A Current Break down of Operation: Legacy Builder
2026 has been a big year of movement. Post 220 took a new Commander in Lyle Paterala-Streeter. Past Commander Ren Turner steps into larger role as Commander of the 4th District in the greater Michigan American Legion organization while still holding the local Sargeant of Arms at Post 220. Lyle to took the commander position with the goal of ensuring the Legion would not only continue on, but to also grow and flourish. Operation Legacy Builder, a five-pilar, three-phased approach to success, it is a vision for the future of the local American Legion Post 220; an organization that is self-sustaining, growing, and an active pillar to the community, local veterans, and Americanism.
"Coming together is a beginning, staying together is progress, and working together is success." — Henry Ford
Campaign: Marketing Momentum
Phase I: Inward
With the help of fellow legion family members and the community Commander Paterala-Streeter resurrected the local Auxiliary; Heather Shannon-Hackenberg was voted as president. Officially, in May of 2026 Legion Vice Commander John Thayer and Commander Paterala-Streetersuccessfully started the first charter of the Son’s of the American Legion (SAL) in Lawton history. The creation of the SAL and resurrection of the Auxiliary tripled the current size of Post 220 Legion Family and completed Phase I: Inward of the Membership Momentum campaign in May 2026.
Phase II: Outward
In June 2026 the Auxiliary unit of Post 220 hosted their first community appreciation day,supplying a free hotdog lunch to visitors of The Depot on Main where the Legion is located to grow public awareness and membership growth. Both Legion Commander Paterala-Streeter andSAL Commander Chad Hackenberg are looking into scholarship opportunities for the future with hopeful plans to bring in a scholarship by 2027/2028 school year. This would potential be two different scholarships, once for those enlisted members going to boot camp (Legion), and another for community volunteerism (SAL). Commander Paterala-Streeter now looks to found Lawton’s first Legion Riders group, further expanding on the ranks and camaraderie of Post #220. Phase IIis partially complete and is now in the research stage.
“The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new.” – Socrates
Campaign: Marketing and Digital Reach
Phase I: Social Media
The Lawton legion Facebook page since January has grown 66% from 250 followers to 400. A separate Facebook page was created for our golf outing due to sponsorships and ads and the frequency of posting; that page also created an Instagram account. The Golf pages Instagram page and FB page combined have an additional 300 followers. As of July 2026, we have a total of just over 450 new followers with a total social media growth of 280%. Phase I is in progress and will likely never be considered completed, but is currently viewed as successful by Post 220.
Phase II: Website Development
Approval was given to Johnathan Streeter, SAL Historian, in February 2026 to research creating a website in which the Legion Family can promote the Legion, Auxiliary, and SAL, and the capability of renting the hall start to finish online. Streeter took bids from 8 local and 2 national companies. 2nGage of Kalamazoo was selected by the board’s unanimous decision and development began April 2026. In June 2026 we successfully regained control of the existing Google listing and had it relisted under Lawton American Legion Waters-Hackenberg Post 220 and, in doing so, gave the Legion a 4.5+ Star rating. The legion now has official email addresses and by the time you are reading this the website will have been largely completed and this phase considered complete. (Aug 2026)
Phase III: Google Ad Grant
While researching for the annual golf fundraiser in January of 2026, Streeter came across the resources available through the Google Ad Grant and brought it to the board in February as the primary need for a website. It was discovered that non-profits through google can utilize a grant that will give $10,000 worth of advertisement through google each month. Further research and the approval process can begin once the website is completed.
Phase IV: Outreach
One of the goals of the creation of the website to have a database of customer and member newsletters, updates, coupons and more in order to build a larger membership, customer, and brand base. This is likely being worked at the time you are reading this.
"A business that makes nothing but money is a poor kind of business." – Henry Ford
Campaign: Financial Growth
While The Depot on Main is a Veteran-ran Non-profit 501(c)19, we do have expenses and rely solely on donations and rentals.
