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The Lone Ranger
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Posted: Wed Sep 13, 2017 5:49 am |
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![Cool 8)](./images/smilies/icon_cool.gif) I have found out why the cowboy host isn't meeting the goals I have for target market aka baby boomers. It seems the bar manager/former head bartender, her boyfriend and the former commander all told him they wanted the younger crowd. I have been on the job now about 4 months, I finished out the old 2nd Vice's term and got elected to another year. It blows my mind how people in this venue are all working at cross purposes. I was told by the bar manager that I couldn't even talk to the cowboy host, which is nuts since I'm in charge of entertainment not her. The more I talk to him the more I realize that no one is on the same page. Cowboy told me that the other side told him "the baby boomers don't buy dinners and they drink soda or water". It is these mill kids that come in after dinner is served and put a soda on their credit card. I know who am I going to believe them or my lying eyes? It is time for me to take the bull by the horns, and have a showdown. It really isn't the cowboys fault since he tells me he knows all of the people that come to the other host's show and he has their phone numbers. He was only following orders. We have 5 more weeks until the next calendar meeting. I'm compiling all the numbers concerning our total bar receipts for Saturday's and Monday's. At one time we did anywhere from 700 to 1000 per night. I at least expect the hosts to average 500.00 a night so we can at least get back in the black. To show you how crazy the other side is they told me the reason cowboy didn't make much on our steak night was because of the Labor Day Weekend. Then they told me the reason why the new host made over twice as much Monday is because it is the Labor Day Weekend? Say what? I'm going to keep it real simple I'm going to tell the cowboy not to listen to the others, I'm the one he has to satisfy. I want him to make the calls and get that target market into the post, at least for the dinner service. That I want his gross bar receipts to hit $500.00 minimum. That I'm going to closely monitor Mondays and Saturdays and see if our bottom line doesn't improve. If I can't turn things around then we will be forced to close our doors in 2 years. Another post will be lost, many have closed already.
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Hanginon
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Posted: Wed Sep 13, 2017 10:07 am |
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Wow, my hat's off to you - a difficult, thankless job! I've been following this thread with great interest since this is a nationwide problem for The American Legion.
Me? Nam 1969. Came home and was welcomed by no one, including the American Legion, but it didn't matter, they were rolling in the money with WWII and Korean Vets.
Now it's a different story, and due to an aging demographic, and the "eligibility dates", most Posts have resorted to driving Aux/Sons membership. However, it is truly sad to go to a Vets only meeting, in a 1000+ membership Post, and see 12 people sitting there!
The following quote is from National Commander Charles Schmidt - "Eligible new members can be found. You probably know some. Look at all of the National Guard and reserve units, for instance, that have been activated since Aug. 2, 1990. Look at the fact the fact that the current membership window has been open for 27 years - by far the longest span in the history of The American Legion".
You're in a big post, yet you can probably count the Vets who were in the Sandbox on one hand!
My point is that any short term "fix" that just caters to the old Vets sitting at the bar nursing their beers, and doesn't include attracting new blood (and yes, with loud music or maybe some Latin music), will ultimately be doomed. The American legion needs to bring the Irag/Afghanistan Vet in now (not later, as was done with Nam Vets). Don't kick the can down the road, and keep the Claymore's facing away!
Last edited by Hanginon on Wed Sep 13, 2017 10:45 am, edited 1 time in total.
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The Lone Ranger
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Posted: Wed Sep 13, 2017 10:45 am |
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Hanginon wrote: Wow, my hat's off to you - a difficult, thankless job! I've been following this thread with great interest since this is a nationwide problem for The American Legion.
Me? Nam 1969. Came home and was welcomed by no one, including the American Legion, but it didn't matter, they were rolling in the money with WWII and Korean Vets.
Now it's a different story, and due to an aging demographic, and the "eligibility dates", most Posts have resorted to driving Aux/Sons membership. However, it is truly sad to go to a Vets only meeting, in a 1000+ membership Post, and see 12 people sitting there!
