The Volunteers Behind the ALA Girls Nation Office

The Volunteers Behind the ALA Girls Nation Office

Behind every program is a strong group of individuals giving of their time and effort to ensure its success. At American Legion Auxiliary (ALA) Girls Nation the office staff is full of hard working ALA members that are volunteering their time and talents to ensure that the week goes off without a hitch. 

Today we highlight each of these amazing ladies and showcase their ALA involvement and how they became eligible to join the American Legion Auxiliary. If you are interested in joining the American Legion Auxiliary please visit our national website www.alaforveterans.org for more information! 

Norma Tramm

Norma Tramm is the ALA Girls State/Girls Nation Chairman from Minnesota.  She joined the American Legion Auxiliary at 3 years old through the service of her father. Her ALA service continued and it lead her to serve as the Minnesota ALA Department President mere 30 years after her mother served in that same position.  She has served the Minnesota ALA Girls State program for over 35 years and has held a variety of appointments within the National Organization since 2004.  She advocates for those who fought to keep us free and honors not only the service of her father, but also the service of her husband and brother. 

Ann Rehbein

Ann Rehbein is the ALA Girls State/Girls Nation Vice Chairman from Iowa.  She has been a member since birth and is eligible under the service of her father, brother, husband and daughter.  She is a Past Department President of Iowa, but her roots are from Nebraska.  She has served the ALA National organization since 2005 in a variety of capacities.  She currently serves the Iowa ALA Girls State program as a member of the Board of Directors and as their official photographer.  She believes mentoring younger members and staying involved is a great way to continue her service in the American Legion Auxiliary.

Lynne Wild

Lynne Wild is serving as the ALA Girls Nation Office Manager. She lives in  Nebraska and joined the American Legion Auxiliary through the service of her brother Phil and also her husband Roger. She joined the organization in the early 1960’s and hasn’t looked back since. She started working the ALA Girls State program at Cornhusker ALA Girls State 63 sessions ago and has graced Girls Nation with 8 years of service.  Along the way, she has been a Department President, a Northwestern Division National Vice President and says she thinks she might be done.  Say it isn’t so, Lynne!

Nancy Magginnis

Nancy Magginnis is serving as the Assistant Office Manager for ALA Girls Nation.  She lives in Indiana and joined the American Legion Auxiliary as a young child through the service of her father.  She was an active Junior member and also served as Indiana’s Honorary Junior Department President and as Indiana Department President.  A former Hoosier ALA Girls Stater, she continued to serve on Hoosier’s ALAGirls State staff for over 30 years.  This is her 5^th time on the ALA Girls Nation staff and she finds it rewarding to watch young women develop and come alive during the week of ALA Girls State.

Amelia Tesdal

Amelia Tesdal is the lyrical and charming music director from Minnesota.  She has been an active Junior and Senior ALA member having served as Honorary Department Junior ALA President and Honorary Northwestern Division Junior ALA Vice President.  She attended ALA Girls State in 2013 and has served as a Junior Counselor, Music director, Senior Counselor, and Education Director at the Minnesota ALA Girls State program.  She is eligible for membership into the ALA through her father and grandfathers service. She loves to see the participants come into their own, find strength and use their own voices.

Hear Ye! Hear Ye!

Hear Ye! Hear Ye!

The first two additions of the ALA Girls Nation Times are hot off the press!
Check out the latest news and see what the 2019 ALA Girls Nation Senators have been up to!
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Sunday Edition

Monday Edition

Stay tuned for more updates throughout the week! 

Honoring Those Who Served

This week, the Government staff will be very busy. We will copy bills and resolutions, hold elections, throw a two party rally, brush up on our Parliamentary Procedure, eat far too much ice cream, laugh, cry, and inevitably call senators out of order…but we will also be making sacrifices in honor of those who have served. 

