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Fading away
Struggling veterans organizations look for new ways to survive
Monday, January 14, 2008 3:02 AM
By Holly Zachariah

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

Auxiliary members Kathy Cain, left, and Teresa Howard help keep the
lights on at the McVitty Memorial VFW Post 1182 in Hardin County.

Veteran Larry Hannum had the bar to himself on a recent afternoon.
Hannum misses the crowds that use to gather at the post.

FOREST, Ohio -- He was the only customer in the club Thursday, this
Air Force veteran of the Vietnam War.

It was just after 4 p.m., and Larry Hannum nursed a bottle of
Budweiser. A game show played on the big-screen television, but the
sound was turned down. Hannum made a little small talk with the
bartender, but mostly he just sat in the swiveling bar chair and
relaxed.

The McVitty Memorial VFW Post 1182 in this Hardin County village was
supposed to have closed two weeks ago. In a move increasingly common
for veterans organizations across the state, trustees had voted to
shutter the hall.

Long gone were the days of packed Friday night fish fries, pancake
breakfasts and dances with live bands. The VFW's glory days had
passed.

Membership was down to 103 (the old veterans are dying, and new ones
aren't joining), meetings often had no quorum, and the bar was
hemorrhaging money.

But members of the women's auxiliary volunteered to work free and
keep the canteen open four nights a week. So with $83.07 in the
post's bank account, they took over a week ago. They have their eye
on recruiting new members. They've planned a corn hole tournament, a
Valentine's Day dance and suppers every Friday night. They want to
buy a dart board and maybe even take the Red Sovine CD off the
jukebox.

The post is worth saving, they say.

"We need to get people out of the mindset that a VFW is a place where
old men go to sit and drink," said Teresa Howard, auxiliary
president. "We need to change with the times and start having
activities that will bring in younger people and their families."

Last year in Ohio, five VFW posts closed. Two more have done so this
year. Others are on the brink of disaster. VFW Post 870 in Richwood
in Union County laid off its paid staff and gave up its gaming
license, which allowed it to use instant tear-away tickets and
drawings to raise money for charity.

Volunteers man the bar now, and everyone hopes the canteen can stay
afloat, said post commander Gail DeGood-Guy, a 24-year Air Force
veteran. But even if the hall itself cannot be saved, she said, the
mission of the VFW will go on.

Veterans organizations are hurting everywhere, national officials
say, but Ohio has been hit particularly hard because of the smoking
ban. Veterans clubs sought an exemption but lost the fight.

"It's been a train wreck for us," said Robert Funk Jr., adjutant
quartermaster for the Ohio VFW. "The old guys are the ones who smoke,
and they are the ones who came in and gambled and spent money. Now,
not only have we lost so many members just because they're dying, the
ones who are left aren't coming in anymore."

AMVETS and American Legion officials echoed his sentiments.

Vets groups are looking for new blood. Across the country, posts are
adding day-care centers and Internet cafes and hosting karaoke
nights, self-improvement classes and talent contests.

The AMVETS' focus is on training. About half of the 140 posts in Ohio
host career centers where sessions on job resumes and employment
searches are offered. That doesn't really help raise money, but it
brings in new faces, said George Ondick, executive director of AMVETS
Ohio.

Young membership is important to be able to continue veterans
activities such as parade detail and funeral duty. And, officials
say, more members equal more money for charities.

Sprinkled among sale fliers on a bulletin board at the McVitty Post
in Forest are many thank-yous that remind the members of that charity
work. There's the card from the high-school girl who received a $500
scholarship and the thank-you note from the food pantry director.
Others acknowledge contributions to the local volunteer fire
department and library.

That charity work is important, but it is only part of what a VFW
post is about, Hannum said. He comes in a few times a week, mostly
just to socialize. He never stays very long, and he misses the days
when the place was packed.

He agrees the clubs must change with the times and said he would even
help go out and recruit young veterans if asked. It's important, he
said, because at its core, the VFW is about serving those who have
served their country.

For more than 30 years he's found it comforting to have a place to go
where he can look around at familiar faces, faces that look back at
him and, without ever mentioning a war, let him know they understand
where he's been.

He's not worried that these veterans halls will fall by the wayside.
In fact, he's sure they won't. Might come a day, he says, that
today's generation of war veterans will need such an inviting place,
too.