VFW celebrates anniversary with successful party

PLAINS – The VFW Post #3596 held their annual anniversary party on Saturday, bringing in quite a crowd for the event.

In its 35th year, the anniversary party honors the year the VFW was rebuilt after it burnt down in a fire. Since then, every year the VFW celebrates the building – a place where all veterans are welcome.

As the post filled with attendees, everyone was ready to win some prizes and have some fun.

Almost every hour door prize winners were called, winning shirts, hats and gift certificates to area businesses. Although people were happy to receive the door prizes, everyone’s eyes were on four big gifts: ? beef, hundreds of dollars in both groceries and gasoline and the coveted prize of a Remington .870 shotgun.

Quartermaster for the VFW Post Joe Eisenbrandt said this year the club sold all of their beef tickets, something that has not been done in years past.

“I’ve been doing this for nine years and I have never run out of beef tickets,” said Eisenbrandt. “It was very, very good.”

Overall, the event saw a higher number of participants. Eisenbrandt estimated last year 100 to 125 people were in attendance, while this year the number skyrocketed to 175 to 200 people.

The increase is credited to an increase in advertisement this year.

As live music flooded the room, courtesy of the local band Dark Horse, people took to the dance floor in between door prizes. All of the door prizes were donated by local businesses and Eisenbrandt said they also had better door prizes then in the years past.

One of the donated prizes was a Cricket .22 rifle. The only prize the club had to purchase and pay for was the shotgun.

Approximately at 10 a.m., the winners were called for the gas, grocery and beef prizes. Kyle Adams won the gas; Randy Ridenour won the groceries and Dan Risland won the half beef, which was cut and wrapped.

Once midnight hit, the drawing started for the shotgun. Ten tickets were drawn at random. As the people lined up in front of the seated crowd, their tickets once again went into a basket where they were drawn in a series of eliminations. Each person won a prize as they were eliminated and the prizes ranged from a bird feeder with seed and an air soft pistol to coins donated by Rocky Mountain Bank and a letterman Grizzly jacket.

As the elimination continued, tensions flared and only two people were left standing before the crowd. As the second to last ticket was drawn, Steve Welty won the Cricket .22 rifle. Welty was unsure of who he was going to give the beginners rifle to.

The winner of the shotgun went to Plains resident Brigitte Bernhardt-Ward.

After filling out her paperwork, Bernhardt-Ward said it felt really good to win the shotgun, something she thought would never happen. She explained that last year she was unable to make the party and after being convinced to come out this year, she was happy that she did.

“I’m still in shock,” said Bernhardt-Ward. She proudly carried her shotgun out of the VFW.

The event overall was deemed a success.

“We are all pleased that it went as well as it did. It was excellent,” Eisenbrandt said.

All proceeds from the raffle went to assist Veterans Services Work, scholarships, and community activities.