VFW Post 8577 holding open house in lieu of parade
By BRITTANY FHOLER
Cove Leader-Press
The Copperas Cove VFW Post #8577 hosted a small Open House on Saturday and will be hosting another Open House on Wednesday in lieu of a Veterans Day parade this year.
The VFW post typically hosts a Veterans Day parade every year but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the parade will not be happening this year.
The VFW and VFW Auxiliary still wanted to have something to honor the veterans of the community, though, so they decided on an Open House with a lunch featuring hot dogs and hamburgers and various desserts.
“We’re very sorry that we didn’t get to have a parade this year, but the mayor wouldn’t let us have it, so this is our way of telling the veterans that we love them, appreciate them, and we have a lot of veterans that are members here,” said Auxiliary President Barbara Moore. “That’s why we’re here- just to serve our veterans and make awareness in the community that there’s a place for them to go. It’s an Open House so that they could come see our VFW and take tours of our different facilities and kind of meet the people, get to know them and hopefully would like to join our organization so they would somebody else to sit and talk with that has been through the same thing that they have been, so it’s like a support group.”
Saturday’s event featured hot dogs, pinto beans and several different desserts.
Post Commander Ron Abrahamson was present as were other members of the VFW in case anyone had any questions about the services the VFW offers.
“We support veterans. That’s why we’re here,” Abrahamson said. “We support veterans advocacy and our mission is veterans support.”
The post sells Buddy Poppies with all proceeds going to support veterans. The VFW also holds bingo games, where funds raised go to support various community organizations. Most recently, the VFW Post #8577 made a donation to the Coryell County Sheriff’s K9 program.
The post also holds a breakfast that’s open to the community, every Saturday morning. It also has a kitchen with a dining menu that is also open.
The VFW has halls for rental, and has a canteen or bar where patrons can purchase alcoholic beverages. The canteen had been closed down during the COVID-19 pandemic due to executive orders from Gov. Greg Abbott.
The VFW raises funds through its alcohol sales at the canteen which go back into the VFW, but the canteen also helps veterans in another way.
“Our canteen, it’s not just a bar. It serves multiple roles,” Abrahamson said. “The canteen helps support veterans’ issues, but it also gives our veterans a place to congregate because nobody in there has been through what we’ve been through. You can’t go to another bar down the street and have the camaraderie that we have in the VFW because we’ve all been through the same thing.”
Abrahamson added that the VFW offers a space for veterans to come air their problems and helps to try and prevent more veterans from taking their lives.
The VFW Post #8577 will be holding a second Open House on Wednesday, Veterans Day, beginning at 11 a.m. The public is invited to come see what the VFW has to offer and enjoy a hot dog lunch.