the post from the Rich family. Lyle B. Rich is still the official name of the post, although most people refer to it as the Willow City Post.
When the post was first established, meetings were first held in the I.O.O.F Hall. The membership grew quickly, and on February 17, 1928, an Auxiliary was also established with a charter membership of 40 women.
In 1930, the Legion purchased the old Eagle office from J. S. Anderson. For the Auxiliary and the Legionaries, this was a dream come true and both groups began working to fix it up. Over the years, many events were held in this building and it still serves as the home for the Willow City Legion and Legion Auxiliary. The building was also used as the headquarters for Willow City’s 125th Celebration.
The Willow City Post still has approximately 50 members and the current commander is Orlan Dryer. Dryer has served as the commander at this post since 2004, and has had various other leadership positions for many years. Each year the post holds a spring meeting to elect new officers, and a fall membership meeting with a supper for all the members.
Dryer feels that Post 112 has good participation, and loyal members. The Legion still has firing squads for veterans’ funerals, and supports many other activities in the community and region. The Legion also ran the Wilo Theater for many years and has taken care of the cemetery since World War II.
The Willow City Auxiliary is also still very active in the community, with 47 senior members and 10 junior members.
The post has struggled since the Willow City School closed. After the school closed, the post no longer had a Legion Baseball team to support, and were not able to sponsor as many students for Boys State.
Auxiliary president Helen Volmer says the Auxiliary has also felt the impact from the school closing.
“With no school it really makes a difference.” Volmer said. “We have had to co-op with Upham to send other students to Girls State. There is getting to be less and less young people wanting to go to Boys and Girls State in this region.”
The Willow City Post had an all-time high membership of 104 in 1973.