Bennington’s Brown Knight-Memorial VFW Post 8268 celebrated being back in their newly renovated building Friday night, with veterans and their families enjoying a steak and lobster dinner ahead of Veterans Day.
The Town of Bennington, which bought the building from the VFW in 2008 but agreed to allow the veterans’ group to remain tenants for as long as they wished, finished a year-long renovation project in October.
The event was free and open to all veterans in the region and drew members of VFW Post 8268 as well as members of the American Legion posts in Antrim and Hillsborough.
“We are all about serving our veterans and serving our wider community, and creating these events for people to get together, because it’s so important,” said Post Commander Brian Quinn.
Quinn said because Bennington does not have a high number of veterans, Post 8268’s mission expands to include serving the community at large, particularly the children of Bennington.
In January, the post will be bringing back monthly, free community pancake breakfasts.
“The breakfasts are for everyone,” Quinn said. “We’re trying to get the word out; anyone in the community is welcome to come have a good meal and just get out and see people. These are hard times for a lot of people, and we know there are plenty of people who will appreciate it.”
Quinn said the post is bringing the breakfasts back thanks in part to the newly renovated kitchen, which includes a commercial-grade griddle.
“The old griddle had fallen apart years ago, so it is really nice to have a griddle again,” Quinn said. “The new kitchen is just beautiful.”
Rick Adelman of Antrim said he remembered the Post 8268 building, which was historically Bennington’s train depot, from years past.
“It really looks great. They did a good job,” Adelman said.
Veteran Donald Paige, 95, of Antrim, who served as Post Adjutant for nearly 50 years, said it was the first time he’d been back in the building since the construction was completed.
Harold Hurlbut of Antrim said the town “did a very nice job” on the renovations, which included installing accessible restrooms.
Mike Tartis, a member of Antrim’s Myers-Prescott-Olson Post 50, called the new space “beautiful and very accommodating.”
“The ceiling fans will be great for moving the heat and cool air around,” Tartis said.
The renovations were funded by community donations designated for that purpose.
For information about Bennington’s Brown Knight-Memorial VFW Post 3268 visit: https://www.facebook.com/VFWPost8268/ or https://vfw.org.
