I became a life member of the VFW in 2008 or 2009 and called Post 4239 my home Post. This Post was pretty much the same as almost every other Post across America -- an older building that was kinda dark inside and still had some of the residue of the smoking days that were long gone but lingered some when one would enter the facility. There was still the mentality that the building and canteen was what made up the typical VFW Post (and, for that matter, Legion and AMVET Posts too). For the most part, the chartered responsibilities and activities of these Veterans' organizations were pretty much an after thought as evidenced by a lack of leadership and office-holders in their structure. When it came time to elect officers each year, it was like pulling teeth to get a slate of officers ready to be voted on, and elections often were simply a re-election of prior officers, if they agreed to it.
The big elephant in the building was the canteen (the bar). Typically, Post business (in terms of time required from officers and committee members) broke down to a 80/20 per cent favoring the canteen operations. Granted, the canteen was the revenue generator, but eventually this resulted in a "tail wagging the dog" situation. As time went on, fewer and fewer people were willing to put up with the business of managing a bar.
This led to another problem -- a large percentage of VFW members who did the heavy lifting of supporting the VFW (and Legion and AMVET organizations) were now into their 70s and 80s and didn't come out to the Post on a regular basis, had moved to a warmer climate, were in a nursing home, or just gave up (the typical Vietnam veteran is now in the mid- to upper 70s to mid-80s). So membership was evaporating from one end of the spectrum while, on the other end, younger potential members from this nation's wars of the last 15 years or so were not coming thru the doors either. All of these organizations had now entered into a death spiral and had no idea how to fix the problem and guarantee a healthy future. And if the truth be known, the same thing could be said for other organizations such as Rotary, Kiwanis, churches, etc.
Well, the leadership at the VFW Post 4239, the American Legion Post 217 and the local AMVETS Post decided that this was not going to work very long and that if something wasn't done soon all of them would be extinct and their Post homes would be sold at a sheriff's sale. About three years ago, they began working on a "merger" campaign. It was not a campaign that would result in everyone being under one "banner" but a merger that would result on a single canteen operation and a single building which would be managed by an "association" of sorts. Each Post would still be autonomous organizations doing their own chartered business, but the canteen would be managed by the association with "profits after bills" being distributed to the organizations.
This was a hard sell, as you can imagine, but after three years, it has finally come together. Lots of "turf wars" had to be settled and it took a lot of work from the VFW and Am. Legion (AMVETS had some issues to take care of before being able to move on this proposal) and a local attorney, but all the paperwork was eventually filed with the State of Ohio, the IRS and the State and National offices of the organizations. The Sidney Veterans' Association officially began operations in July of 2019 and made its first financial distribution to the organizations in December. Offices for all the organizations have now been built in the building, and things seem to be moving. Attendance is up, the organizations now only have to focus on their chartered business affairs (assisting Veterans, family support, providing scholarships to young people, promoting Americanism, etc.). They have a revenue stream and a refreshed identity in the single building. Everything that is done in the building is geared toward unity -- we are all veterans. Color guards have been combined to feature a unit that represents all of the organizations -- we are all veterans. This is particularly impressive when the color guards honor Veterans at funerals -- we are all Veterans.
I know this has been a long article, and it doesn't completely reflect all the issues that had to be overcome. But if your Post is having some of these same issues and you are looking for a way to dig out of that hole, I would certainly encourage you to explore this possibility. Association officers would certainly share all their information and the process for this operation with anyone.
Feel free to check the Sidney Veterans Association's Facebook page. It is fairly new, but it can lead to contacts if you want information. You can also just type Sidney Veterans Association in your web browser to see other related sites and local newspaper articles regarding the consolidation efforts.
Bottom line ... we are all veterans and if we don't come together, we will all become just a vague memory.
Hooah
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