Post hosts districtwide meeting
Published 1:51 pm Wednesday, August 16, 2017
- Photo by Emily Hollingsworth Members of the Lunenburg Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post 9954 and the Post 9954 Auxiliary united during a districtwide meeting held at the post, located in Victoria, on Saturday. Pictured are, from left, front row, Elizabeth Williams, Edith Glidewell, Judy Strickland, Shirley Batte, Elizabeth Perez, Barbara Christman; back row, Tommy Evans, Tommy Hines, Post Commander Claude Tomlinson, Maggie Seward, Darlene Gee and Carole Wallace.
Members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Fourth District in Virginia, which encompasses the Lunenburg Post 9954, united for a district meeting Saturday, hosted at the Post’s building.
District meetings, said State VFW Commander Mike Boehme, are held four times a year and focus on providing the latest information on programs for the VFW, legal matters and other developments.
One workshop, Boehme said, taught VFW leaders how to connect using the Microsoft Office 360 system.
Boehme said there are roughly 33,000 VFW members in Virginia, with a total of 13 districts and 135 posts.
District Four, which
includes the Lunenburg Post, emcompasses about 12 posts, Boehme said.
Boehme said the VFW’s purpose is to serve fellow veterans, older and younger.
“It doesn’t matter if you were in combat, World War II, Iraq, you were all in harm’s way,” Boehme said. “Our mission, very simply, is to take care of our veterans, families and communities.”
Boehme said District Four has received 100 percent membership from each of the 12 posts, with 104 percent overall, which Boehme said is a rare feat for districts.
“This district should be very proud,” Boehme said.
Lunenburg Post Commander Claude Tomlinson said he enjoyed the district meeting and was glad to host it in Lunenburg.
“Every year it’s always something else that we learn,” Tomlinson said. “It worked out great for our post to have the meeting here this time.”
Tomlinson said the goal of the Lunenburg Post moving forward is to engage younger veterans, not solely through monetary donations, but through attending meetings. He said he understands young adults’ busy schedules.
“I know how a young man works,” Tomlinson said. “He still has a job, a family. I know it is hard.”
Tomlinson said having the new extension on the Post’s facilities has helped the auxiliary and the VFW as they can now hold more than one meeting at time in the building.
The Lunenburg Post was founded in 1949 and holds a breakfast meeting on the second Saturday of each month at 8 a.m. and a dinner meeting on the fourth Tuesday of every month at 6 p.m.
To learn more about the area VFW, call (434) 696-3303.
