BELLAIRE – Superstitions surround Friday the 13th, but for some, it’s also a time of tradition.

For more than 50 years, Friday the 13th has held a special meaning for a group of veterans at American Legion Post 52 in Bellaire, because it’s the only day they will regularly hold a meeting.

Today is no different for the “Black Sheep,” a club consisting of past-commanders of Post 52. It’s a tradition that goes back to when the group was founded in 1959. In fact, the members of Black Sheep have meetings on only two occasions – every Friday the 13th and following the funeral of one of their members.

The group was started when one of their founding members was not invited to join another Legion group, “Last Man Standing of World War II.”

The Last Man club was started following World War I and a new group was started following World War II.

Past Commanders of the post were allowed to apply to join that club following the completion of their term, and the application was either accepted or rejected by a voter of the club.

“In order to get in it you had to be invited,” said Don Robson, a past commander of American Legion Post 52 and secretary of The Black Sheep. “Well, we had this guy here, Joe Scott, and he wasn’t invited, so they all got together one night and said ‘If he can’t get in it, then none of us are going to go in it.'”

Scott, now deceased, was the first person to be denied membership in the Last Man Standing Club of World War II. Another past commander was never given an application.

It was after that moment when a group of five members of the Legion, Riley Booth, Wilmer Strahl, Arthur “Bud” Piatt, Max Piatt and Scott, decided to form their own group that would allow all past commanders to join, with no vote ever being taking on membership.

It was on their way to that group’s organizational meeting when they got their name.

As the men were walking through the Legion’s bar room to go upstairs to that meeting on Nov. 13, 1959, a World War I veteran, Lawrence Houston, was sitting at the end of the bar and said, “There go the Black Sheep.” The name stuck and the Black Sheep held their first regular meeting on May 13, 1960.

And they’ve met on Friday the 13th ever since.

“That’s in our bylaws that we only meet on Friday the 13th,” Robson said. “We usually have a dinner and a short meeting.”

Each year, the Black Sheep elect a president of their group, “The Ba-Ba” who is then in charge of setting up the meetings and planning the dinner.

“On a year where you only have one (Friday the 13th), you’re lucky, but in a year where you have three, then you have to have three dinners and everything,” Robson said. “So what we do is have the Sons of the Legion here, and they help out a lot, doing the cooking and setting up the table.”

Another rule is that each member is to deposit “one-fifth of his favorite booze” with the group’s custodian.

The bottle is then kept until that member dies.

“It’s the only time we meet other than Friday the 13th,” Robson said. “When that guy dies, on the night of his funeral, we meet here and drink his fifth, or at least try to.”

Along with dues, the bylaws also require that the club invite the current post commander to the meetings as a guest.

As secretary, Robson is responsible for writing up the minutes. Those are compiled into a book that includes a group picture taken at every meeting. That book also has copies of deceased members obituaries and a picture of that member.

The club does have some restrictions to it. Along with being a past commander of Post 52, the member must also be paid up on his dues and must also keep his membership at Post 52.

But the Black Sheep do more than just meet on a few occasions.

Their purpose is to provide “for the betterment of the Legion,” which they do by providing advise and direction to the members of the Post, helping to insure its continued success.

Schuler may be reached at shoe@timesleaderonline.com