American Legion Post 534 Cincinnati

09/14/2026

07/15/2026

The Auxiliary will be installing their officers this Saturday, 7/18. The doors will open at 5:30 and the installation will begin at 6:00. The installing officer will be Past District Auxiliary President, Vickie Monroe. New officers will be President Kathy Bender Johnson, 1st Vice Kathy English and membership, 2nd Vice Kelli Bender, Treasurer Danielle English, Secretary Alexis Hall, Chaplain Alexis Hall, and Sgt Arms Ann Schlinkert.

We have tickets for the next gun raffle. It is a Ta**us 1G3B949 G3 9mm Luger Semi- Automatic Pistol, striker block/trigger and thumb safety, fixed front sight and adj. rear sight, black polymer grips, black finish, 1-15 round and 1- 17 round magazine, 1 box of 50 rounds 9mm ammo, 1IWB/OWB holster. We will sell 100 tickets for $10 each.

We have Football Mania tickets for sale for $25 each. We are in the Guaranteed Winner program so each week, someone is gonna win!!!!! We have had several big money tickets posted as winners in previous games however, those tickets were not activated so, some folks missed out on a nice payday!

We are in the process of reviewing 3 bids for roof replacement.

The next meeting is Thursday August 6. S.A.L. begins @ 6:30. Legion Executive Board begins at 7:00. Auxiliary General Meeting begins at 7:00. Legion General Meeting begins at 7:30.

Harold Widener, Commander
[email protected]

05/25/2026

I want to take a few minutes to spotlight our Honor/Color Guard.

Starting May 12th, through May 25th, the H/C Guard has participated in 6 events that highlight Memorial Day. We started at the Sayler Park Eden Chapel and followed with The Warbirds USO Swing Dance, The Kenseth Jewish Cemetery, The Delhi Veterans Memorial, The George Budde Memorial Service, and the Old St. Joe Memorial Day Mass. The H/C Guard presented the Colors and Military Honors (sometimes both at one ceremony) at these events. The weather was sketchy during this period with a couple of early hot Spring days and some rain. The team showed up in strength for every event and performed with professionalism. I specifically want to recognize the leadership of 2nd Vice Commander Dennis Vance for organizing each of these events and coordinating with the event representatives numerous times. The participating team members that participated in these events included: Bob Schuckman (Navy); Bruce Miller (S.A.L.), Clint Gauslin (S.A.L.), Dan Kennedy (S.A.L.), Dwight Bledsoe (Marines), Harold Widener (Air Force), Jacob Brungs (Army), Jim Green (Army), Larry Arzman (Navy), Mark Lindenschmidt (Marines), Rick Ruskamp (S.A.L.), and Sarah Door (Army). Special recognition goes to Clint Gauslin for participating in every H/C Guard event during this period. This group, and those not readily available for this series of events, represents Chambers Hautman Budde American Legion Post 534 professionally and with pride at every event when available and called upon. In general, this is the face of Post 534 and I am proud to tell you that we look pretty darned good! My personal thanks to each of you! I am proud to serve with you as we honor our fallen brothers and sisters and our country.

Harold Widener
Commander
Chambers Hautman Budde
American Legion Post 534
[email protected]

05/20/2026

Support veterans with every order.

05/20/2026

Good afternoon

Let us all be mindful of the true meaning of the upcoming Memorial Day. Memorial Day was celebrated as early as the 1860s following the Civil War. But it officially became a national holiday in 1971. It always falls on the last Monday of May, so the actual date changes from year to year. And while we may call it a "celebration" as we do for many of our holidays, it is meant to be a more somber day to honor those veterans who have passed.

Post 534 has a busy week coming up and I thought that you might want a calendar to keep track of us and join us when/where you can:

THURSDAY MAY 21: We will be placing flags at veterans’ headstones along with Hillside Christian Academy students and parents, and a few other friends, @ New St. Joe Cemetery. We will begin the main placement near the intersection of Foley and Covedale @ 9:00 AM. As soon as we place nearly 1500 flags at that location we will move towards the cemetery office and place 700 flags along the slope that leads up to the office (right along Foley). From here we will move over to Old St. Joe located at 3819 W. 8th St. and place about 200 flags at the veterans’ section.

SATURDAY MAY 23: The Post Color Guard will present the colors at the Cincinnati WarBirds USO Swing Show event located at the Old Coney Island Pavillion. The doors open at 5:00 PM, the event starts at 6:00 PM, and colors will be presented at 7:00 PM. Please click on the attached link for event details and tickets. https://riverbend.org/events/2026/05/uso-swing-style-show-and-swing-dance.

