Guest Column – Fate of VFW Post 8927 hangs in the balance

Guest Column by Cyndi Dyer

SPECIAL TO THE POST-REGISTER

Will another Lockhart institution fall as the result of the poor economy or will it be because we the members no longer see a need in protecting an organization that is devoted to the ongoing support of veterans past, present and future. This is the plight that our local VFW Post 8927 is fa

cing this month, with the threat of closing the doors for good and turning the property over to the parent organization to be liquidated.

I have not been a member for long, and embarrassed to say that until the draw of Friday night Karaoke I didn”t even realize we had a Post. That simple event brought in several new members that worked hard to keep the Post alive by volunteering hundreds of hours of their time and money out of their own pockets to try to get more families involved.

We created a place where single moms and families with young children could come on Friday nights to enjoy their friends and have their children with them in a safe, child-friendly environment.

We offered a snack bar, free pool and darts, a bar open to the public with juice and snacks for the kids. All the labor was provided by volunteers, from the cook to the bartenders, who also cleaned the building on their own time to keep it ready for rental for special occasions for the families of the community.

Those same few people were there when your family rented the building to celebrate a marriage, to get together for a family reunion, or to celebrate a special birthday.

They asked for nothing but for you to have a good time and in return been given the joy of providing a service to the community and a way of financially supporting the causes of the VFW.

Well it”s all about to end, and I for one am going to be very sad to see it go.

We are financially in the red, and at this point I see no stimulus package from Washington to bail us out.

We are having our monthly meeting on Aug. 9 at 6:30 p.m. at the Post, and it is “do or die.”

Last month all members were called in to discuss the selling of part of our land to keep the Post solvent, but again it was tabled.

According to the Federal and state bylaws, the property can be taken over and liquidated if we can”t pay our bills.

Nobody seems to want to participate or help with much needed fund raising until the rentals pick up again in September.

Comrades, you need to come to this month”s meeting on Aug. 9 with an open mind and perhaps an open wallet… Because without your support our post is going to die.

I don”t know about you, but I saw my fellow veterans give until it hurt to keep this country free to make its own choices – good, bad or indifferent.

Some gave a little and some gave it all.

Our VFW has tried to support those of us who returned from foreign battle fields and do honor to those we left behind. We offer support in so many ways to our soldiers in the field today and because of that commitment, we have left little in the coffers to support those who are returning.

Has the world changed so much that our young people no longer seek out the comradeship of this old institution, or are we missing the boat and not giving them what they need to become active and involved?

I call on each and every member of Post 8927 to show up for the meeting on Aug. 9, and if you are a young veteran of a more recent conflict and want to help us keep this institution alive, please join us.

Are you part of the problem or part of the solution? It”s up to you.

What will happen to Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 8927?