Jane Thurston, Government Director extraordinaire and Federalist Party Leader, joined the Auxiliary through the service of her mother, who was a veteran from an era in which many women were not. The love and respect Jane has for her mother is apparent to anyone who knows her.  Jane’s parents actually met through their service - her father was a medic and her mother was a nurse at Fort Campbell in Kentucky.  Her father served in Pearl Harbor as well as in Okinawa, Japan in a MASH unit.  Jane honors her parent’s service by serving at ALA Hoosier Girls State (28 years!), ALA Girls Nation, and countless other auxiliary functions throughout the year. 

Lauren Hillebrand, the Assistant Federalist Party Leader, joined the Auxiliary through her stepfather who served in the U.S. Air Force. Lauren serves as the government director of Flickertail ALA Girls State staff. She can remember going to ALA meetings with her grandmother years ago. Her grandmother instilled in her the desire to help others and to volunteer whenever possible and that dedication led Lauren to join the ALA almost twenty years ago. 

Kelly Circle, Assistant Nationalist Party Leader, joined ALA through the service of her mother, Twila, who served in the Navy. She was an assistant to the photographer for the Blue Angels and a librarian. It was through her military service that she met Kelly’s father, while stationed in Pensacola. Kelly has always looked up to her mother for being an incredible woman and a trailblazer. 

That leaves me, Katie Hendricks, Nationalist Party Leader and Senate Parliamentarian.  My membership is through my father who served in the army during the Vietnam era, my maternal grandfather who served in Europe during WWII, and paternal grandfather who was a Marine.  Had it not been for ALA Hoosier Girls State, I never would have joined the Auxiliary and I credit that program, and ALA Girls Nation, for molding me into the lady I am today.  

In honor of their service, we try to serve our veterans, our communities, and our youth, when and where we can. We dedicate the next ten days of our lives to providing what we feel is one of the most enriching programs imaginable for high school students. The long days and short nights are nothing compared to what so many of our veterans experience. We hope we honor our family who have served in the military and that they are as proud of us as we are of them.

Raising our gavels to a great week! 

Katie Hendricks 

Indiana / Missouri 

Stay Chill on Capitol Hill

The day started out humid, sunny, and early. We wished for more rain to come as we made our way to flag raising ceremony. Breakfast was short and sweet, almost as sweet as the maple syrup on our French toast. We loaded into buses on our way to Capitol Hill.

When we unloaded from the bus we saw a flood of red shirts disperse in all directions. In our free time, before and after meeting our U.S. Senators, we were able to explore the wonders of Washington D.C. Many ALA Girls Nation delegates, along with their Legion Boys Nation counterparts, were able to meet with their state Senators and had the opportunity to share their bills with staff. Additionally, we took pictures and spoke about federal and state issues. Aside from our meetings, we were given passes to the House and Senate galleries and also had the ability to explore the history of Capitol Hill. After a full day of sightseeing, ALA Girls Nation hosted an Inauguration for our Supreme Court justices, vice president, and president. This event allowed us to see how presidents are sworn in during their Inauguration. Following the commencement of our ceremony we went resumed Senate session to reviews bills and pass legislation.

After passing two bills we began our talent show – many talented young girls performed for all the ALA Girls Nation attendees. There was singing, dancing, piano, poetry, stand-up comedy, and “Vine Breaks.” From the amazing talent show we went to our dormitory hall to do a nightly reflection about our day on Capitol Hill. 

We hope everyone had a great day in the capital of our nation and learned a lot about federal government. 

– Aryann Farano, NM and Olga Diupina, WA

Women’s Empowerment and Choosing to Share My Light

These past few days, the Potomac community has become exactly that – a community. I have never in my life felt so connected to a group of people so quickly, nor have I ever been able to live so enveloped in intelligent passion. 

Empowerment, during my journey, has been ignited by my mother’s example and held close – an ember that brought me all the way to D.C. 

Empowerment, here at ALA Girls Nation, has been much more than a singular ember; it has burned bright, and has been a bonfire of energy that sets each senator alight. 

These women have taught me that empowerment should never be kept to one’s self. It is a light that goes dark only when we do not fan each other’s flames, but it becomes a force once we allow our “bonfires” to combine.

