STATE COMMANDER’S COLUMN Let me start by saying “thank you for all you do” to my fellow Texas comrades! We are now a quarter of the way through the VFW year and it has been extremely busy for all of us. To date, there have been two remote training sessions: one in West Texas and one in The Valley. These have been welcomed with open arms by the Districts and by the hosting Posts, and I believe this type of training will continue due to the positive reponses. I firmly believe the more training we receive the better off our Posts, Districts, Department, and entire organization will be — much like our military days. Many times I have heard a saying that new members “Don’t just walk into the Post.” Myself, along with other Officers, are testing this theory. In our travels all over the great state of Texas we entered Posts that we had never been to before and wore apparel that would indicate military service in order to gauge the reception we received. What an eye opening experience this has been! There were Posts that welcomed us as if we were long-lost brothers and others where all that was spoken was “Do you need another beer?” — instead of asking things like “Are you a member? Have you served? Are you eligible?” or even “Where are you from and what brings you here?” The “VFW STARE” is alive and kicking in Texas! Comrades, if you do not have an inviting atmosphere in your Post, why would a possible new member ever want to join? I visited an undisclosed District for six days without telling anyone what I was up to. I went into several Posts to see how they treated people they don’t know. While most were very friendly, in one instance I sat for over an hour and the only question I was asked was “Did I need another?” Again, if you were a prospective member, would you join this Post? I think you know the answer to that. We are most likely watching possible new members walk in and then right back out the door because they did not feel welcome. This has to change. In another instance, the Sr., Jr., QM, Chief of Staff and myself went into a Post together, wearing one of this year’s shirts, and we were told by a member of that Post that “I think y’all are lost” to which I replied “No, sir, this is the VFW post we were looking for.” The Jr. Vice asked the bartender if the Post Commander was present and asked her to please let him know that the state leadership was here. The Commander sent her out with a chip for a drink but did not come out to say hello even though we stayed for about 90 minutes. We must have an inviting atmosphere to prospective members in order to sustain and grow membership. Please do your part to have a friendly Post where ALL feel welcome! There have been many challenges thus far and I expect there will be many more, but following the Bylaws and SOP will guide each Post in the right direction, as this is what helps guide all of us. There have also been many successes and I appreciate what each of you is doing to make these happen. Please continue to assist our military, our Veterans, and our communities in any way you can. If we can grow our membership by approximately 1,500 members over our current goal, Texas will become the largest Department in the entire organization! We can do it if WE try. Let’s make TEXAS #1.
State leadership prepares for the Mobile Post Training in El Paso, Texas.
Remaining yours in comradeship,
Keith King F a l l 2 0 19 Te x a s V F W M a g a z i n e
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