The following quote is from National Commander Charles Schmidt - "Eligible new members can be found. You probably know some. Look at all of the National Guard and reserve units, for instance, that have been activated since Aug. 2, 1990. Look at the fact the fact that the current membership window has been open for 27 years - by far the longest span in the history of The American Legion".
You're in a big post, yet you can probably count the Vets who were in the Sandbox on one hand!
My point is that any short term "fix" that just caters to the old Vets sitting at the bar nursing their beers, and doesn't include attracting new blood (and yes, with loud music), will ultimately be doomed. The American legion needs to bring the Irag/Afghanistan Vet in now (not later, as was done with Nam Vets). Don't kick the can down the road, and keep the Claymore's facing away! ![Cool 8)](./images/smilies/icon_cool.gif) You are right this is just a short term fix, but then I'm over 71 now and a short term fix like 15 more years is all I can hope to see. The Younger Vets that could join, don't want to hang out with even with us Nam Vets. They are still young struggling with families and sometimes they don't even get all of the benefits they earned. There isn't the G.I.Bill like when I was going to college, they have watered down quite a bit Veteran's goodies. It is sort of like we are one of those ancient Military Crusader orders The Knights of St. John. You have a few real knights supported by thousands of members handling money, food, making weapons all to support a few warriors. Our best bet is the baby boomers, there are 10,000 a day retiring for the next 15 years, most can join the Sons or the Ladies Auxiliary. The generation X'ers are next, fewer of them qualify under current rules. That is why it is important to put pressure on Congress to allow all honorably discharged Veterans join. Other wise vets will be valuable since you will need a few just to keep the post open, the 12 your were talking about. The VFW is even in worse shape since they really turned the Nam Vets away, they didn't worry as long as there were plenty WWII vets, not many of those left, if my dad was still alive he would be 99 years old, during the war he was in his mid twenties. P.S. Not that big a post we are trying to merge with another post then we would be the biggest non-profit organization in the area with over 1,000 members. I eventually see the day where the American Legion and the VFW will have to merge together just to continue on.
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Paradigm Karaoke
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Posted: Thu Sep 14, 2017 12:41 am |
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i'm watching htis thread closely, but have to admit, it is the opposite of AZ. the BB are the reason the vet orgs are failing out here, they need the younger blood that actually spends money. watching to see what happens next, not doubting your methods.
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The Lone Ranger
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Posted: Thu Sep 14, 2017 4:08 am |
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Paradigm Karaoke wrote: i'm watching htis thread closely, but have to admit, it is the opposite of AZ. the BB are the reason the vet orgs are failing out here, they need the younger blood that actually spends money. watching to see what happens next, not doubting your methods. ![Cool 8)](./images/smilies/icon_cool.gif) Don't wait Paradigm take action now. The younger blood you are talking about has to be signed in don't they? Are you a member of the Son's or a Veteran so you can sign them in? When I was hosting I became a member of all non-profit organizations just so I could sign in my patron's that weren't members. The BB's as you call them are the last best hope of the Legion and the VFW, without expansion of the support members both organizations would fold today. Both organizations are important because they advocate for Veterans, they support baseball for the youth, R.O.T.C., scouting, give out scholarships to college students,among other services. What is not known is Congress determines who is able to join the Legion I'm not sure about the VFW. There is a 15 year period where we were at peace and the Veterans that served during that time period can't join for the most part, with a few exceptions. I guess things could be opposite in AZ. If that is the case then the organizations in AZ are in real trouble. Young Veterans don't want to hang out at the American Legion or VFW, why the mills would is anybody's guess. Like I have stated here if the mills have any money they want to go to a place to meet other mills, not hang out with old BB's and even older Vets. My question to you Paradigm is do the local Veterans organizations in AZ have things like a cheap taco karaoke night to bring in the BB's? You have to have the programs that appeal to the BB's to bring them in. I can only speak to the problem in front of me right now. The cowboy came on board about a year ago and in that time two nights were lost, and one more was on the verge of collapse. Still the bar manager was insisting that the host was the best thing since sliced bread. It was not that the host was bad, but because he was given the wrong target market and the wrong instructions. The definition of insanity is to keep doing the same thing and expect a different outcome. With everything going South the manager insisted on doubling down on a failed plan. She could not adjust to the fact that she had made the wrong calls and was bankrupting the post. Yesterday I called the cowboy and told him to get the BB's in for the dinner service at least, and then if his so called second wave came in we would have had a good first half of the game. Right now as things stand he is not meeting my target market goal, or the total gross receipt number I have set. I once again told him what I expect and I'm giving him another 5 weeks to show improvement. I'm giving him this last chance since he was given bad input to begin with. You know crap in crap out. I'm hoping he can finally live up to his full potential. The new host I don't have to say a word to since he has followed my instructions and is meeting or exceeding the goals I have set. Next calendar meeting I will have the numbers to support my overall business model.
