Vets are thankful for a good sale season

Once again, we come to the community to thank everyone for a fantastic summer season at the VET Center. Our American Legion Post appreciates everybody who came by and shopped with us during our sale season. Although it seemed like a really long stretch for those of us who worked every week to gather and prepare all the treasures that we had for sale, the time flew by as we greeted many of the same people on a weekly basis. With all the community support our sales set a record this year, bypassing our best year by a vast amount.

As of now, we ask that you refrain from any more donations, as we are totally full and our last day is August 26. Come by on the 26th and contribute, if you can, as all proceeds on that day will go toward our scholarship fund.

A very special thanks goes out to all the community members who donated many very serviceable items which we offered for sale. Without those ongoing donations, we couldn’t continue the sale. For those of you who consider donating, we accept just about any serviceable Item for the sale. Our season begins the first of April and runs through the end of August. We appreciate a call to either of our numbers so that we can accept all donations as they arrive. That way we can make sure any of your donated treasures aren’t damaged by the weather. Those numbers are 631-1839 for Jim and 846-3762 for John.

I need to specifically name three very special helpers. First of all, I want to thank Donna Shear for all of her help since the beginning. If you shopped with us, you saw Donna moving around the area, nonstop, arranging and displaying all the incoming merchandise. The other constant at our sales is Carol Nordine. Carol spent hours working on incoming merchandise as well as the “Christmas Corner” and our bookshelves. Without their help, I’m not sure we could have accomplished as much as we did this year. The last one I need to name is Jenifer Kelton. She jumped in and helped during the sale and placed several items on the internet, which helped them sell rapidly.

Lastly, I want to thank all the members who tirelessly showed up week after week to help us accomplish our goals. That goal is to continue to help those Vets who are in need. We also are continuing to sponsor our scholarship fund, which allowed us to award two scholarships to graduating seniors from local area schools. We sent two young men to Boys State this year. Boys State is an educational opportunity in which attendees set up a statewide government. We continue to support the Isle of Flags in numerous ways, including the storage of all the flags for the event. We continue to sponsor a local Cub Scout Pack. The pack holds its meetings in our facility.

Don’t forget: the hall is available for all your grand occasions. In addition, the monies received help us keep the doors open, lights on and maintenance performed on and around the building. Barring any unforeseen circumstances, we will be back next year.

Jim Brakebill

Commander, American Legion Post 157