Hiram's blog: "VA NEWS"

by Larry Scott Last year the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) closed or consolidated 148 posts around the country because of falling membership and dwindling income. Gary Kurpius doesn't like that trend. Kurpius is the newly-elected VFW national commander. Kurpius told the VFW's national convention, “Some of us are stuck in the 1960s or 70s. He challenged VFW members to adapt to the changing world around us,and hit a sore spot when he said, "There has to be something more attractive about the VFW than just the bar. Kurpius was met with groans and even booing as he suggested VFW posts ban smoking and went on to say posts could garner new members and reap outside income by adding Cyber Cafes, child care facilities and fitness centers. Is the VFW membership on board with Kurpius's plans? I took a look at two Washington VFW posts to see how they felt about the new commander's ideas. Washington presents unique challenges for private clubs, such as the VFW, because the state has banned smoking at all restaurants, bars, taverns, bowling centers and non-tribal casinos. The first post I looked at is in King County and has all the trappings of any VFW post, except the ashtrays. (NOTE: Those who spoke with me did not want themselves or their post identified.) The club manager was very open about the problems the non-smoking law has caused. When the law took effect on December 8, 2005, post attendance and bar sales were way down. Overall income is still down, but growing, as the post has been holding more Family Nights when they are open to the public. How do the members of this non-smoking post feel about Kurpius's proposals? Since post members had voted to obey the state's non-smoking law, they tended to agree that a VFW that deemphasizes drinking would be more inviting to the public. But, Kurpius's other ideas were met with snickers and outright guffaws. Cyber Cafes, child care and fitness centers are not planned and members failed to see how any of these things could benefit the post. The second post is outside of King County and still has the ashtrays. Members of this post had voted to keep smoking and to fight the new state law any way they could. At 11:30 on a Monday morning I walked into a thick cloud of cigarette smoke created by a dozen people sitting at the bar, most of them nursing 16-ounce cans of Pabst Blue Ribbon. Gary Kurpius is not popular at this VFW post. The mention of Cyber Cafes was met with, “Who knows how to operate a computer? The concept of fitness centers brought the usual jokes. But, the issue of child care elicited an interesting remark from a past commander of the post who told me, Kurpius is out of touch. He should know that all VFW posts take care of their own. We provide child care, at no charge, to any member who is in need.†How does this VFW post get around Washington's non-smoking law? They have no employees. They only use volunteers to operate the post. This way the state has no jurisdiction and the smoking issue is handled by the County Health Department. The state verified this and so did the county who said they only get involved if there is a complaint about smoking. That's not likely. The members here don't want change. The past commander told me, that's just who we are. And, financially we're doing fine. He then invited me to Texas Hold ˜Em Night. Gary Kurpius has a lot of work to do.