Submitted by Lloyd Brown, Commander of The American Legion, Post 0032
Each year the American Legion, Post 0032 in Dillon holds a dinner to honor the young men who attended the Palmetto Boys State program the previous June.  This year the dinner was held on Thursday, February 2, 2017.  
The young men who attended the program, their parents and school Counselors are invited to attend the celebration.
This year Matthew Fitzgibbon from Dillon Christian School attended, also the School Counselor Kimberly Rice and her husband attended.  From Dillon High School, Ry-Heem McCrimmon, Qwameek Bethea, and Matthew Edwards attended.   Jervarius Melton was not able to attend.  Their School Counselor Chris Ray also attended.  From Latta High School, Walker Brumble and Luis Delaluz attended.  Anthony Ibrahim was not able to attend.
After dinner these young men were each presented with a Certificate of Participation for attending the Palmetto Boy’s State program which is held at Anderson University in Anderson, South Carolina.
While at Anderson University these young men were able to meet some of our State political representatives.  They were also able to run for mock government offices from local to state government level.  They had to put in some long hours trying to get elected.  When asked if any of them wanted to run for a political office in the future, that didn’t seem to be on anyone’s to do list. 
The one thing that will stay with them for a long time is the new friends that they made during that week last June.
Each of these young men have also found new confidence in themselves and proof that they were a lot more capable of achieving a variety of goals than they knew.
To be selected as a Delegate or an Alternate for the Palmetto Boys State Program is quite an honor, these young men worked hard to prepare themselves for the interview and testing process that takes place.  
The American Legion is proud to have young men like these participate in one of the largest programs that the American Legion sponsors.  These are out future leaders.