A national dignitary will be in Forest Lake this weekend when Voiture 44 hosts the Forty et Eight Mid-Winter Convention at American Legion Post 225.

Russell Mac McCarthy, chef de chemin de fer, the national commander of the Forty et Eight for 2004-2005, headlines the Friday through Sunday gathering at Post 225.

Some 100 Forty & Eight members from across Minnesota will join the 75 Voiture 44 members in welcoming McCarthy to the mid-winter gathering in Forest Lake.

McCarthy hails from Florida where he works in law enforcement. The 54-year old national president works in Brevard County as a deputy sheriff and as a patrol officer at the Kennedy Space Center.

The national commander is a member of Voiture 954 in Cocoa, FL, and is a member of the Kennedy Space Center American Legion Post 332.

The weekend convention will include a state business meeting, committee sessions and a Saturday night banquet.

The Forest Lake delegation will be led by Dwight Dupey, the grand chef de train for the Forty & Eight in Minnesota. He is second in line this year to lead the state organization.

Saturdayís main conference activities will begin at 9 a.m. with a flag posting ceremony led by members of the Metro Marines.

Forest Lake Mayor Terry Smith will bring greetings to the gathering, Dupey said.

The Forty & Eight, an auxiliary unit of The National American Legion, dates to 1920 when it formed in Philadelphia as the Society of Forty Men and Eight Horses. The organization carries a train box car as its symbol as a historical connection to U.S. troop movements in France during World War I

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