St Patricks Day at the Middletown American Legion

Eleanor Barrack, Deana Pereira, Saira Faye Pereira who all worked on putting this St Patrick’s Day celebration/fundraiser together 

Dawn Periera and Dawn Maxim who began the day at 6 am with coffee 

MARGARETVILLE — Deana Pereira, who spends months on Facebook collecting donations with her troop of volunteers preparing for the St. Patrick’s Day meals/buffet, came through with approximately one thousand meals, according to Periera. “The way our (Margaretville) community comes together is like nothing else. Our neighbor for neighbor commitment is stronger than ever. We are a unified mountain community” says Periera. At the start of the day this past Saturday, there was a line out the door of local residents and members of the American Legion, all gathered for the meal, fellowship, and community.

Speaking with Eleanor Barrack who helps run the Middletown American Legion, she says the weekly Bingo Night has been struggling with attendance since losing members over recent years. The board will be meeting soon to decide if Bingo Night will switch to every other week instead of every week. Barrack says, ‘We need new people to keep this open.”  The American Legion Post 216, which has served as a vital meeting place for veterans and families in the Margaretville area, once held benefit events for scholarships for local students graduating from Margaretville Central School, birthday parties, and veteran recognition dinners but has fallen on tough times, just as many American Legion posts in New York and throughout the country. Community members such as Periera and her crew have played a critical role in organizing events for various holiday fundraisers which signals the continued viability of this historic site established soon after World War I, for details see Ethel Bussy’s ‘History and Stories of Margaretville and Surrounding Areas’.