American Legion Post 24 cancels Bethany Beach Memorial Day Service

[longnecker]

BETHANY BEACH, Del.- For many years American Legion Post 24 has held an annual Memorial Day ceremony at the Bethany Beach bandstand. But due to unforeseen circumstances, Post 24 has announced that it has canceled its annual Memorial Day service planned for this weekend.

"New rules and regulations are to blame," said Post 24 Commander Roland Placente. "I put this service together every year and this year the town office wants to hold us hostage."
Roland said the process to hold the service on the bandstand has never been as intricate until now.
"This year the town office is requesting the Legion to pay a fee for a permit and other incurring costs," Placente said.
Bethany Beach Town Manager Clifford Graviet explained the town's actions. He said, "Because of a variety of issues regarding the town's bandstand, the Town of Bethany Beach has had to change its former policies regarding bandstand use and now regulate the use of the bandstand by permit and charge a small administrative fee for that permit."
A special event registration form must be approved to access the bandstand. That consists of a non-refundable $25 fee. Applicants are informed that possible fees and expenses incurred by the town to facilitate an event will be passed on to them. Graviet said possible fees would include the cost of police service for traffic or crowd control, public works cleanup or an event site, etc. The applicant will be noticed of fee before the application is granted.
"This is not a matter of money but principal," Placente said.
"Regarding the American Legion and their service on Memorial Day, the town was contacted by the American Legion and they were advised of the permit and the fee," Graviet said. "No other fees were mentioned nor would the Legion have had to pay for any additional expenses."
Placente said Post 24 will hold this year's Memorial Day service at its Dagsboro facility.
"We usually have a huge crowd on the boardwalk," Placente said. "We will still hold a service in honor of our fallen veterans."
http://www.wboc.com/story/18614497/a...al-day-service

[Chase]

meh, i see the point of protest but it's 25 bucks. it is a great thing they do, for sure, so why spoil it over 25 dollars....someone, either the legion or the town, shoulda gave.

[Joe Walther]

meh, i see the point of protest but it's 25 bucks. it is a great thing they do, for sure, so why spoil it over 25 dollars....someone, either the legion or the town, shoulda gave.

This is a prime example of mindless hissy fitting in action. The town has a right to impose a fee for using the bandstand. From what I've been able to find out, there has been some abuse regarding such uses, though none are attributed to the American Legion Post. And, while it's true that what this Post has done each Memorial Day has been honorable for the town and a tremendous recognition for those having died preserving our way of life, it's beside the point because no one was disputing it.

I'm assuming here that the Town will be charging all parties requesting the use of Town facilities the same fee under the same expressed caveats. But, again from what I've read, the Town did not list any other potential expenses for the Post.

No one is going to convince me that any ONE member of this Post could not have put up the $25. And, it's certainly a sure bet that they could have called for a collection and had $25 in less than 5-minutes. But, I suspect that this was not the point for the Post's Commander.

He didn't like being told his organization would need a permit with a $25 fee attached. So, he threw a temper tantrum, took his ball and went somewhere else. Of course, he had a right to do what he did. Personally, I think it makes him look like a self-centered ego-maniacal jerk.

I'm just NOW reading this and I wouldn't have read at this point had I not seen a response from Chase. Had I known about it before the fact, I'd have gladly donated $25 to pay for the permit.

[Bellicose]

Just my two cents, but if he did not have to pay the $25 and any additional costs for cleanup, police, etc. before. Then why now, and Yes I do know that they changed the rules. I am sure that the $25 was not the issue, it was the other fees, that basically sounds like it was at the towns discretion.

The $25 I would of been OK with, but the other fees, would of stopped me as well. Who knows how much extra they would of charged them.

[Chase]

i think they told him they would wave all the other fees

[Kid Lester]

i think they told him they would wave all the other fees

That's what it says. I thought the same thing, but if they told him no other fees, just the $25 permit, then it's just silly.

[Chase]

yeah pretty much

[Bellicose]

i think they told him they would wave all the other fees

Oops Sorry missed that part. Yeah pretty silly over 25 beans, heck I would of fronted that.