Post 376 Commander Darlene Ardron invites Legion Family members and the community to join them on Saturday, March 16, 6 p.m., to celebrate the post's birthday. (Photo by Jeanie Petersen)

OXFORD – The American Legion is turning 100, and the American Legion Post 376 is too, so they're hosting a birthday celebration with a Centennial party for all, on Saturday, March 16, starting at 6 p.m. There will be food, music, and a birthday cake for members and guests to enjoy!

The American Legion organization, as a whole, traces its roots to March 15-17, 1919, in Paris, France, in the aftermath of World War I. In that same year, sixteen veterans in Oxford got together, as the original charter members, to form an American Legion post. They chose the name Fort Hill after a nearby historic area in the Village of Oxford, said to have been built by Native Americans of the Tuscarora Nation which was one of the oldest fortifications in the east.

Today, Post 376 in Oxford, Post 189 in Norwich and Post 348 in New Berlin are all celebrated "Centennial Posts".