Renovations and improvements since then included Boy Scouts cleaning up the basements, installing shelving, building a wheelchair-accessible ramp on the side of the building, putting in a brick walkway and donating a front lawn sign.
West Chester residents George Nafzinger and Ron Dzikowski, who took office as post commander in June 2014, constructed a railing to help members climb the building’s concrete steps.
Renovation efforts also included merging two front rooms for a meeting place, repairing a structurally unsound back deck and installing a parking lot.
But Dzikowski said there’s still work that needs to be done. Boy Scouts are likely to help out with installing railings from the back deck toward the parking lot, but there’s still painting and patchwork that needs to be done inside the building, as well as striping to be added in the parking lot.
Cracking paint on the front porch also needs to be removed with a pressure washer, then re-painted and sealed.
People helping out the VFW is “really appreciated,” Dzikowski said. “It seems that we can’t do all the work ourselves. A lot of our membership is getting older and the younger men, they obviously have families and jobs that consume their time.
“There’s a fine line between those people who are not quite old enough to be ‘over-the-hill’ and those people who are able to work and those are the people that do a lot of the work over here.”
While other VFWs in the region maintain a regular post for their members, the West Chester Twp. post has never had a place of its own until now.
The new location means the organization is no longer reliant on finding space at the local library, area businesses, a retirement community and a senior center.
“We now can meet (here) and do the planning for events,” Dzikowski said. “It gives us a place where we can keep records at that have been scattered all over the place with each of our members.”
For information on how to volunteer to help the VFW, or to become a member, call 513-300-4159.
VFW’s four main objectives include preserving and extending veterans rights, advocating a strong national defense, promoting patriotism and serving local communities.
Members cover the gamut of war service from World War II to Afghanistan.
Besides helping fellow veterans and the families of veterans who fought for the U.S. Armed Forces in combat zones overseas, direct community involvement is also a VFW priority. The VFW and its men’s and ladies’ auxiliaries donate more than 8.6 million volunteer hours annually via their nearly 1.9 million members, according to the organization’s website.
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