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11/06/2019 08:20 AMAmerican Legion Post 48 is celebrating its centennial this Veterans Day, adding some special features and pomp to its 18th annual dinner fundraiser. To commemorate those 100 years in the Guilford community, all Guilford residents are invited to the community center on Friday, Nov. 8 for a lasagna dinner at which local officials and American Legion members will speak to mark the occasion.
The dinner, sponsored by Guilford Interfaith Volunteers and the Parks & Recreation Department and benefiting Guilford’s Meals on Wheels, will honor all the sacrifice and hard work that veterans have added to the community. All veterans eat for free.
To mark the post’s 100th anniversary, local historian Tracy Tomasselli has helped put together two special items that honor the long and storied service of veterans in Guilford. One, a commemorative booklet, will contain messages of support and thanks purchased by community members over the last few months, with all proceeds going to benefit American Legion programs.
The other is a special project that Tomaselli researched and put together: a book that includes stories of some of the important and interesting ways the American Legion has contributed to Guilford over the last century, including biographies of every one of its founding members.
Post 48 Commander Ron DiMartino said the centennial celebration was important in that it showed the enduring commitment of veterans in Guilford to serve their community, as well as Guilford’s long history of sacrifice going back to the earliest days of the country.
“It is an extraordinary day for us, this 100th anniversary,” said DiMartino. “Obviously for the organization to last all this time, through all the ups and downs...We are extremely proud of the fact that the post is vibrant and growing at this point, and very active.”
Membership at Post 48 dwindled to three in the years following the Vietnam War, but is back up to around 70 now, DiMartino said.
Tomasselli’s book, which will be available for purchase at the dinner, documents much of this storied history, including efforts by the post to repair damages and plant trees following a deadly hurricane in 1938, among many other things.
Though there will be formalities to mark the occasion with a proclamation by First Selectman Matt Hoey along with an official ceremony by the color guard from the post, the event is mostly about fellowship and remembrance—along with delicious food.
Tickets purchased for the dinner will help fund Guilford’s Meals on Wheels, which works in close partnership with the town as well as local veterans.
Marta Slattery is the director of Guilford’s Interfaith Volunteers (GIV), which oversees Meals on Wheels as well as several other local charitable and service organizations. She said that veterans are both big contributors to the work GIV does, and also take advantage of its services.
“A lot of our drivers are retired veterans,” Slattery said. “It’s amazing. What I’ve seen is that they’ve lived their lives, giving up their selves. Then they retire and they still want to help, and do something for the community. So we are lucky to have them.”
Larry Santamaria, who will be cooking the dinner and is the full-time chef at the Guilford Community Center, is a Purple Heart recipient and Vietnam War veteran. Both Slattery and DiMartino used Santamaria as an example of someone who exemplified the service-first attitude of veterans who continue to contribute in many different ways to the community.
But DiMartino was quick to go back to what all veteran’s have in common: service to their country. He said he hoped Guilford residents, when they are honoring the post, remember all the other men and women throughout United States history who have served.
“Our town, as little as it is, it has contributed to America’s war efforts since the Revolutionary War. And I think that’s an important thing to point out,” he said.
To learn more about the American Legion in Connecticut, visit www.ctlegion.org. To purchase tickets for the dinner, visit the Guilford Community Center or call 203-453-8068.