Dispute temporarily closes American Legion post, leaving more than 1,500 without a venue
Leaders of an American Legion post in Happy Valley are at loggerheads with each other, forcing the organization to temporarily close and leave more than 1,500 members without a place to gather.
American Legion Post 245 asked a Centre County judge Thursday to declare they own and may operate a social club at 1950 Pine Hall Road in Ferguson Township.
Nittany Post Inc., attorney David S. Gaines Jr. wrote in a 28-page filing, showed up unannounced Wednesday and placed closure signs on the building’s front doors and canceled all activities at the club.
The group, Gaines wrote, has “not one iota of evidence to suggest that it has any right to do what it is doing.” Attorney Jessica Fisher, who represents Nittany Post, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“In recent months, the leadership of Nittany Post has decided that they should instead have control over the social club, not the officers of Post 245,” Gaines wrote. “It is unclear what is motivating this decision, other than a simple desire to have more power within the local American Legion structure.”
There is overlap between the two organizations. Their membership is almost entirely the same, Gaines wrote, but they are legally distinct. They have separate officers, meetings and books. That setup has existed since at least 1955.
Post 245 — which owns the property — maintains insurance and bank accounts, pays employees and performs “all other functions incident to owning the property,” Gaines wrote.
“All attempts by Post 245 to discuss this matter have been rebuffed by Nittany Post; indeed, most such attempts seemed to escalate Nittany Post’s desire to take over ownership of the property,” Gaines wrote. “According to Nittany Post, despite the deed, despite Post 245’s maintenance of this building, despite Post 245’s ownership of the liquor license, despite Post 245’s filing of tax returns each year, and despite Post 245’s maintenance and ownership of the club’s small games of chance license, to name just a few examples, Nittany Post is somehow the owner of the property.”
He later added: “Nittany Post is not the owner of the property or the club, and its actions were wantonly unlawful and wildly inappropriate.”
Centre County Judge Brian Marshall granted a temporary, preliminary injunction Thursday. The decision bars Nittany Post from interfering with Post 245’s use of the property and allows the social club to operate without obtrusion until further notice.
Post 245 remained closed early Friday afternoon, and its Facebook page said it’s closed until further notice. A hearing is scheduled for Feb. 13.