The Potomac community, my wonderful roommates, and the girls of ALA Girls Nation have re-oriented my world-view. My fellow “Potomian,” Anna, said it best – “choose to share your light.” Where and when is up to you, but remember that you give nothing away when you add your fire to an ember because, if your fire ever needs restarting, there will be plenty of strong, confident, and inspiring women to do so. 

Thank you, ALA Girls Nation, for showing me what it is to be unapologetically supported. I promise to fan flames well after I leave by becoming just as unapologetically supportive.

Lighting the Flame,

Emma Hargreaves, ME

Washington, D.C. Excursions Bring Growth and Fun

The day began with an attempt at raising the flag, however the weather unfortunately did not permit the performing of the flag-raising ceremony. Nevertheless, ALA Girls Nation had a fantastic and enlightening day selecting the presidential and vice presidential candidates, an individual for each position (president and vice president) from both the Nationalist and Federalist parties. Hailing from the Nationalist party, presidential candidate Amal Ali from Texas and vice presidential candidate Tytiana Curtain from Wisconsin. As for the Federalist party, Hoda Abdalla, from South Carolina, was selected to be the party’s presidential candidate, and Finnley Senese, from Florida, was selected to be the party’s vice presidential candidate.

On a note of exploration and enlightenment, ALA Girls Nation senators set out to learn from, appreciate, and respect the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. The stunning exhibits portrayed the cruel reality of the Holocaust and conveyed the importance of preventing such an atrocity from occurring once more. The museum shared the stories of those murdered and those that survived the Holocaust in an extremely impactful and respectful manner, giving ALA Girls Nation senators an opportunity to appreciate the justice inherent to our great nation and the importance of being aware of the modern world and its history to prevent future tragedies. It was a somber moment, however also an urgent reminder of the necessity of paying careful consideration to world affairs, such as the humanitarian crises in Syria, Myanmar, and other nations experiencing turmoil.

The group then headed to the American History Museum for a delightful dinner and then was promptly on its way to visit the national World War II Memorial, at which they had the joy of singing patriotic songs to the enjoyment of fellow tourists. The Lincoln Memorial was quite a highlight of the day as the enormous, towering statue of former President Abraham Lincoln gave ALA Girls Nation senators quite a lot to think about in regards to the founding principles of the nation that has lead to its uniqueness and success.

In terms of fun and friendly competition, the day was not lacking as it ended with the energetic decoration of the room in which tomorrow's political rally will occur. Although in the end the room did look amazing, decked out in both the Nationalist and Federalist party colors, there might have been a little more dancing than decorating – completing another successful day of ALA Girls Nation filled with achievement, growth, and fun.

Best, 

Mariam Kish, CT 

Don't Rain on Our Party

Our second day at the 72nd ALA Girls Nation was spent accommodating the weather while keeping our spirits high. Speaking of spirit, we separated into our parties and focused on developing our platforms for the upcoming convention. We had the privilege to hear the words of two amazing women who helped change our nation and the lives of the people who serve it. First we heard from Karen Grimord, the founder and president of the Landstuhl Hospital Care Project. As she told her heart-wrenching story of her service to the wounded members of our military, her dedication and devotion to the betterment of our soldier’s recovery moved us to tears and deepened our gratitude towards civilian support of military service. Following Grimord’s emotional speech, Denise Rohan, the illustrious first female national commander of The American Legion, addressed our Senate. She graced our delegates with empowering words to encourage civic engagement and profound patriotism. 

After we heard from the speakers, we sharpened our parliamentary procedure skills while developing a diligent ear for listening to our fellow senators during our first official senate session. In a matter of three hours, 100 young women – representing all 50 states – tackled one resolution and four Senate bills on current topics.

Reflecting on our third day, we could not ask for a brighter or more competent group of young women to spend the remainder of this week with and make everlasting memories.

Sincerely,

Madi Rice, DE

Imani Smith, KY