The first meeting of Snyder-Lewis-Welty Post 454 was held on December 14, 1945.  Having received a temporary charter, installation of officers and members was held in the high school auditorium on January 10,1946.  The Drill Team from Niles conducted the ceremony.  The post is named for Francis Snyder and Jack Lewis, two Colon men who survived the Bataan Death March only to die in prisoner-of-war camps in the Philippines during WW II, and for Russell Welty, the only Colon man to die in WW I.   The post received its permanent charter on March 11, 1947.  The first meetings of the Post were held in the Colon Library.  In May 1946 meetings began being held in our current home in the center of downtown Colon and in August 1954 the building was purchased outright.  The building was remodeled and added onto in 1966.  In 2020, renovations to the outside were completed with plans to again remodel the interior and bring the facilities into the 21^st Century.

Prior to Post 454 there was another American Legion post in Colon.  This was the Russell W. Welty Post 167.  This post received its permanent charter in May 1920 with 26 members, commanded by Owen Ambs.  This post folded in May 1930.  The colors for this post are still in our possession.

Queen of Hearts Raffle: The Queen of Hearts is a progressive raffle that we are using to help fund Veterans Memorial Park.  All proceeds from this raffle will go towards completion of the park. Each Saturday at 7:00 PM at the Colon American Legion a winner will be drawn for that week.  Click here or an explanation of the game and rules.  Queen of Hearts Rules.  Michigan Lottery License #C30980.  Jackpot as of 12/16/24 is $4,362.  

Bingo: Bingo is every Monday night. Doors open at 4:00 PM. 1st Game is at 6:00 PM. A light inexpensive meal is available from the Auxiliary from 4:30-6:00. We play 25 games nightly and have pull tabs available. Michigan Lottery License #A22537.  Jackpot as of 12/16/24 is $316.  Numbers to be drawn this week 51.  A full pack is $25 and a 1/2 pack is $18.

Veterans’ Memorial Park is our major long term project at the current time.  We are working with an architect and should have an artist’s rendering of what we hope the park will look like soon. Until the architect completes his work we do not have a final cost for the project though we know it will be in the hundreds of thousands. We are raising funds through a number of ways including donations, grants and the Queen of Hearts Raffle. If you would like to make a tax deductible contribution please contact us.