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mrscott
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Posted: Thu Sep 14, 2017 5:14 am |
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Lone Ranger, I am not meaning to be disrepectful of your situation, but isn't it the bars/club/venue/organisations responsibility to garner new members? And not the KJ's? I mean if the cowboy isn't doing a good job in the first place, then by all means, send him down the road. But if it's not his fault that the venue is quiet on his nights, then I think the management is failing him, not the other way around. As hosts, we do our part with social media, emails, texts, etc. But to say it's the KJ's responsibility to fill a club, and not the managements is just asking for failure. That's how I see it.
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The Lone Ranger
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Posted: Thu Sep 14, 2017 5:32 am |
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mrscott wrote: Lone Ranger, I am not meaning to be disrepectful of your situation, but isn't it the bars/club/venue/organisations responsibility to garner new members? And not the KJ's? I mean if the cowboy isn't doing a good job in the first place, then by all means, send him down the road. But if it's not his fault that the venue is quiet on his nights, then I think the management is failing him, not the other way around. As hosts, we do our part with social media, emails, texts, etc. But to say it's the KJ's responsibility to fill a club, and not the managements is just asking for failure. That's how I see it. ![Cool 8)](./images/smilies/icon_cool.gif) Meaning no disrespect mrscott, the way you get members is by having a venue that draws them in, the perspective new members, see the place is fun and they want to join up. If you read my posts carefully I'm not blaming the cowboy I am giving him every chance to turn things around. He is on Saturday night, which I have stated used to be our big night. You are right about one thing management failed him by not giving him the right instructions in the first place. They told him to go after a younger crowd instead of the crowd that would make the post solvent. Now that I have taken over entertainment I have redirected him and I'm waiting to see if things improve. The new man came in and followed my instructions, we have our old crowd back and we are actually making money, this is after only two weeks. I think I have proved my point, even if others don't want to admit it. Many of the decisions made about the running of the post over the past two years have been wrong, and you are right they sowed the seeds of their own destruction. I'm not trying to rearrange the furniture on the deck of the Titanic, rather I trying to get back to the basics that made this once a viable enterprise. P.S. I don't think I'm being unreasonable I hosted this very Saturday Night and Mondays for years and averaged anywhere from at least 600.00 on a slow night to over 1,000.00 on a good night, sometimes even more. Having the cowboy come up to 500.00 which he isn't doing now, is not putting undue pressure on him. After all at one time he was the number one draw in the area, at least that what his fans said.
Last edited by The Lone Ranger on Thu Sep 14, 2017 6:01 am, edited 1 time in total.
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mrscott
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Posted: Thu Sep 14, 2017 6:00 am |
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Who is doing the promoting and advertising, in an attempt to attract new members? That is the person/entity who I see as the one who is failing in his/her job. If a place cannot attract new clientele, then they will slowly die. If the cowboy isn't a fun host, then replace him. I know you are giving him a chance to make changes to how he is doing his "thing", but if his personality says he isn't fun, then guess what? .... he isn't fun. Simple as that. I am not trying to tell you how to do your job, that is hard enough. But in my opinion, the leopard won't change his spots, time to get a tiger.
