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Our Post
Holum-Waite American Legion Post 259 has a rich history in the Prairie Farm community, according to information compiled by its adjutant, George Allen.
Housed in a building on River Avenue in the village of Prairie Farm, the post also serves as a headquarters for the local food pantry. It plays host to an annual quilt show held during Prairie Farm Dairy Days during the month of July, and it serves as a meeting place for post members and other groups and organizations.
The post is named for two local servicemen who lost their lives while serving in World Wars I and II. Almer G. Holum was born Dec. 5 1880, in Calumet, Mich. At age 20, Holum moved to the Sawyer County community of Winter and, later, to Dundas, Minn., where he lived until 1913. It was then that his sister, Rosa, a resident of Prairie Farm, became ill, and the family requested that Almer move there. In 1914, Almer Holum bought a farm near Prairie Farm. He worked there until he was drafted into the U.S. Army on July 23, 1918. PFC Almer G. Holum, of Company A, 311th Infantry Regiment, 78th Division was killed in action by a machine gun bullet on November 1, 1918, just 10 days before the end of World War I. Two years after his death, in 1920, Almer Holum American Legion Post 259 was chartered. The first set of officers included Martin Larson, Post Commander, P.H. Hoel, Vice Commander, Herman Anderson, Adjutant, Melvin Anderson, Finance Officer, Clare Richards, Historian, Otto I. Anderson, Master-at-Arms, and Ervin Spitzer, Chaplain.
Morris Waite, of Prairie Farm, entered the U.S. Army in March 1943. He went to Europe in March 1944, first to Ireland, and, later, to England, during preparations for the invasion of the Cotentin Peninsula on D-Day, June 6, 1944. A paratrooper, PFC Waite, age 21, was killed in action four days after the invasion, on June 10, 1944. He left behind a wife and 11-month-old son, Morris Allan Waite.
The post is named for two local servicemen who lost their lives while serving in World Wars I and II. Almer G. Holum was born Dec. 5 1880, in Calumet, Mich. At age 20, Holum moved to the Sawyer County community of Winter and, later, to Dundas, Minn., where he lived until 1913. It was then that his sister, Rosa, a resident of Prairie Farm, became ill, and the family requested that Almer move there. In 1914, Almer Holum bought a farm near Prairie Farm. He worked there until he was drafted into the U.S. Army on July 23, 1918. PFC Almer G. Holum, of Company A, 311th Infantry Regiment, 78th Division was killed in action by a machine gun bullet on November 1, 1918, just 10 days before the end of World War I. Two years after his death, in 1920, Almer Holum American Legion Post 259 was chartered. The first set of officers included Martin Larson, Post Commander, P.H. Hoel, Vice Commander, Herman Anderson, Adjutant, Melvin Anderson, Finance Officer, Clare Richards, Historian, Otto I. Anderson, Master-at-Arms, and Ervin Spitzer, Chaplain.
Morris Waite, of Prairie Farm, entered the U.S. Army in March 1943. He went to Europe in March 1944, first to Ireland, and, later, to England, during preparations for the invasion of the Cotentin Peninsula on D-Day, June 6, 1944. A paratrooper, PFC Waite, age 21, was killed in action four days after the invasion, on June 10, 1944. He left behind a wife and 11-month-old son, Morris Allan Waite.
