Letter to the Editor: A big year for VFW Post 4726
On behalf of the Officers and members of VFW Post 4726, we want to thank the City of Brandon and all of its residents. Your support over the last year has been awesome.
Last January we started having Bingo the last Saturday of the month, teaming up with other community nonprofits and organizations to have fundraisers. In January we were not sure how people would show up, so we set up several tables and chairs. What a mistake. Before the first number could be called, we had every table and chair we had set up in the hall with a waiting line in the bar wanting to play. This happened again for the next three months. All profits from the Bingo were split 50/50, with the nonprofit helping us that month.
Next was the Loyalty Day Parade. The mayor gives us a Proclamation for the parade, and then we fill the high school parking lot with floats and other entries that compose a parade that lasts over two hours and makes us number one in the state and in the top 10 in the country.
After the ice storm, we had several leaks in the hall causing damage. The members of the VFW came together, and we replaced all the insulation, ceiling tiles and lighting fixtures. We had the hall painted and new carpet installed throughout the building, keeping the lounge open and running business as usual. It was a nine-month process.
In November we had our annual Feather Party. We served 220 turkey dinners, up 80 from last year. At 7 p.m. the games began. The hall was standing room only for Bingo, and the rest of the games were busy all night long.
In December we had our fourth annual Christmas Tree for Vets. We put 172 tags on the tree with gift requests from vets at Helping Hands and the VA Hospital. Within two days, they were all gone, and we were getting phone calls from organizations in Brandon wanting to know how they could help. Unbelievable! Any cash donations that are left after we fulfill the requests will go into the Veterans Fund and will be used to help out veterans throughout the year.
The last project the VFW did was to restart the Parade of Lights and ask Brandon City Council if we could sponsor the parade. They agreed and gave us full support to hold the parade the Saturday after Thanksgiving. The weather was not perfect. The temperature was close to freezing with sleet and snow. The Chief of Police and fire department led the parade, followed by the VFW float with Santa Claus and VFW officers and members and a hot air balloon basket to help keep us warm. I don’t know the exact number of floats in the parade, but I think it was around 12. There were cars in all the parking lots and side streets along Holly. There were about 200 hardy folks on the sidewalks cheering us on. As we approached downtown near the VFW, the streets were packed. We stopped in front of the VFW and dropped off Santa. He went into the hall, and when the parade was over, the hall filled up with children wanting to give Santa their Christmas wishes. There were hot cocoa and cookies for everyone.
The VFW wants to thank Jill Meier and staff at the Brandon Valley Journal for all of their generosity supporting the VFW. It is greatly appreciated.
A huge thank you goes to Brandon Elementary for their very generous cash donation for the second year to the VFW on Veterans Day. The donation will be used for the Christmas Tree for Veterans.
Finally, a huge thank you to all the patrons of the VFW lounge that are willing to step up and help any time we need a helping hand. You know who you are, and we greatly appreciate you.
As you can see, it has been a very busy and fulfilling year for VFW Post 4726. We could not do it without the support of our great community. There are several VFW posts in South Dakota that are closing, because they don’t have community support. We know we can’t do it without you and look forward to doing more next year to help our veterans.
Tom Sharpee
chaplain/newsletter editor
VFW Post 4726