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The Lone Ranger
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Posted: Thu Sep 14, 2017 6:17 am |
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mrscott wrote: Who is doing the promoting and advertising, in an attempt to attract new members? That is the person/entity who I see as the one who is failing in his/her job. If a place cannot attract new clientele, then they will slowly die. If the cowboy isn't a fun host, then replace him. I know you are giving him a chance to make changes to how he is doing his "thing", but if his personality says he isn't fun, then guess what? .... he isn't fun. Simple as that. I am not trying to tell you how to do your job, that is hard enough. But in my opinion, the leopard won't change his spots, time to get a tiger. ![Cool 8)](./images/smilies/icon_cool.gif) This isn't a case mrscott of attracting new members as much as a struggle that has been going on for the past two years. The post came into a huge wind fall, and proceeded to do things that drove some of the old clientele that used to support the venue away. The post could afford to so they hired bands, it is a mid sized venue too small for many bands, which were so loud, they drove our customer base away. Then it was a slow process to try and get the shell shocked back into the post. First impressions are important and every time some momentum was achieved to get back to basics, some people who had no knowledge of the situation, tried to make things better and only made them worse. It is not that the cowboy isn't fun it is that he was told to focus his energies in the wrong direction. No telling how the last year would have gone if the cowboy had been given the right instructions in the first place. Basically he was told to do the wrong thing, and no one bothered to tell him different. As far as advertising and promoting goes the town pretty much knows what the different private clubs do on any given night. There is karaoke nearly every night and sometimes multiple shows on the same night. Most hosts around here have their own followings with some overlapping. That is one of the things that got my attention, if the post hosts were going after the same target market there should have been overlapping of crowds there was none, at least at this venue. P.S. The tiger is on Mondays, unfortunately that is the only night I can get him.
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mrscott
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Posted: Thu Sep 14, 2017 11:56 am |
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I do understand the unique situations that come along with the non-profit venues, such as VFW, American Legion, Eagles, etc. A few years ago, I was asked by the entertainment director to host karaoke at the Eagles Lodge in a fairly large populous area. The lodge actually has many different types of activities that is used as "draws" for it's members. However, on Friday nights, they bar was very quiet. The entertainment director was actually a karaoke host himself, but to stay un-biased, he asked me to see if I could make it work. So, when it came time to put the shows on, I actually got some flack from some of the other committee members, saying how they think karaoke is a waste of time. But, never the less, I sent out invites to my friends in that area, advertised on social media, and I set up the first night,,, and it was a rousing success. The entertainment director was happy with the show completely, and even complimented me on how I ran my show with fairness and enthusiasm. The waitress' told me they had NEVER had nights with as big of tips before at that place. And I was also told that the nights receipts were almost triple of what any good Saturday night brought in. They only had me host once per month, but the next month was an even better night, and more profitable for the lodge. The president of the committee was also there on the second night, and he even sang and had what appeared to be "a great time".
Now, the next month comes along, and I was called a few days before my scheduled turn and was told they didn't want my services,,, because,,,, get this... It was TOO busy. The bar didn't want to be profitable, they wanted to break even. They didn't want to make a profit and figure out how to disperse the windfall. Talk about politics!!! The president himself actually voted to make karaoke go away,,,even tho he had a great time. All I can say is good luck to staying in business.
These "non-profits" and their politics are their own worst enemy. Lone Ranger, I truly hope for your sake you can make the management/committee see that without co-operation between ALL of them, and that includes staff, then they are fighting a losing battle.
