45 Star Flag discovered in Leonard

The Leonard Legion Post 619 dissolved their post in 1954. Members of that post then joined the Clearbrook Legion Post 256. What happened to their flag that they used for parade and display at their meetings was recently found by Ken Brien.

 He was up in the stairway that leads to the church bell in Our Saviors Church in Leonard. There he found a large case which contained an American flag with 48 stars and a Legion flag with the leader stirrups and poles to be used in parades.

Brien found two area men who were members of the Leonard Legion, Duane Johnson and Lowell Stevens. Both are now members of the Clearbrook Legion #256. They remember meeting in a building that was located where Dyrdahl has their business now in Leonard. It also housed the Klongerbo Drug Store. One of the first meetings that Stevens attended in 1954 the group made a motion to dissolve. It had been formed on February 5, 1948. The Legion Chapter was given with the seal of the National Commander and then the National Adjutant Headquarters in Indianapolis, Indiana on February 26th, 1948. It was then signed in February by the Adjutant for the Department of Minnesota in St. Paul.

The case that the flags were in were in perfect shape. Keeping the contents like new. The group has no idea how the flag was put up there and when. They have decided that the best place for the items from the Leonard Legion would be at the Clearwater County Historical Society Building in Shevlin.