VFW Post 3282 History
 

VFW Post 3282 serving:
VFW Port Orange - Daytona Beach - New Smyrna Beach - Central Florida

The history of VFW Post 3282 starts in 1973. Several Veterans, soon-to-be members, came together to petition the VFW National for Charter of a new Post. At that time there was a general concept among Veterans that returning Servicemen from the Vietnam Era would dramatically increase the membership rolls of Service organizations. These three-dozen-plus organizers felt other Posts with newer concepts would more readily accept new members from this undesignated war. On November 5th, 1973, our Post was authorized. The Charter was signed by 39 founding Veterans, virtually everyone that was associated with this endeavor. It is on display at our Post. Two and one-half years later, February 18th, 1976, the Ladies Auxiliary to the VFW Post 3282 was authorized. Our Post is named after John E. Mealy, an honorably serving World War II Veteran. John was a Volusia County resident and Corporal in the US Army.

The original Post was located in a rented, renovated residence in Allendale, Florida, on Highway US 1. It remained there from 1973 until 1984. The landlord was a WWII Italian U-Boat Captain that had been captured by the Allies and found a better way of life after the war. From interviewing several people actively involved during that time, it was a fun place to go. Every member and their spouse was involved in both the problems and the excitement that goes with starting a new Post. Members and the general public enjoyed Prime Rib on Saturdays for the nominal price of $6.00 and the place was packed. Since the Post was a prior residence, it only had a small hot water heater. Very often they would need to wait for more water to heat, long after the function was over, before cleaning could be completed. They started a Sunday morning Breakfast and everyone had to make their own toast. The wiring was so bad that the circuit breaker would blow every time someone tried to make 4 slices of toast at once.
Many members have very fond memories of "Stovepipe" Perkins and his band that played free of charge during fundraisers for the new building being planned. Another performer was John Wilton and his "one-man-band" who played just about anytime someone asked.

During the "first building" time period the membership organized a competitive ball team and played against other Service clubs. The members made sure that children were not left out. There were always kids games to play and usually the grownups had the most fun with them. Holding auctions, special occasion parties, official celebrations, picnics, horseshoe competitions, clam bakes, hog roasts and just about anything you can think of was routine for the hard-working Veterans and Auxiliary of Post 3282.

Almost from the beginning thoughts were kicked around for having our own property and building. But this did not gain the momentum to take off until the late '70's. Members began raising funds for that goal before the site had been picked out. The list of innovative ways the Post organized to raise money is both long and impressive. Dinners played a key roll, but among the standouts were the sometimes-spontaneous auctions for seemingly worthless items such as a Christmas tree in July and a members artificial leg (he got it back of course). Another unique idea came about with some of the members talking about donations and how an individual would be recognized. It is unclear just who should be credited with the final concept. But the ongoing conversation among members was something like, "well, if you donate that, I will donate this" - and back and forth until someone made the comment that "if you do that, I'll put your name on the wall in Gold". So members decided to make a special plaque with names on gold bars to hang on the wall of the new Post. The requisite for your name being on the plaque was to donate at least $500. The plaque hangs in our current building beside the Commanders office. On March 7th, 1982, the VFW Post 3282 Military Order of the Cootie was chartered.

Finally, in 1983, enough money had been secured through fundraisers, donations and mortgage to enable the membership to proceed. The property was purchased for $36,000 and the hard work started right away. Moving to the new location on Williamson Boulevard suddenly started to look not so appealing. They could not afford to contract all the project out so the membership would need to do a major part of the work. This would involve a great time commitment from members. Many members were beginning to feel nostalgic connections to the place they had both overcome obstacles and enjoyed a great camaraderie. Ironically, most members thought of the location as to isolated to attract anyone. At that time it was only a two-lane road leading to the new location and the actual building was on a gravel road. (Today we feel like we are in the middle of a well developed, highly traveled area.)

But, the commitment had been made so the building began. Every available member would show up at the site six times a week for the next several months. The Ladies would prepare lunch on-site for these hard-working, dedicated members who were working for the love of the Post. Some members gained reputations during the process. Foremost were Bill Flatt and Billy Peacock. They became known as "Sanford & Son". Very often they would disappear (with no money) and come back a few hours later with badly needed supplies and materials. Not many answers were given as to how they came into possession of these items. A July4th Celebration was held in 1983 at the new building. The word "at" is appropriate as they had just finished the roof the day before, giving the building a floor, windowless sides and a roof. On Veterans Day, November 11, 1983, an Open House was held and the new building for VFW Post 3282 was dedicated. We were off and running again, with the same start-up issues as over a decade before. . On July 14th, 1984, the VFW Post 3282 the Military Order of the Cootie Auxiliary was chartered.