VFW WI District 1

Posted at 11:21 PM on Sunday, August 24, 2008 by District 1

The Department of Wisconsin Veterans of Foreign Wars hosted a picnic for Army National Guard Troops just completing three weeks of training at Fort McCoy in West Central Wisconsin.  Armed with ice cold drinks, Johnsonville Brats, hamburgers, potato salad, beans and chips approximately 175 VFW and Auxiliary members lead by Pete Breed (Chetek Post 10331) gave the Army cooks a break and served over 7,000 meals in back to back events on August 20th and 21st.

The well planned events got started at about 1100 hours and included both lunch and supper each day.  It was almost dark each evening when things were finally shut down and cleaned up.   The first day started out cool but was soon sunny and warm.  A perfect day for a picnic!  Day two was cooler but cloudy and a little rainy.  However, that didn't dampen anyone's spirits and what do you expect when you plan for a picnic in Wisconsin - yes, the weatherman is always wrong.  It didn't matter anyway since after three weeks training in the field the troops and their commanders really appreciated this special break.  We received hundreds of personal thank you's from soldiers as the passed through the chow line or while we visited with them during the meals.

Live music was provided for about six hours each day by The Gators (715.828.2983), an absolutely great twosome who performed almost nonstop for our troops with a variety of music and played many requests too.

This was not planned as a recruiting event but VFW information was distributed and membership applications were always available.  It was a time however, to share experiences, explain VFW programs and our mission, and to generally kick back and relax.

The National VFW Military Assistance Program (MAP) helped  fund this project with a $12,000.00 grant and we received invaluable support from Wal-Mart, Burger King, Premium Waters, Dr. Pepper, and others.  In fact, Wal-Mart and Burger King employees volunteered to help out at the picnic with food and drink serving.  Wal-Mart donated the use of a refigerated semi-trailer to keep food chilled on-site and Burger King, and contacts made by Burger King franchise owners, made sure we had plenty buns, chips, bottled water and soda available.

Pete Breed and the other organizers of this troop support event salute our volunteers who helped serve, cook, clean-up, and smooze with the troops, and give special thanks to the many dedicated sponsors mentioned in this article.

Fred Mercord (Prescott Post 9060) welcomes the troops to the picnic and thanks them for
their service.

The picnic grounds were full as soldiers madetheir way to the mess lines.  Daniel Stafford,
center, (Chippewa Post 1038) talks with soldiers.  Dan's son Jacob was one of the soldiers
we served at the picnic.

VFW and Auxiliary members cut up 400 watermellons to serve at the picnic.

Eau Calire VFW Post 305 brought their grills and cooks to Fort McCoy to cook brats and
hamburgers for two days.  Yes, they all smelled like brats by the end of the day.

The food was served by experts (the brat and bean brigade) at making sure everyone got
enought to eat.  Ellie Wittrock, Post 1038 Auxiliary, far right, was one of the volunteers.

Employees of Burger King volunteered to work at the picnic and did a great job cooling
down soda and bottled water.

Some VFW members took time to sit down and just talk with the soldiers and let them
know that they and their famlies will have VFW support when they are deployed next year.

The Gators, a very talented twosome,  performed various types of songs for two days at the
picnic and did many requests for the troops.