Hopkins, Minn. (WCCO) ― VFW Posts are more than just places where veterans socialize. The posts are also major charitable contributors, but some posts said they are putting the donations on hold.

The reason some posts give: the Hennepin County smoking ban.

The VFW Post 425 in Hopkins, Minn. has seen a 20 percent decline at the bar in recent months.

“I knew it was gonna be bad,” said Mark Peterson, the VFW gambling manager. “I didn’t think it was gonna be this bad.”

“And you’re telling me a 91-year-old vet of World War II shouldn’t be able to smoke a cigar at his own post?” asked VFW bartender Carolyn Dreeszen. “That’s ridiculous.”

The real bad luck is at the pulltab counter, where business is down nearly 30 percent. That money should be going to charity.

“We’ve suspended all of our donations right now, until we find out how well we’re gonna weather this,” said Peterson.

The post planned on donating another $30,000 to scholarships, school groups and baseball teams, but now, the vets have a bigger worry.

“What’s in jeopardy is closing the doors of the building,” said Peterson.

Source: wcco.com. Link

This entry was posted on Friday, August 5th, 2005 at 10:02 am and is filed under Bars/Taverns, Charities, Clubs, North America. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.