LaHARPE — Starting at 8 a.m. Thursday 13 big roasters will be filled with chili, chicken and noodles and vegetable soup. The soups are part of fundraising efforts to go toward repair of the roof of the VFW building along U.S. 54 on the east edge of town.
Organizers have nearly 200 pre-sold quarts to fill, estimating that will raise about $1,400.
Pickup — there’s no dine-in — is from 4 to 6 p.m. Thursday.
For months the Veterans of Foreign Wars Auxiliary, led by Pat Spencer and Sandy Northcutt, has been raising money to fix the roof, and, just as importantly, revive interest in what not long ago was a LaHarpe institution.
“They’d turned in their charter,” said Spencer, who admitted that she hadn’t done much over the years to enliven the group. “I’ve been an auxiliary member for 34 years and had attended one meeting.”
John Wagner, commander of the VFW, told Spencer that the auxiliary had gone belly up.
Putting the challenge before Spencer, who had a lead role in developing Fees Park in Gas, as well as Northcutt, struck a chord.
“We said we’d give it a try,” Spencer said.
The two women went to work after noting the building’s roof was leaking enough that the structure’s integrity was threatened. They organized monthly flea market and dances, but recently put bingo games on hold.
“The bingo is too much of a gamble right now, with the economy the way it is,” said Spencer. “We have to guarantee $1,000 in prize money. I’m not sure we can draw enough to pay for it.”
Dances are the third Saturday of the month, although the next is the Saturday night after Thanksgiving, Nov. 26. Income was enhanced when the VFW obtained a license to sell beer from the concession stand.
The Spencer-Northcutt tandem intends to continue to raise money for the roof. Exact cost of repairs has yet to be determined, and accumulating a kitty for the project is slow going.
“We still have utilities and insurance to pay,” Spencer noted.
They also want to build up funds so that the VFW’s air-conditioner unit can be repaired or replaced before hot weather sets in. Its demise occured serendipitously — about the time fall weather arrived.
The auxiliary meets the second Monday of the month at 7 p.m.
“We have 59 ladies,” Spencer said. “If any member of woman’s immediate family was in a foreign war, she may join,” she noted.
ADDITIONAL AUXILIARY members were on hand Monday morning to prepare egg noodles. By noon, 10 eight-foot-long tables were covered with the lightly floured noodles. Also helping were Eva Wagner, Geri Myers, Joy Bratsch, Marie Ohmie and Mary Ann Ritter.
A concern of Spencer’s was whether the VFW building’s electrical circuits would carry the load demanded by 13 roasters.
She has a backup.
“We always can take some to City Hall,” she said, with her can-do approach showing through. “I haven’t asked about it yet, but I know they wouldn’t care.”
