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• Saturday, August 31, 2019

  NY SAL Member Makes History, Leads National Press Association

  

  NALPA President Kevin Harrington and wife Anne. Both are past presidents of the New York American Legion Press Association.

  Kevin Harrington of Sons of the American Legion Detachment of New York made history at the 2019 American Legion Convention in Indianapolis. He is the first SAL member to be elected president of the National American Legion Press Association (NALPA).

  A past Detachment commander and adjutant, Kevin has been active in the Sons for 42 years as a member of Melvin Roads Squadron 1231 in East Greenbush, NY. He is a retired police officer (25 years, including serving as a sergeant and firearms instructor).

  Kevin and his wife, Anne, are active in the New York American Legion Press Association (NYALPA). Both are former NYALPA presidents.

  On the national level, Kevin has served as a vice president and director of the press association as well as a Sons national historian.

  One of the challenges facing American Legion communicators is “a wide range of ages that are our audience,” from the World War II era to the present, he told Sons of the American Legion Radio. As a result, communicators use everything from printed newsletters to such digital media as Instagram, YouTube and Facebook.

  “We are here to support members in the Legion,  Auxiliary and Sons; their websites, their newsletters, their social media. We have training material available (at legion.org/nalpa).”

  Founded in 1923, he noted, the press association has evolved over the years, and “is in the process of evolving again.” The group is on the cusp of changing its name from press association to media association to reflect the changing media environment that goes far beyond print.