Members of Peter Huerter American Legion Post 46 have reluctantly decided they’ve lost the battle to stay open; their building at 1925 Wilmette Ave. is now up for sale, and the post will shutter its bar operation at the end of this month.
It doesn’t mean that the venerable veterans’ organization will stop operating, Cmdr. Mike Jonscher said Feb. 12, but the work it does on behalf of children, teens and veterans won’t have a physical home.
“The post is going to continue. Most of the posts in surrounding communities don’t have their own homes. They meet in restaurants,” Jonscher said. “They are still very vibrant and very vivacious.
“We hope to live in that same model.”
That includes using proceeds from the eventual sale of their property, which Jonscher said he hopes will net around $600,000, to fund charity projects and awards.
Jonscher and post finance officer John Fragassi said post members met Feb. 5 to discuss whether they could afford to keep the two-story brick building just west of the Wilmette Avenue-Ridge Road intersection open.
“It just came down to the numbers, and we couldn’t stall it any longer,” Fragassi said. “We knew it was going to be inevitable, even with the wonderful residents who did donate to help us.”
Last December, post officers were able to put off shutting down the building when donors who had heard of the post’s plight brought coffers up to about $6,000.
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The group had already largely depleted its savings to keep the building open, paying monthly utilities and yearly property taxes, he said. That process was long term, cutting once-healthy $25,0000 reserves to near zero.
Part of the problem lies in eroding membership; there are fewer than 100 Post 46 members, down from 200 in 2012 and more than 240 in the 1970s.
The annual $35 membership dues are minimal, and although the post regularly rents its main floor hall, that income is neither large nor steady enough to help pay for building upkeep. Nor does the downstairs bar, at which members socialize, pay for itself, Fragassi said last December.
A larger problem stemmed from the loss in 2012 of the post’s four gambling machines.
The old-fashioned “pull tab” style machines, which provided roughly 70 percent of post profits, were shut down that year after changes in state law – which ironically made video gaming legal for groups like theirs – made it commensurately more difficult to operate the older machines.
Wilmette ordinances, one of which appears to prohibit video gambling machines, also complicated the situation. However, Jonscher emphasized that village officials have been strong post supporters, saying, “They are some of the strongest friends we’ve had.”
The post, named after the only World War I military casualty from Gross Point, one of Wilmette’s predecessor communities, was originally founded in 1920 as Post 669. After World War II, the branch purchased what a former schoolhouse and repaired its fire-damaged second floor in order to set up operations.
Fragassi and Jonscher both said they hope that whoever buys the building, which lies on property zoned for commercial activity, keeps it intact. If that doesn’t happen, Fragassi said the post will attempt to sell off bar and kitchen equipment it owns inside the building.
The decision to shut down physical operations has been an emotional one, Jonscher said. For the immediate future, the group will focus on physical plant issues, such as using up bar supplies and emptying water from building pipes, then moving on to paying the utility bills and taxes.
Determining a site to continue operations will take a back seat, Jonscher said, although offers of space like one that came last year from the Sheridan Shores Yacht Club “are still on the table.”
“We have to focus on the shutdown first, though,” he said.
Jonscher said losing the building and its accompanying cares could actually free post members to carry out more charitable projects. He even suggested that the post could reach out to other Wilmette charitable and social organizations to form what he called “a committee of commonality to bring about greater good in our community.”
Post members also plan to continue participating in Memorial Day ceremonies and parades.
“Carrying the flag down the streets of Wilmette to inspire our youth is one of the things we will always do,” Jonscher said. “That’s our mission. We’re not inspiring youth to do the bidding of politicians or bureaucrats; we’re inspiring them to become involved in building our nation.
“We don’t intend to stop being American Legionnaires.”
For more information on American Legion Post 46, contact John Fragassi at 847-207-9219.
American Legion Post 46
Full name: Peter Huerter American Legion Post 46
Address: 1925 Wilmette Ave., Wilmette
Founded: 1920 as Post 669
Named for: the only World War I military casualty from Gross Point, one of Wilmette’s predecessor communities