Mattituck American Legion to close its doors, as membership wanes

After 104 years, the Mattituck American Legion Post 861 will permanently shut its doors.

The 35-member group voted to close its post in a meeting on Wednesday, due to a growing lack of participation in recent years, commander Robert DeVito said.

"I could see the writing was on the wall," said DeVito. 

The American Legion national bylaw states that a minimum quorum of three members are required to conduct official business. The decision to close came after numerous discussions with members and after DeVito, 73, of Southold, noticed the post was not meeting the minimum head count.

While other legions have one member hold one position, DeVito said he has taken on multiple hats due to lack of participation. In addition to being commander, he is also post historian and membership chairman. He is also vice commander for the 4th Division of Suffolk County.

"The only job I don’t do is treasurer," he said.

The American Legion, chartered by Congress in 1919 — the year the Mattituck chapter was founded — has nearly 2 million members and more than 12,000 posts throughout the United States.

But Mattituck joins a growing number of American Legion posts, as well as VFW halls, that have been facing difficulties, from financial woes to declining memberships. The number of veterans on Long Island has nearly halved in the last decade.

DeVito, a retired police officer, joined the American Legion in 1985 in Patchogue and then Mattituck in 2016. He said he believes that people, especially younger veterans, don’t have the time that current members used to, to partake in legion events. The Mattituck chapter was based on four pillars: veterans and their rehabilitation; Americanism; national security; and children and youth, DeVito said. "Younger people today just don't have an interest in this, and a lot of them are going to school, they're working two or three jobs," he said.

Before Wednesday’s vote, DeVito said he had already donated several pieces of war memorabilia to local libraries and other legions, such as books and American flags. Some items that he personally had donated, he "donated back" to himself, such as newspapers from World War II, food rations and U.S. war bonds.

Lisa Dabrowski, the post's public information officer, said her grandfather served in World War I as an interpreter and bodyguard for U.S. Army Gen. General John Pershing.

"My grandfather passed away 15 years before I was born, and I would’ve love to have met and known him. He has always been a great inspiration to me," she said in an email. "I joined the Post, as I wanted to help Veterans in some way, as I would have loved to have known my grandfather, and I felt that it is very important to honor those who have served our Country."  

DeVito said he encouraged members to join Legion posts close to their homes. The Mattituck chapter will have one more meeting next month before it permanently closes, he said.

Jack Martilotta, the post commander of Greenport’s Burton Potter American Legion Post 185, which has been rejuvenated by an indoor roller rink and hosting various community events, said he extended an invitation to Mattituck members to join his ranks.

Southold’s Griswold-Terry-Glover American Legion Post 803 similarly faced dwindling membership during the past decade, former post commander Charles Sanders said, but managed to deepen its ties in the community, bolster its ranks and rehabilitate its facility.

During his tenure as post commander, Sanders said he believed the three North Fork legions should have considered consolidating. He said having three posts "was fine after World War II when there were hundreds and hundreds" of veterans on the North Fork to sustain each facility, "but the numbers just don’t exist anymore."

American Legions provide a crucial role, he said. "They take care of veterans that have issues locally. They connect someone who’s struggling with resources that will help them. They give back to the community. Their facilities are often used for free by the Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, anything that’s in line with the same principles."