Phase I: Revamp
In October of 2025 Johnathan Streter was given approval to take over the annual golf outing which had made around $4,000. By December of 2025, realizing the scope of the fundraiser, anassembly of a Golf Fundraiser committee was started, of which Streeter was elected the chairman by unanimous decision. Acting on the committee board were the following: Heather Hackenberg, John Thayer, Jayna Miller, Shannon and Lyle Paterala-Streeter, Victoria Ziemer, and Leo Martinez. Acting diligently to create awareness through volunteerism, with trade of Like-kind services, donated goods, and time, we received over $92,000 in trade and $23,000 cash by May 30, 2026. For liquid cash funds we had 575% growth, and 2875% growth in total from this one event. We cannot thank our communities’ members and businesses enough for the support. Funds secured from this event have secured the much needed repair and replacement of the roof and chimney in September.
The SAL moves to watch and help this year and take over next year for the 3rd annual Hog Roast taking place this year September 26th at 12pm, if you have attended in the past, the process will be more efficient this year, and next year the SAL hope to bring in more sponsors to the event.
The Legion Rental Hall will be officially rebranded as The Depot on Main as we move forward with building the rentals to be a sustainable income for the Post.
Phase II: Modernize
In April of 2026 Commander Paterala-Streeter brought to the board a motion for a credit card reader to be secured for the Legion; Motion seconded by Ren Turner Sgt of Arms. To date the credit card machine has already paid for itself three times over (July 2026). This also allows integration for the Website being developed for hall rentals. Credit card and ACH can be used not only for hall rentals but also to make donations. Wifi was installed in the Depot for the first time on May 10th 2026 per board approval with guest access for renters.
Phase III: Re-Package
We secured higher end table and chair covers for the hall in May of 2026to help with rental income and over all appearance of the space and Legion Meetings. Currently all tables and chairs are included in the price of the rental. Future plans are in place to secure outside cocktail tables and covers and create a tiered package for additional amenities for renters (Outside tables, table and chair covers, games, outdoor tent, etc.) Changes to packages and pricing are not likely to occur until 2027 after all electrical work is completed.
"We shape our buildings; thereafter, they shape us." – Winston Churchill
Campaign: Repair and Update The Depot on Main
Phase I:
In May 2024 The Depot on Main received a fresh coat paint for an upcoming wedding. In 2026 the back office area got a facelift and the process of updating the electrical began. Mattawan Mechanical graciously donated a New AC unit for the building make one of the largest improvements to date.
Phase II & III:
Remaining work on schedule includes but is not limited to, Roof and Chimney (Sep 2026), Electric Updates(TBA), Back office renovation (Jan 2027), Exterior walls (Tuckpoint patched) Windows ($160k last quote), main hall floors sanded and stained. (New 2nd storage shed).
Campaign: Outreach - Internal and External Outreach
Phase I
The legion continues to collect and distribute resources to veterans and those in need including but not limited to, personal care kits, thanksgiving dinner baskets, firearm locks and more. The first Legion appreciation picnic with all three family branches took place Aug 15 2026 to show appreciation to our members and their families.
Phase II & III
There is a goal of having a static honor and or color guard established and the Legion would like to have a greater presence with the local school for things like the military appreciation day and more. There are also plans of setting up a table or booth at the school to recruit and promote future scholarships. In April 2026 the Legion was actively volunteering for cleaning veteran gravestones in partnership with Bastion Gravestone Cleaning as well as working towards securing grants for Laurie Bastion to have the broken headstones repairs or replaced. Historians Gary Fields (Legion) and Diane Fields (Auxiliary) are currently digitally mapping all the veteran’s graves and name them for future flag marking.
Conclusion –
If you made it this far, we must commend you for being dedicated to the cause and if you are not already, we would love to have you join. 2026 has been and continues to be, a year of momentum for the Legion. Massive strides have been made towards securing the legacy of our past, but also the future and present. We now have WIFI, AC, a website, and can take Credit cards. We also have a clear path forward for improvements to the building, community and our organization. The Legion Family is excited for what the future holds and we look forward to seeing you at our next event.