35 cents
VOL. 2/ISSUE 5
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2013
Santa wears combat boots — and a flight suit Patrick McCallister For Veteran voice
patrick.mccallister@yahoo.com
Photo courtesy of Warbird Gift Shop The Warbird Gift Shop at the Warbird Museum at the Valiant Air Command Warbird Museum, 660 Tico Road, Titusville, has numerous unusual items for military and aviation buffs on people’s holiday shopping lists. has a clear idea of what he or she is looking for. The museum and store are open Tuesdays to Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; on Sundays from noon to 4 p.m. Ship Store sales benefit the SEALs museum, a tour of which is also a great gift. Heading north, there’s the Victory Center Military Store at the Indian River Mall, 6200 20th St., Vero Beach. “We have all branches of service,” Bill Beyerle, volunteer manager, said. “We have flags, we have shirts. We have hoodies.” Sold by an all-volunteer staff of men and women raising money that benefits area veterans and organizations.
“We have a lot of stuff,” Beyerle said. From decorative items for cars, offices and homes to — “We have some stuffed animals with sweaters with Army, Navy, Marines,” Beyerle said. Along with the Wall of Honor that memorializes those from Indian River County who served, or are serving, in the military. Visitors are invited to add loved ones, or themselves, to the wall by taking 5-by-7 photos with names and ranks. Then there’s the R & R Bunker, a place for the non-shopper in the family to relax on a couch reading or watching TV as others make their ways through the store, or mall.
The Victory store is open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., except Sundays. It’s open on Sundays from noon to 6 p.m. in December only. The phone is (772) 226-5316. It’s on the web at vcms-fl.com. Going up to Brevard, there’s the Warbird Gift Shop at the Valiant Air Command Warbird Museum, 660 Tico Road, Titusville. “We have quite a few people who come in (to the museum) just to shop,” Pam Watson, gift shop manager, said. “We do have a large gift shop. We carry clothing, we carry clocks. We carry models from the Franklin Mint down to the easy-to-assemble ones for
See SHOP page 9
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‘Tis the season to be veteran. Don’t know what to get for a vet? No problem. The Treasure and Space coasts have just the places to find gifts for military buffs. The best part is, shopping at them helps deserving organizations. “We have great gifts that honor the Navy SEALs,” Margaret Chase, retail manager at the National Navy SEAL Museum Ship Store, said. “We have everything from high end watches to drink containers, toys and T-shirts.” The Ship Store is at the National Navy UDT-SEAL Museum, 3300 N. State Road A1A, North Hutchinson Island, Fort Pierce. “We have a line of shirts from a company called ‘Forged,’ which were created by former Navy SEALs,” Chase said. Along with clocks, patches, decorative items for offices and homes, in addition to specialty playing cards. Of course, it’s the SEALs’ Ship Store, so it’s got to have something else. “We have a large collection of knives,” Chase said. Sweet. Knives from Smith & Wesson, KA-BAR, SOG, and Tac Force. “(Customers) can come and shop and don’t have to pay the museum admission to do that,” Chase said. “They can also buy things on the website and have them shipped.” That’s at navysealmuseum.com/ museum-store. The phone number is (772) 595-5845. Chase said the shop can do a telephone order, assuming the shopper