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Last call forever at Indian Head VFW
Aging members, younger vets' lack of interest doom post
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
 Click here to enlarge this photo Staff photos by NANCY BROMLEY McCONATY
Toivo Tamm, left, chats Sunday afternoon with Laura DeWaard, a bartender at Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1800 in Indian Head that is set to close April 30.
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The deaths of a generation of aging warriors and the sharp downturn in the economy are forcing the officers of the John Addison Millard Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1800 in Indian Head to turn in the organization's charter at the end of the month.
Post 1800 will close April 30 because of a dwindling membership and the impacts of the recession, said Dan Schultz, commander.
"The post membership has agreed to turn in the charter, tidy up our assets and turn everything over to the state," he said. "The majority of our oldest members have reached a point in life that age is not allowing them to do many things."
The post has a little more than 300 members and most of them are World War II and Korean War vets who are passing away at an alarming rate, Schultz said, adding that the post lost 10 members last year.
"I'm very sad to see the post close but it's a sign of the times," he said. "We can only hope that a lot of our post membership can consolidate and work with active posts in the area."
There are active VFW posts in Bel Alton, Waldorf and Accokeek, Schultz said. Those organizations are also feeling the pinch because of a dwindling membership and worsening economy, he said.
"The economy is hurting us a lot," he said, adding that the state's smoking ban that took effect last year really hit fraternal organizations hard. "This economy is really killing us. The smoking ban was the dagger that really drove people away."
The post applied and was approved for a waiver from the smoking ban but much too late, said Wayne Higdon, senior vice commander.
"With the economy going south and the smoking ban our business has really slacked off," he said. "The smoking ban was the final nail in the coffin. People used to come in and drink and smoke and play cards but all of that has taken a nosedive."
The aging membership needs to be replaced by young, active-duty military personnel and veterans but today's society does not afford people a lot of time to devote to organizations such as the VFW, Higdon said.
"All of our World War II and Korean War guys are getting old and frail and passing away," he said. "A lot of old-timers passed away during the last five years and nobody has come in to take their place."
Young U.S. Marines serving at the Naval Support Facility in Indian Head began joining the post and started to ramp up activities there, but most of them have been transferred to other places, Higdon said.
Up until a few years ago, military personnel stationed at the Naval Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technology Division in Indian Head flocked to the post but the division has relocated to Eglin Air Force Base in Florida, Higdon said.
"The place was a good meeting point; the camaraderie was good," he recalled. "When the EOD school was here people from all of the armed forces came to the post. We had the patronage."
The post got its charter Feb. 26, 1930, Higdon said. It has had several homes, including the building that now houses the Lone Star Café in Indian Head.
The building the post currently occupies once held a bowling alley, Higdon said, adding that there are several apartments on the second floor that have to be vacated before the building is sold.
The closure of the post is a tremendous loss to the community, said Homer Allison, 83, who has served as the organization's chaplain for several years.
"I'm so sorry to see it; it's a shame," he said. "The members are just getting too old. They don't like to travel at night, and we're losing roughly one member every couple of months."
Patsy Hancock has been the manager of the post for seven years. There are two full-time and four part-time employees who will lose their jobs when the post closes, she said.
"Having to close the post makes me feel horrible," she said. "A lot of people have put a lot of work into this place. Its closing is going to affect a lot of people."
"I'm sad to hear that the VFW is closing because it has offered a great service to the veterans in our community for decades," said Indian Head Mayor Dennis Scheessele. "I'm sorry to see that it can't survive because of the economy."
"It's a catastrophic loss to the town," said Indian Head Vice Mayor Randy Albright. "It's a great institution for veterans to come together."
Organizations like the VFW are needed now more than ever, said Charles County commissioners' Vice President Edith J. Patterson (D), whose district includes Indian Head.
"This is one way for service personnel coming home from the war to be with their comrades who understand what it means to serve," she said. "The post's closure is another tragedy that's impacting our community. That post is almost the heart of Indian Head. The town and county should come together and work with the post to keep it open."
Several regular patrons stopped by the post Sunday afternoon to talk about the good times that they've had there and to lament its closure.
Laura DeWaard, a part-time bartender at the post, said she is upset that the place is closing.
"It's sad," she said. "I'm going to be jobless and this is a piece of history that's going way."
Indian Head resident Toivo Tamm said the comes to the post every day to see his friends.
"I'm upset about it closing because I live right across the street and this is somewhere close by," he said. "I've got a lot of good friends here. We're like a close-knit family."
The Indian Head Pool League plays tournaments at the post regularly, said John Wright, who has been coming to the post since 1966.
"I'm devastated that it's closing," he said. "This is my hangout joint. There's no place else to go in town."
"I've been coming here since it opened to play pool," said T.J. Foster. "It's sad to see it go because this is my getaway on a Sunday place."
Foster said that he doesn't think that the post's officers tried hard enough to recruit new members, particularly Vietnam vets.
"The real problem is they didn't recruit Vietnam veterans," he said. "There must be a thousand of them in this area."
Teri Lynn Grigsby of Indian Head tends bar at the post two days a week. The employees and regular patrons do a lot of activities together, including an annual camping trip, she said.
"The post closing is breaking all of our hearts," she said. "Even if I get another job it won't be the same because we're family here."
Heidi Carroll said she drops by the post often to meet with friends.
"I'm extremely disappointed that it's closing," she said. "It's like I have my own little family there."
But Higdon said all of the membership's efforts to keep the post open have failed.
"It's like rearranging the furniture on the Titanic," he said. "It's a sad thing."