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Paradigm Karaoke
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Posted: Fri Sep 15, 2017 3:42 am |
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The Lone Ranger wrote: Paradigm Karaoke wrote: i'm watching htis thread closely, but have to admit, it is the opposite of AZ. the BB are the reason the vet orgs are failing out here, they need the younger blood that actually spends money. watching to see what happens next, not doubting your methods. ![Cool 8)](./images/smilies/icon_cool.gif) Don't wait Paradigm take action now. The younger blood you are talking about has to be signed in don't they? Are you a member of the Son's or a Veteran so you can sign them in? When I was hosting I became a member of all non-profit organizations just so I could sign in my patron's that weren't members. The BB's as you call them are the last best hope of the Legion and the VFW, without expansion of the support members both organizations would fold today. Both organizations are important because they advocate for Veterans, they support baseball for the youth, R.O.T.C., scouting, give out scholarships to college students,among other services. What is not known is Congress determines who is able to join the Legion I'm not sure about the VFW. There is a 15 year period where we were at peace and the Veterans that served during that time period can't join for the most part, with a few exceptions. the problem i am seeing is that the older vets do go there but won't spend money. the younger ones don't necessarily want to go there because of the smoking. i get what they do, i do fundraisers for them as well, but one major issue remains... as these older vets die (which is happening at an increasing pace based on the taps board), how does the post stay open without younger members?
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Toastedmuffin
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Posted: Fri Sep 15, 2017 4:30 am |
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Paradigm Karaoke wrote: the problem i am seeing is that the older vets do go there but won't spend money. the younger ones don't necessarily want to go there because of the smoking. i get what they do, i do fundraisers for them as well, but one major issue remains... as these older vets die (which is happening at an increasing pace based on the taps board), how does the post stay open without younger members? Truth be told, it isn't all about the bar. The problem is the younger generation doesn't feel like they belong at "the old man bar", or they are not just made to feel welcome by some members. What they all need to do is establish an outreach to the younger vets. This is also happening at places like Knights of Columbus as well. I hardly do a party in these halls for anyone under 50... How do you fix it? I don't know, because I've been butting my head against this wall for years. Doing something for the one group usually upsets the regulars. This happens at my bars too... the bartenders give a lot of headaches to owners when the regulars (who they rely on for tips) get bent out of shape.
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The Lone Ranger
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Posted: Fri Sep 15, 2017 5:42 am |
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Paradigm Karaoke wrote:
the problem i am seeing is that the older vets do go there but won't spend money. the younger ones don't necessarily want to go there because of the smoking. i get what they do, i do fundraisers for them as well, but one major issue remains... as these older vets die (which is happening at an increasing pace based on the taps board), how does the post stay open without younger members?[/quote] ![Cool 8)](./images/smilies/icon_cool.gif) The smoking situation is not a problem here in California since most posts either have a smoking room, or an outside area where the smokers do their thing. Out of all our members only a handful still smoke. You don't have no smoking laws in public places in AZ? Who is keeping the places open? The once abused and despised Nam Vet. They are the one's keeping the posts open now since the last of the WWII Vets are too sick to come out due to their advanced age. There are some Korean War Vets that are still active but many of them are quite old themselves. the Nam Vets are in their 60's and 70's for the most part. It all boils down to eligibility to belong to the VFW or the American Legion the Veteran has to be serving during a period of war. Believe it or not we weren't always a nation at war, that has changed since we seem to have wars somewhere going on all the time today. All the more reason we need to keep these posts open if we can, otherwise it weakens pillars of the community, that represent Veterans interests.
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The Lone Ranger
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Posted: Fri Sep 15, 2017 6:22 am |
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Toastedmuffin wrote: Truth be told, it isn't all about the bar. The problem is the younger generation doesn't feel like they belong at "the old man bar", or they are not just made to feel welcome by some members.
What they all need to do is establish an outreach to the younger vets. This is also happening at places like Knights of Columbus as well. I hardly do a party in these halls for anyone under 50...
