Blog | Todd McKinley

Dept. CDR's Update (March 8th)

Todd McKinley
2 days ago
2 min read

Updated: 2 days ago

This week shoutout goes to everyone who attended Washington Conference, thank you.

Special Announcement: In addition to March 12th, being the first ever Legion Family Day on the Hill, it will also be designated Be The One Day in the Volunteer State as well. What I'm asking is simple, on March 12th, or the preceding or following Saturdays (dealers choice), hold some sort of Be The One related event.

As Department Commander, I'm inviting anyone around Kingsport. to come and take a walk around my local track at Ketron Elementary School. I plan to begin walking at 9:00am on Saturday, March 14th. I plan to walk alone or with whoever decides to show up. FYI. this isn't a formal event, I just plan to begin walking more and exercising in order to arrive the convention next June in far better shape than I was when I began the year. Come Be The One!

Ketron Elementary School

3301 Bloomingdale Pike

Kingsport, TN

37660

www.toddmckinley.com/post/i-urge-you-to-read-be-the-one

Weekly Schedule

March 12th: Legion Family Day on the Hill: www.toddmckinley.com/post/legion-family-day-on-the-hill-march-12th

Membership

I need everyone to dig in now, if not then we're not going to make our 90% goal and that's heartbreaking. We finished the week at 87.76% and we'll in all likelihood fail to meet our goal for the first time this year. I don't understand, the Posts who are making goal are the ones with the least issues and complaints and those who've not come close to ever making goal often do the minimum and are the loudest.

www.legion.org/member-services/membership-standings

Voter Voice

I did my Voter Voice every day, I hope you did too.

www.votervoice.net/AmericanLegion/home

Legion Family Day on the Hill (March 12th)

The wait is almost over, our first ever Legion Family Day on the Hill is 4 days away, which will also be named Be The One Day in Tennessee. We’ll meet on the 8th floor in conference room 8A of the Cordell Hull Building, as close to 8:00am as possible.

Cordell Hull State Office Building

425 Rep. John Lewis Way N,

Nashville, TN 37243

www.toddmckinley.com/post/legion-family-day-on-the-hill-march-12th

Rebranding

Not sure what the hold up is in using our new logos.

www.toddmckinley.com/post/department-rebranding-logos

“VOLS: Veterans Offering Lifelong Service”

Todd A. McKinley

Department Commander

American Legion Department of Tennessee

Northeast Tennessee Community Roundtable (March 28th)

Todd McKinley
Feb 28
2 min read

Folks,

I would like to humbly invite everyone to the third Northeast Tennessee Community Roundtable. Again, my plan is to hold these meetings, the last Saturday of every month. That said, I hope to have a sleight of speakers lined up throughout the 2026 election season.

Who: Me (Todd A. McKinley) inviting you

What: Northeast Tennessee Community Roundtable

When: 9am-10:30am, Saturday, March, 28th

Where: Evelyns Kitchen Table

1141 N Eastman Rd,

Kingsport, TN 37664

Why: Civic life in this country is abysmal!

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1BzALiuBM6/

Speaker: TBD

About the Speaker:

TBD

Note: These events are informal and free to attend, but please patronize the establishment and tip.

Civic Life Matters

It's my honor to reestablish a civics roundtable in upper East Tennessee, after all, with a new year comes new projects. In September 2023, I launched the Veterans Coffee Roundtable and hosted every meeting until August 2025, all with the purpose of establishing a true civics speaker series in the Northeast Tennessee area, one that was open to everyone but tailored to Veterans. By calling it the Veterans Coffee Roundtable, my intent was to bring Veterans who are likely to attend an event or meeting held by a Veterans Service Organization, but will rarely if ever attend meetings held by civic and/or political groups, for whatever reasons, personal or otherwise.

By having a support network built in, it gave dozens of my fellow Veterans the opportunity to come into proximity with political figures and public officials alike. In most cases, my fellow Veterans would almost never cross paths with those I invited to speak, from city Mayors to State Senators and many more, all in a positive setting. It gave everyone the opportunity to hear from their Chief of Police, Sheriff and so many others and ask direct questions in a friendly environment. It also gave an opportunity for anyone who wanted to be involved to do so in an easy going, informal setting and of course bring meaning back to the word civics.

The reason I've decided to revamp the name was I feel many outside Veteran Service Organization circles didn't know the public was invited, not just Veterans. Also, I want to make this a true civics meeting with a simple format that will hopefully grow and one that doesn't trade on the name Veteran.

Since retiring the Veterans Coffee Roundtable name last year, I've had dozens of people ask me if I'm going to restart it, or do something else. Well, I'm doing something similar but I'm looking to expand the reach and make civic life important again, which necessitated the name change.

Todd A. McKinley, BA, MSL

SFC, USA-Ret.

Todd@toddmckinley.com

www.toddmckinley.com

I Urge You to Read & Be The One

Todd McKinley
Feb 20
1 min read