THE START OF SOMETHING BIG
BIG RIVER POST 5331
In November of 1954, a few Veterans of WW1, WW11, and Korea got together, and decided to open a VFW Post in Cedar Hill. This took some time to do, but they started.
The BIG RIVER VFW POST 5331, was charted in May 1954. The men met at the old Pioneer Tavern on Old Hwy 30, which is now Veterans Boulevard.
June 14, 1954
The first meeting was held with the following officers selected:
Commander: Paul Lynn
Quartermaster: Harvey Linhorst
Chaplin: Rev. Paul Wobus
Adjutant: Van Young
For finances, they sold Poppies on Memorial Day, and collected dues from the members. The Poppy sale was $2.50 and the total collected funds were $33.94.
Additional fundraisers the young Post had were:
- Dances
- Shooting Matches
- Grocery Fundraisers
- Boxing and Wrestling shows
- Buddy Poppy sales
They had these fundraisers at different places, like The American Legion Hall in House Springs, which is now the Lions Club. The funds for that year was a total of $916.29 in the General Fund, and $60.36 in the Relief Fund.
At this point the Post was sponsoring Boys Scouts and Cub Scouts of America and by the end of the year, 1954, Charter Members for the Post had reached 58 members.
Years 1955-1956
Plans were laid for a Post Home. The ground was bought from the Butler Grounds at a price of $ 1,200.00 with a $600.00 down payment. All the members helped to build the new Post as it is today.
As of April 1956, the membership was 62. Their goal was 64 and they eventually met it.
May 11, 1959
First meeting at the new Post with 17 members present.
The General Fund stood at $48.13 and the Building Fund was $2,176.63.
The rest of the year, 1959 was a busy year of fund raising:
- Horse shows
- Bingo
- Meat shoots
- 50/50’s
- etc.
Initial information courtesy of Ken LaBorde. Thanks Ken!