How do you fix it? I don't know, because I've been butting my head against this wall for years. Doing something for the one group usually upsets the regulars. This happens at my bars too... the bartenders give a lot of headaches to owners when the regulars (who they rely on for tips) get bent out of shape. ![Cool 8)](./images/smilies/icon_cool.gif) You have hit on an important truth just like there are post politics, there are lodge politics, and bar politics, you become involved in once you start doing a show at any venue. The old always resist change it is true but there are also younger people who resist change because if they have something valuable to them aka money, no matter how small it is they want to keep it. They always say follow the money, the person with the most to lose due to change, is the one who it going to dig in their heels and fight the hardest. That is why I'm having such a hard time with the current bar manager of the post. It is only recently that the officers started paying her for that position, on the idea she was going to turn things around, all that was done is we added an expense that further drove the post toward closing it's doors. When the post came into it's windfall a couple of years ago the commander at the time did one of those outreach programs to bring in the younger vets, and for a time it seemed successful. The problem was he got himself into a scandal due to his heavy partying with his new young friends and had to resign. Naturally the reason the younger crowd was there is the post was spending money like water. there always comes the day of reckoning and it wasn't pretty. Once the goodies were taken away this new crowd melted like snow when the Sun comes out. By the time everything happened our old base of BB's had stopped coming in, since they did not care for the wild rude ways of the younger crowd. The BB's are and will be our bread and butter for the next 15 years, unless Congress changes it's mind and allows all honorably discharged Veterans to join the VFW and American Legion. Only the BB's since most of their parents or other relatives were in the service are eligible to join the Sons or The Ladies Auxiliary of the Legion. In the VFW these same people can join the Auxiliary there. Then of course there are the Legion Riders a sort of Motorcycle club that meets at the post. I don't expect too many young Veterans will join, since many of them are suffering from physical and mental problems due to their long terms of service and multiple deployments to various active theaters of War. Not to mention younger Vets have families with children they have to support, and don't have the disposable income, that many BB's enjoy. The structure of these organizations are going to resemble pyramids with a few Vet members at the top supported by a base of support units. Very much like the crusader knight military orders of antiquity. Did you ever see the old movie "Beau Gest" with Gary Cooper? The scene where the nomads are attacking the fort and every time a Legionnaire is killed, the sergeant props up the dead man and shoves a rifle under the dead man's arm. He then proceeds to run back and forth behind the dead men with his revolver shooting. He tells his remaining troops "We will make them think we have a fort full of men". Sort of the same thing sadly that is going on at the posts across this nation of ours. That is why there are so many posts either closing for good or having to merge with other troubled posts to stay open.
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Posted: Fri Sep 15, 2017 12:56 pm |
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Joined: Fri Jul 29, 2011 11:01 am Posts: 17 Location: Alabama, USA Been Liked: 3 times
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I am not a vet but I am the son of one who served in Vietnam. He passed away last year.
I just wanted to take this opportunity to thank all of you for your service to our country. I also wanted to say a special thanks to all of those who served in Vietnam. I think it is shameful the way you were treated when you returned. Hopefully our country has learned it's lesson and never again will treat returning soldiers with such disrespect.
God Bless America!
_________________ Doing home karaoke since 2000. Setup: Shure SM58 Mic; Sennheiser e825 Mic; JVC XL-MV333 CDG Player / PC Karafun 2; Soundcraft 124fx mixer; QSC GX3 Amplifier; Yamaha BR12 Speakers.
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The Lone Ranger
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Posted: Sat Sep 16, 2017 4:41 am |
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Joined: Fri Jun 17, 2011 8:22 am Posts: 6103 Been Liked: 634 times
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ljelley1 wrote: I am not a vet but I am the son of one who served in Vietnam. He passed away last year.
I just wanted to take this opportunity to thank all of you for your service to our country. I also wanted to say a special thanks to all of those who served in Vietnam. I think it is shameful the way you were treated when you returned. Hopefully our country has learned it's lesson and never again will treat returning soldiers with such disrespect.
