Newly shipshape Glassboro VFW hosts congressman with news for borough
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GLASSBORO — Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 679 throws open its doors to vets of all descriptions, not to mention wedding parties and bingo, and now what awaits them inside looks pretty darn good.
Post Commander Dennis Cleary says the upstairs bar, its walls lined with militaria (including a KA-BAR knife in a shadow box), is hands down the best in the area. But you only have two nights a week to indulge.
“Yeah,” Cleary said. “It’s nice.”
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In fact, everywhere in the post, there is new paint, floors, windows, and ceilings thanks to a makeover that wrapped up very recently. The key was an $150,000 federal grant U.S. Rep. Donald Norcross arranged last year.
That was one reason Norcross was a post guest Tuesday morning, arriving with a second agenda to announce with Mayor John Wallace an $880,000 grant to Glassboro. The money will let the borough buy an electric bus to transport senior citizens, as well as a station to charge it.
“Today, we’re talking about an investment in community,” Norcross, D-1, said. “They used to be called something you might have heard about, ‘earmarks.’ Well, these are earmarks with transparency.”
Cleary, a 75-year-old Mays Landing resident and a U.S. Marine Corps veteran, said the current post leadership is Vietnam War vintage. They took over operating the post in February 2007 from an understandably flagging World War II cadre.
His generation of vets set about renovating it, mostly by themselves. But lots more needed doing to make it 2020s presentable, especially since hall rental revenues are important.
“I think everything was OK but needed to be brought into the 21st Century, I guess,” Cleary said. “So, we got it painted, all new ceiling, all new LED lights, new sound system. Then, they put in the air conditioning ducts, all new air conditioning ducts.”
Cleary told Norcross that, with aging post members working alone, it might have taken years getting even one set of upgrades finished.
Besides 250 VFW members, Leary said, other groups using the hall include Disabled American Veterans, American Legion, Purple Heart Foundation, South Jersey Vietnam Veterans Association, and even the Boy Scouts.
Elena Power, the borough Parks and Recreation director, said the borough has not settled on an exact model of electric bus to purchase but wants one with at least a 12-passenger capacity. It might be more than two years before the bus in in borough hands, she said.
The new bus will replace one Glassboro got from Gloucester County to keep company two other buses the municipality operates.
Joe Smith is a N.E. Philly native transplanted to South Jersey 36 years ago, keeping an eye now on government in South Jersey. He is a former editor and current senior staff writer for The Daily Journal in Vineland, Courier-Post in Cherry Hill, and the Burlington County Times.
Have a tip? Reach out at jsmith@thedailyjournal.com. Support local journalism with a subscription.
This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: Grant aid let Glassboro VFW upgrade, now boro gets an electric bus
