Commanders Message

COMMANDER’S CALL

Hello, Fellow Legionnaires ---

As  your  new  Commander,  I  would  like  to  start  by  saying  

thanks for trusting me with this responsibility. I will try to do 

my best.

Our  past  Commander,  Jack  Sibert,  who  is  now  our  new  

District  15  Vice-Commander,  deserves  a  thank  you  from  all  

of  us.  His  leadership,  organization,  and  commander  skills  helped  this  post  to  

accomplish a great deal in the last two years. I know his teaching career helped 

to the benefit of all of us. Thanks again, Jack.

I  would  also  like  to  recognize  a  couple  of  Legionnaires  who  are  the  real  

backbone  of  our  post.  First,  Steve  Bartos  for  his  work  as  the  Editor  of  the  

Lincoln  Legionnaire,  our  Post  3  quarterly  newspaper.  He  also  is  in  charge  of  

our  Cornhusker  Boy  State  selection  process  for  the  boys  from  Lincoln,  along  

with helping with American Legion Baseball and recording the minutes of our 

monthly meetings. 

Another person who is the heart and soul of our Post 3 office is Ed Schnabel. 

He  wears  many  different  hats,  such  as  Post  3  Adjutant,  District  15  adjutant,  

Honor Guard member, and Color Guard participant. And he accomplishes a lot 

of  things  that  most  of  us  don’t  know  about.  Ed  gets  things  done  because  he  

knows where to find information and how to complete the required tasks. 

Our  post  owes  Jack,  Steve,  and  Ed  ---  and  ALL  committee  leaders  and  the  

Legionnaires  who  participate  with  them  to  get  projects  completed  a  debt  of  

gratitude. Again, thank you.

Now, a little about me.

After high school, I tried to enlist in the Marine Corps, but failed the physical. 

I carried a 4-F card until the fall of 1963, when they (the draft) wanted to take 

another look at me. This time, I was declared fit. At the time, I was enrolled 

full time in college but was unable financially to stay in college. So, I joined the 

Army Reserve in Fairbury. My job after basic training conflicted with week-

night  meetings,  so  I  joined  the  Nebraska  National  Guard  in  1967  (weekend  

meetings) and was released in 1970.

I was married in 1970 to Karen, and we have three children --- Sean, Rob, and 

Keri.

I worked in construction until I retired in 2011. During the last 30-plus years, 

most of our work was for the City of Lincoln and the State of Nebraska. My main 

field of responsibility was constructing storm and sanitary sewers and installing 

new water mains.

My wife and I purchased an acreage southeast of Lincoln in 1975 with the plan 

to  build  a  home  there.  Still  no  home,  but  several  buildings  and  corrals  where  

we let our friends keep their horses. Plus, several old tractors and cars fill the 

buildings. I always have a large garden. I grew up on a farm, so it was natural to 

enjoy planting and watching crops grow.

I have been a Corvette fan since watching the show Route 66 on TV in the 60s. 

Since 1976, I have always had at least two Corvettes. I still have two --- a 1965 

and a 1967. They are wonderful cars and lots of fun to drive and show.

I enjoy trap and skeet shooting. I was on a trap team in the late 70s through 

the mid-80s. I dropped out of shooting for about twenty years, but then started 

back up shooting in a skeet league. I’m not very good at it, but I enjoy it and the 

people I shoot with.

I have been lucky and have enjoyed a number of accomplishments in the last 

sixty years since high school, but my time with our Honor Guard team is right at 

the top. Standing with this group is an honor. Thank you, Blue Team 6! I hope to 

be able to continue with this group for a number of years.

We have challenges ahead with our baseball program. If we all work together 

to solve these problems, we will find solutions.

 Si ncerely,

Dave Timmerman

Commander, American Legion Post #3