Big plans are underway to establish a Veterans of Foreign Wars Post in Falcon. An initial meeting was held in June with about 30 people attending; that number increased over the summer at the July and August meetings. By September, 80 people showed up to support a new post.
Bob Heriford, a retired Air Force combat veteran, is leading the effort. Heriford said they created and distributed flyers to businesses in the area, and 90% of the businesses agreed to display the flyers. At Red’s American Grill in Falcon, the manager placed the flyers in customers’ menus, he said. They also received assistance with distributing flyers from the VFW Warriors Motorcycle Organization.
They only needed 25 members to form a VFW post and the response has been excellent; the initial members will be charter members of the Falcon post.
“Attendance has grown considerably,” Heriford said. “The second meeting brought in a bunch of veteran services officers. We started off with an idea, and now we have retired generals, retired sergeant majors and Navy guys.
“A veteran center is needed in Falcon so people can get services without having to drive into the Springs.”
At the August meeting, they voted Heriford in as the pro tem commander and Julie Robertson as the pro tem quarter master.
Heriford said they sought direction from the state and district to formalize the post. The group applied for a post number from the state, and Heriford said he expected to have the post number in October. The post number must then be approved by the VFW national. After the approval from national, they will vote on and install officers at the Oct. 31 meeting; everyone in the community is invited to that meeting to witness the installation of officers.
Eventually, they will set up a separate auxiliary for the post, which comprises spouses of VFW members. The auxiliary used to be composed of mainly women, but now there are many husbands involved, Heriford said, adding that the state auxiliary president is male.
The next stage is finding land and raising about $5 million to construct a “pretty large 10-to-15,000-square-foot building,” Heriford said. And he visualizes a building that will not only be a VFW post but also a community center for everyone. Heriford said he has talked to the American Legion and invited them to have a space in the center, and he plans to extend that invitation to all kinds of organizations. “Maybe we could have a child care center and a senior center,” Heriford said.
He also envisions renting out office space.
The proposals for this VFW are expansive. Heriford said a bar and restaurant are part of the picture, along with pickleball, tennis and basketball courts. The concept, he said, is about a VFW post but also a full-fledged community center for Falcon.
“People are gung-ho about making this happen.”
The group is meeting on a regular basis now — at 7 p.m. on the last Tuesday of each month at the Falcon Fire Protection District at Meridian Road and Highway 24. The next meeting is the installation of officers if everything goes as planned.
There are guidelines for joining the VFW; for more information or to get involved, email falconVFW@gmail.com or call 719-494-6253.
