When I was in New York City recently, at a bus terminal, I was amused by a large affectionate statue of Ralph Crandon (Jackie Gleason) facing the New York Times building. Crandon, if you don’t know, was a NYC bus driver in The Honeymooners TV show. I thought to myself, “we should build something like this for Scotty in front of 92.” Scotty’s legacy will forever be the huge number of long-term members he recruited, the great times we all shared with him, and the deep love and belief he felt for the American Legion as an organization.
Scotty was a fixture at the corner bar stools, nearest the door, because he wanted to make sure he could greet people as they walked in. Later, he migrated to the font tables outside when they nixed the indoor smoking policy, lol…don’t think it was his favorite decision, but he went with the flow. “Welcome to Post 92, can I buy you a drink?” God only knows how many drinks for complete strangers over the years, but everybody was a potential member in his eyes and he wanted to make sure that we (the Post) got off to a good introduction. He loved people!
Scotty’s popularity wasn’t only limited to our Post. If you were going to hang with him, you better be fit for a full evening on the town. He was a celebrity in Hollywood, you couldn’t go anywhere without hearing “Hey, Scotty!” (even the gas station). You could walk up and down the Hollywood strip with Scotty and Robert DeNiro, and Scotty is the one they would recognize.
He was a dual member, Legionnaire (Army, Vietnam) and the S.A.L. Just about everybody I knew coming into the Post were introduced by Scotty, including myself. I don’t have his birth date, on hand, as I write this (will update later), but he was 69 and left us this past year in August, 2017. He held many officer roles over the years in both chapters, including 2nd Vice Commander, as a Legionnaire, when he passed. I won’t go into stories, as they are better told in person and there are way too many to choose from, anyway, but if I had to choose one adjective to describe Scotty….FUN.
We love you and miss you brother, thanks for the joy you brought to all of us!
CN
Scotty was a man, Scotty was a soldier, Scotty was a gentleman ,Scotty was awesome ,words cannot describe what brilliant person Scotty was , we’re going to miss Scotty, we had great fellowship. we will miss his great singing. His love that he shared to all ,unconditional. what a man Scotty Levander. what a soldier he’s going to be missed . He help many people during his time in military service and in Civilian life. My friend Scotty He Love His Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, we prayed often. P.s I recall Scotty sharing with a elderly willon lady at our post 92 that was upset at the lost of her Veteran husband. the lady she was desponded. he told her let me buy you some chocolate and cheer you up or take you out to dinner . That was a great jester coming from our man Scotty . He just was awesome. Words can not describe him.C