Formerly fire-ravaged, VFW Post resumes place as Glen Cove pillar

After a fire torched the interior of a Veterans of Foreign Wars post in Glen Cove just over three years ago, then-post commander Henryk Nowicki refused to shut the door on the more-than-a-century-old community pillar's future.

"The post was built by veterans from the first world war," said Nowicki, a Marine Corps veteran who served from 1967-68, in an interview Thursday.

"They came here on the weekends and holidays, they built it themselves." he added. "It would be disrespectful to us to just get rid of the building. We wanted to rebuild it."

After the fire on Aug. 24, 2021, rebuilding the James Erwin Donahue Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 347, in town since its construction in 1920, grew to become far more than just a community effort. Restoring what was lost became a symbol of community pride.

Restored and renewed

The result of the yearslong fundraising effort was on display at the end of May when the restored brick building on Hill Street opened with fanfare and a renewed sense of permanence. A food pantry forced out by the flames, and efforts to replenish membership with younger war vets, both returned.

"Losing the building was pretty traumatic," said current post commander Howard Stillwagon, who served in the Army from 1968 to 1970. "Now we had no home for our monthly meetings."

The fire torched the second story catering hall. Water to douse the flames flooded the downstairs bar and meeting space. Both floors were completely gutted. For VFW members, many of whom who viewed the post as a second home, the sum total of what was lost added up to far more than just the physical damage.

It was also the history that couldn't be replaced.

"We had offers to buy this place," said post quartermaster William Lawson, who served in the Army from 1983-2007. "We’re not getting rid of it ... There’s too much history here."

Lawson and other members would come to see that love for the post and its history, traced by numerous wars, was widespread.

When the rebuilding price tag ballooned to hundreds of thousands of dollars, residents "wrote a check, and made sure it found its way to the VFW Post’s mailbox" or dropped their change in donation jars at local businesses, said Gaitley Stevenson-Mathews, the president of the Tribute and Honor Foundation. The Glen Cove nonprofit formed to raise funds for the rebuild. In 2022, the foundation held its first February fundraiser and has since collected about $50,000 in donations for the VFW.

Donated time and work

The VFW Post secured a $125,000 grant from the state, and another $125,000 came in from an event hosted by U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-Glen Cove), Glen Cove City Councilmember Danielle Fugazy Scagliola and several community organizations, according to Stevenson-Mathews.

Local tradespeople, from electricians to locksmiths, donated time and materials. George Suddell of Northport-based Suddell Builders & Architects redesigned the building at no charge and secured the rebuilding bid.

"When we tore the walls away, there were hidden windows ... they were bricked over and covered by sheetrock" Suddell said. "I took that as an opportunity ... to architecturally do something kind of creative."

Recognizing the pride the VFW members took in their post’s history, he enlarged photographs of some of its WWI and World War II veterans and framed them within the old windows.

In May, the post celebrated its revival with a Memorial Day picnic free to the public as a "thank you." They even turned away donations that day.

"The community ... they got us the building back," said VFW Post 347 trustee Ronald Crowe, who served in the Army from 1966 to 1967. "We can’t thank them enough."

With one challenge extinguished, the Glen Cove vets must grapple with recruiting young blood, a struggle their fellow veterans face at other VFW and American Legion posts throughout Long Island and across the nation.

Growing membership

"Unfortunately, we're losing the older Korean and World War II guys," said post quartermaster William Lawson, in the Army from 1983-2007. He said service members from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars are "starting their business, with their families, and really don't have much time to come down."

Stillwagon said when he and his members meet younger veterans, they try to appeal to the sense of camaraderie they knew during their service.

"It’s a good thing for you to come and be with other veterans, either Korean War, Vietnam War ... the wars in the Middle East," the post commander said. "You will find some comfort talking about things with them."

Four months before the VFW fire in 2021, Nosh, a nonprofit food pantry began delivering groceries to about 300 families after setting up shop in space on the post's second floor, said chairwoman Christine Rice. Nosh returned to the rebuilt post in April to resume using it as a base of operations to serve twice as many families.

"The space is very conducive to us being able to have a pantry and a delivery service at the same time," Rice said, pointing to bins loaded with fresh produce, shelves lined with non-perishables and bags of baked breads — all donated.

"We have enough room for people to come in and shop with dignity."