Lamar Chosen to Host 2014 State American Legion Convention

The City of Lamar will host the 2014 Colorado American Legion Convention.  Denise Carder, Lamar Chamber of Commerce President and Shanwa Hodge, Executive Director of Lamar Partnerships, Incorporated, made a presentation on behalf of the city to state American Legion dignitaries during this year’s convention in Ft. Collins this past weekend.  Carder said they received the good news on Saturday following Hodge’s power point presentation to the gathering.  Carder said they also used the video representing Lamar that is available for view on the city’s website. 

Hodge said Lamar and Montrose were the last two finalists and it was confirmed that Lamar will host the statewide event June 26-29 in 2014.  Carder said, “We expect to see about 400-500 representatives come to Lamar for those three days.  Hodge added that those numbers were just the memberships and did not include family members who might also make the trip. 

Carder said she was approached several months ago by Ben Acre of Walsh, an American Legion member, about the idea of Lamar becoming host city for 2014.  Options on how best to showcase Lamar were discussed, as Front Range cities usually can carry the most votes.  Hodge said, “We focused on the strengths of our rural and agricultural background, stressing our historical culture more than how many different restaurants we have.”  Carder said the three days will offer opportunities to view areas of Lamar and Prowers County with a golf tournament, tours of historic sites and some Dutch Oven cooking opportunities with Pat Palmer’s group.  She added that the Rodeway Cow Palace Inn, the Lamar Elks Lodge and Lamar Community Building will host some of the meetings.  Hodge added that with 454 lodging beds available, some of the Legion members may find rooms at some area motels, or do some camping.  “I believe quite a few of the members may be RV’ers and will visit us that way next year,” she added.   

Both Carder and Hodge were happy with the announcement and said there will be a number of planning sessions for the community in the months to come before next year’s convention rolls around.

By Russ Baldwin