Marines to welcome new leaders
One of Loveland’s most active veterans organizations is ushering in a new era. On Saturday, the Loveland Marine Corps League will be installing its new officer class and the public is invited to join the celebration.
“Everybody is welcome,” said league co-founder and soon-to-be Senior Vice Commander Solomon Martinez. “All Marines are welcome, or anybody that wants to be involved with the Marine Corps League is welcome, including civilians or veterans of other military branches.”
The installation ceremony is slated for 9 a.m. at Valley Christian Church (697 N. Denver Ave.). Doors open at 8:30 a.m. and there is an elevator for those with impaired mobility. Light refreshments will be served following the ceremony.
The Marine Corps League is a veterans organization dedicated to preserving the traditions of the corps and fostering patriotic ideals. It was formed in the wake of World War I and received a congressional charter in 1937.
Today, there are more than 70,000 Marine Corps League members nationwide and more than 1,000 local detachments, including league 1250, founded in Loveland by Martinez and Tom Buchanan in 2006.
“I originally got involved with the Marine Corps League in Fort Collins and became commandant,” Martinez said. “A year after that, I got tired of driving back and forth to Laporte, so I came up with the idea to start a detachment in Loveland.”
The Loveland Marine League has been busy in the 18 years since and not just with veteranfocused causes, Martinez said. From its founding, the organization has been actively involved in the Toys for Tots program, with members volunteering each Christmas to set up, monitor and collect donation boxes in Larimer County, as well as Broomfield and Lafayette.
The league also conducts a formal flag retirement ceremony each year, after collecting damaged or worn American flags from local residents and businesses.
Otherwise, veterans and their events do keep their schedule full during other times of the year, Martinez continued. There is high demand for the league’s honor and color guard services at parades and ceremonies, such as the annual 9/11 remembrance event at Foote Lagoon.
On Veterans Day, league members lead the bellringing ceremony, a predawn celebration coinciding with the exact time that World War I ended in Europe. Loveland is one of the few cities nationwide that still honor the ritual, and, one year, it included a memorable encounter for Martinez.
“We were out there and I saw someone following me,” he said. “So I did an evasive maneuver, but it didn’t work and I thought ‘this isn’t good’. So I pulled over a little to the side and when the car pulled up, it was Channel 7 news.”
The league also volunteers its honor guard services for private ceremonies and funerals, Martinez said. Other services include flag folding ceremonies and visits to local senior living facilities.
To raise funds for these activities, the league holds a charitable golf tournament each year at Loveland’s Olde Course. To wrap up its year, the group also holds an annual ball each November in honor of the Marine Corps’ founding.
Membership in the Loveland league numbers around 55 and is growing, Martinez said, with a wide range of ages. Though many are former Marines such as himself, veterans of certain naval services are also welcome to join.
But that doesn’t mean the league is an exclusive club, he continued. Spouses and other military veterans can be associate members, and anyone else is welcome to be a part of the group.
“We accept everybody,” Martinez said. “We have several civilians that are part of the organization.”
On Saturday, six of those 55 members will assume new leadership roles, including Loveland City Councilor Steve Olson, a former Navy captain who served in the hospital corps. Olson will serve a two-year term as the league’s new commandant.
Also being installed on Saturday are Martinez as senior vice commander, Russell Leabach as junior vice commander, Bill Morris as judge advocate, Cloyd Real as adjutant and Ed Klen as paymaster.
The group meets monthly on the first Saturday of the month at Valley Christian Church, and Martinez said he hopes to see some new faces there in the coming months.
“We try to make it enjoyable,” he said. “It’s a matter of camaraderie and what we can do to help each other out.”
For more information about the Loveland Marine Corps League, visit mclloveland.com.