SNOW HILL – After hearing from dozens of Pocomoke residents, officials continued a hearing regarding the American Legion Post 93 liquor license.
On Wednesday, the Worcester County Board of License Commissioners (BLC) heard from police, town officials and residents regarding problems at the American Legion in Pocomoke. The board did not make a decision on whether to renew the facility’s liquor license and instead continued the hearing until May 16.
“My concern is the safety of our police officers…,” said Pocomoke City Councilmember Esther Troast. “I do not want to get a call in the middle of the night and have one of my friends dead.”
In February, a woman was wounded during a shooting near the American Legion in Pocomoke. Connections of the facility say that incident is what prompted the concern expressed recently by police and city officials.
Paul Corbin, the current commander of the Legion, told the BLC that in the weeks following the shooting he conducted an internal assessment of the facility and its operations. Legion leaders have since agreed to install security cameras, increased lighting and implemented new rental contracts. In the past, written rental contracts weren’t required.
“The most glaring thing I saw we were deficient in was our community relations,” Corbin said. “I was not aware of some of the ill feelings in our neighborhood. I want to do something about that.”
Residents of Bypass Road, which the Legion is located on, submitted the letter of protest that led to this week’s hearing. The board also received letters from Troast, who in addition to being a councilmember is the town’s acting mayor, and the Pocomoke City Police Department.
“Our concerns are in reference to the Pocomoke American Legion, its management and management’s choice clientele,” the letter from the police department reads. “It is the belief of law enforcement and Pocomoke City leaders that there is a direct correlation between the types of functions being offered by the Legion, the alcohol being served at these functions and the calls for police service involving assaults, thefts, and gun violence.”
During the hearing Wednesday, Corbin and Legion supporters worked to prove that the establishment’s liquor license helped meet a public need. They also said that if the Legion lost its liquor license, it wouldn’t be able to operate. Corbin said the money generated by the Legion’s alcohol sales enabled it to give $30,000 a year to local causes.
Thelma Arion, bar manager for the Legion, said few people were aware of just how many local initiatives were funded by the American Legion. She said it helped build wheelchair ramps, provided food to those in need and supported the Samaritan Shelter, among countless other causes.
“It’s a sad thing for me to have to be up here and defend our veterans who did so much for our country whose post is a memorial for them,” Arion said. “It’s a sad thing that the American Legion is not understood, that we’re not just here as part of a building, part of the community. We are the community. We support everybody. There is not one thing that has been asked of Post 93 that we did not do and did well.”
Arion’s daughter presented the BLC with letters from businesses in support of the Legion as well as a petition she said was signed by 600 people who supported the organization.
Monique Douglas, the woman who was shot in the incident in February, also testified in support of the Legion’s license renewal. She told the BLC she was shot on Bypass Road, not on the Legion property itself. Steve Gidden, a disabled Army veteran and member of the Legion, said the shooting was simply an “unfortunate event.”
Residents of Bypass Road, however, said the Legion attracted patrons who were speeding, littering and bringing violence to the community.
“I think if they didn’t have the (liquor) license that would knock a lot of the riffraff down,” resident Eric Gomez said.
Resident Eddie Holland attributed the problems to a lack of management at the facility. He said that when he used to visit the facility, no one was checking to see whether patrons were members or not.
Joseph Bailey of the Pocomoke City Police Department told the BLC he’d researched crimes associated with the Legion. During the past five years, he said there had been at least five assaults and two shootings around the Legion.
Bailey said the investigation into the shooting in February was still ongoing. He added that in spite of Douglas’ comments, police had found shell casings in the Legion parking lot from three different guns.
Pocomoke City Manager Bobby Cowger praised the Legion’s community initiatives.
“No one’s questioning the integrity of what the American Legion has done,” he said. “It’s one of the best organizations we have.”
He said the problem was the fact that a group from Virginia, which has been banned by a variety of establishments, often rents space at the Legion. He said he didn’t want the Legion to lose its license but also didn’t want to see the facility rented to that group.
