After over a year of work, the Jefferson VFW will host an open house later this week.
It is planned for this Saturday, December 6th from 7-10am for the public to see their renovations and enjoy biscuits and gravy for a freewill donation with all proceeds to go to their building fund.
VFW Post #9599 Commander Don Ihnken says they had to close their facility in October of 2013 when they discovered black, non-toxic mold in the basement. He explains how the mold issue started.
“Where the mold actually, really came from was from a drain line. At one point, there was an entrance to the basement from the street and there was a drain back there on the outside and that stuff started backing up and then after Streetscape, they filled all that in but we kept getting water in our basement. That has been corrected and repaired.”
The City had their insurance adjustor from Unger Insurance come out to assess the repairs and the City agreed to pay for part of it.
Ihnken notes that other improvements includes completely remodeling the kitchen, main meeting room and the restrooms along with applying new paint, flooring and a new drop ceiling were all installed. He points out that they have to update the back meeting room area and they will eventually need a new roof. They have spent over $15,000 on their project.
Ihnken states that the building can be rented for special occasions and that they will start having their bingo and monthly meals again as late as next month.
There is also a raffle drawing for a large stuffed Barney and the Wells Fargo stuffed horse named Shamrock. Raffle tickets are $1 each for the Barney and $2 each for the horse or three tickets for $5. Winners will be announced on December 19th.
You can also make donations to the VFW building project by contacting Ihnken at 515-370-3140, Dwayne Moser at 515-370-2636 or Kenny Arbuckle at 391-1301.