SUNDAY MAY 24: The Post Honor Guard will render military honors (rifle volley and taps) at the Kenseth Israel Jewish Cemetery located on Sidney Rd. just west of Anderson Ferry/Crookshank intersection. This ceremony will begin at 10:00 AM.

SUNDAY MAY 24: The Post Honor Guard will Post the Colors in conjunction with Delhi Veterans Association and then will render military honors (rifle volley and taps) in a ceremony that begins at 1:00 PM.

MONDAY MAY 25: The Post Honor Guard will render military honors (rifle volley and taps) at the George S. Budde (post namesake) graveside at 10:00 AM at Old St. Joe Cemetery located at 3819 W. 8th. The grave site is essentially along Enright Ave., about ½ way back of the cemetery. At 11:00 the Honor Guard will perform a flag folding and render military honors (rifle volley and taps) at the chapel near the office, to close out the cemetery Memorial Day Mass.

WEDNESDAY MAY 27: And this is where we will need some folks to step up and help us out … we have to collect the nearly 2500 flags from New and Old St. Joe Cemeteries. Please plan to meet us at the site nearest the intersection of Foley and Covedale. Many hands make light work.

THURSDAY JUNE 4: S.A.L. will hold their general meeting at 6:30 PM; the Post will hold their Executive Board meeting at 7:00 PM; the Auxiliary will hold their general meeting at 7:00 PM; the Post will hold their general meeting at 7:30 PM.

SATURDAY JUNE 13: The Post and the S.A.L. will hold their annual Installation of Officers for the 2026/2027 fiscal year. Doors will open at 5:30 for friends, family, and guests. The Installation of Officers will begin at 6:00 PM. Due to a scheduling conflict, the Auxiliary will hold their Installation of Officers later, probably in July. We will post that information as soon as it becomes available.

Harold Widener
Commander
[email protected]

05/02/2026

Annual American Legion Post 534 Honor Walk and Annual Hillside Christian Academy Walkathon.
Great day for it all and thankful for all the participants.

04/02/2026

FISH FRY TIME CHANGE FRIDAY 4/3

Post 534 will hold our final fish fry of the 2026 Fish Fry season on Friday, 4/3. WE WILL HAVE A TIME CHANGE FOR THIS EVENT. WE WILL START SERVING AT 4:30 PM AND END FOOD SERVICE AT 6:30 PM. WE WILL BE SERVING OUR FULL MENU. We are making this change to accommodate our volunteers that would like to attend Good Friday services at their home church. The theme for the final fish fry will be: R.E.D. FRIDAY. Remember Everyone Deployed. One of our American Legion missions is to support the current serving military, and this is to remind us that we still have some of our defenders protecting our freedoms that are in harm’s way right now. We have a gun raffle in progress (Smith& Wesson M&P J-Frame .38 Special +P, 5-shot double action revolver. This comes with a 50-round box of ammo and a steel safety cable lock) as well as a Basket-of-Cheer raffle to help us raise money for the Purple Heart Memorial at Old St. Joseph Cemetery on W. 8th.

We want to thank that everyone that attended 1 or more of the previous events and we are especially grateful for the many folks who have been staunch supporters of the Post, and the Fish Fry, by showing up every week. We count on you and we are humbled by your support not only by purchasing a meal but in participating in our raffles as well. If you have any questions, comments, constructive recommendations, or concerns, please feel free to contact us at [email protected]. If you wish for a call to discuss something, please leave the best phone number, and time to respond to you. I will reply to all your questions and/or concerns.

We will hold our April meeting (Post, S.A.L. and Auxiliary) on Thursday 4/2 (6:30 for S.A.L. 7:00 for Post Executive Board and 7:30 for the Post and the Auxiliary general meetings). The Post will make the final reading and voting for new Constitution/By-Laws changes. Additionally, the Post will begin the process for electing new officers for 2026-2027 with nominations for the positions of Commander, 1st Vice Commander, 2nd Vice Commander, Financial Officer, Adjutant, Sergeant-at-Arms and 2 Executive Board positions.

I want to take this space personally now to sincerely thank each and every volunteer that donated their time, finances, and efforts to support Post 534 during our biggest fund-raising event of the year. This event cannot happen without the dedication of each of you. I cannot name every person because, without a doubt, I would forget a name, or 2. But know this, I am humbled by your dedication to serve and I am looking forward to a strong 2026-2027 year.

Harold Widener