Singing Legionnaires performing on Veterans Day.

 

Singing Legionnaires celebrate 75th anniversary

Sioux Falls, SD

The Singing Legionnaires of American Legion Post 15 in Sioux Falls are honored to be celebrating their 75th anniversary this year. In the post-World War II era, the men’s chorus was formed in Sioux Falls in 1947 and quickly grew in number to over 50 singers. For 30 years the chorus traveled to attend the annual American Legion national convention, where they competed against other similar American Legion men’s choruses. In those competitions, they garnered 20 first-place awards and placed either second or third in the remaining 10 competitions. During these 75 years of serving the mission of bringing honor to God and country through music, the chorus has been blessed to have the dedicated talent of 346 singers, six directors and eight piano accompanists. Although today the Singing Legionnaires are smaller in number, the spirit of the chorus remains strong in the Sioux Falls community. The Singing Legionnaires currently comprise 27 active members directed by Terry Gullickson and accompanied by Katie Thompson, who has accompanied the chorus for the past 39 years. The chorus practices weekly on Monday nights and typically performs about 25 times during a calendar year. The chorus performs at military veteran celebratory events, funerals, senior living facilities and churches in the Sioux Falls area. The chorus is also called on occasionally to sing the national anthem at a significant sports event. The chorus finances its mission with fundraisers, the most significant of which is their “Avenue of Flags” program. Currently this flag program involves placing over 650 American flags in front of Sioux Falls-area businesses on eight holidays each year that are significant to veterans. In exchange for placing these flags, the businesses make a set annual contribution per flag to help support the chorus activities. This program has been very successful to sustain the mission of the chorus with minimal financial burden to chorus members to participate in their avocation of choral singing that they love so much.


Singing Legionnaires, 2018.

Singing Legionnaires, 1949.
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