God Bless America! ![Cool 8)](./images/smilies/icon_cool.gif) Thank you for your father's service and sacrifice, sorry to hear about his demise. Vietnam was the last war where we actually had a draft and the war was fought by citizen soldiers, just like in the old Roman Republic manner. Today our military is made up of high paid professional soldiers an all volunteer force. So in a sense we are paying others to do what we used to do ourselves. This was brought about because the rich didn't want to send there children to war, and it was unfair to expect the middle class and poor to bear the brunt of the fighting, and there would be riots and civil unrest, like there was in the 60's and early 70's. At the time Vietnam was the longest war the U.S. has ever fought. Of course Afghanistan is the longest now 16 years and counting. I don't think the country has learned it's lesson. Sure we have parades, and the political hacks make speeches about how the Veterans will never be forgotten, but things never change. Everyone knows about the English victory over the Spanish when they defeated the great Armada sent to conquer England. Money was found to get the ships to the battle and to stock them with powder and shot to sink the enemy ships and drive them North so the storms did the rest of the job. What is little known is when those ships came into port there was no provision made to feed the sailors that had fought on those ships. The merchants would not give their food away to the men who had saved them from occupation, the Queen who's throne they had saved would not provide the money needed. Literally thousands of those sailors died from disease and starvation. Today we spend more on defense and wars than any other nation. Yet we can't provide for the wounded warriors that come home. Many Veterans suffer from physical and mental problems the result of years of war. The V.A. hospital is underfunded and many Veterans don't get the care they earned. Adjusting back to civilian life has always been difficult, there used to be programs to educate and retrain Veterans for peace time employment, those have all been watered down. It is true that there is the VA home loan program for Vets, but what good is it if so many vets are homeless? I feel personally before we start anymore expensive wars maybe we should clean up the human misery we have caused by our previous military blunders.
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Paradigm Karaoke
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Posted: Sat Sep 16, 2017 3:32 pm |
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Joined: Thu Aug 12, 2010 6:24 pm Posts: 5106 Location: Phoenix Az Been Liked: 1279 times
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Toastedmuffin wrote: Paradigm Karaoke wrote: the problem i am seeing is that the older vets do go there but won't spend money. the younger ones don't necessarily want to go there because of the smoking. i get what they do, i do fundraisers for them as well, but one major issue remains... as these older vets die (which is happening at an increasing pace based on the taps board), how does the post stay open without younger members? Truth be told, it isn't all about the bar. The problem is the younger generation doesn't feel like they belong at "the old man bar", or they are not just made to feel welcome by some members. What they all need to do is establish an outreach to the younger vets. This is also happening at places like Knights of Columbus as well. I hardly do a party in these halls for anyone under 50... How do you fix it? I don't know, because I've been butting my head against this wall for years. Doing something for the one group usually upsets the regulars. This happens at my bars too... the bartenders give a lot of headaches to owners when the regulars (who they rely on for tips) get bent out of shape. somewhat correct, because they are all old man bars. not one (except the American Legion i am at) has done anything in the way of redecorating since the Vietnam vets came home so every bar looks like a retirement home. The vets at all posts make anybody not a member or over the age of 60 feel unwelcome. it pains me to see the most exclusionary people i know are vets. so much of my family has worked in the military and were never this way but it is "us vs them" in these places. the younger crowd is not smoking so they do not want o to sit in a smoking aber (rivate clubs like the posts are exempt from the smoking laws). most of the younger vets have told me they don't go in because they are home. htey do not want to feel like they are overseas again. ever post has the walls covered with memorabilia in every room and the younger ones (from what they tell me) do not want that feeling of being there, they want to be home and a civilian again. with an unwelcoming environment and unwelcoming people, cheap older folks that don't spend, members have bought lifetime memberships so no more money going into the post besides their $1PBR, not allowing others in because "they are not one of us", i don't know how any of these places can survive. i'm not being argumentative with you, i'm frustrated. i want to help them but i HAVE the clientelle you are mentioning and they are the cause of the decline. i don't know what to do
_________________ Paradigm Karaoke, The New Standard.......Shift Happens
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