BUENA PARK : VFW Post Nears End of Service

Blanche Carmichael sat at the bar one recent Friday afternoon in the dim, cavernous-like Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 8954.

“We don’t bother anybody,” said Carmichael, 65, taking a drag off a cigarette and ordering a Sharp’s, a nonalcoholic beer. “It’s just a place to come and talk to friends. We don’t come down here to booze it up.”

Others at the bar echoed the same sentiments about the expected closure of the post.

The post is supposed to move out of the Quonset-hut-like building Friday. But they have nowhere to go, and they can’t find another place to which to move. The post has filed for an extension, and it now has a reprieve until the City Council meets in February.

Carmichael, of Fullerton, has frequented the post on the corner of Homewood Avenue and 8th Street--in a residential neighborhood--for about 20 years. Her brother served in combat, and she’s a member of the Women’s Auxiliary.

“I don’t know what we’re going to do. This place is like a second home,” said Carmichael.

For years, the city has tried to get the post to move. The post has been in the neighborhood since 1961 and has a membership of 450.

City planning staff said there has been a history of complaints from neighbors about parking problems, noise and disturbances when the post used to rent out its hall. The city also has cut the post’s hours and told members the hall can’t be rented to outsiders.

“The way it looks now, it’s a losing battle for us,” said John Curry, a Buena Park resident and member since 1980. “It seems like the city has forgotten about the veteran.”

The city’s Community Redevelopment Agency has offered to buy the property for $50,000 and give an additional $50,000 for relocation costs, said May Hui, assistant director of development services and economic development.

In the purchase agreement, the city gave the post until Friday to close. Hui said the redevelopment agency plans to build an affordable, single-family home on the site.

Post Commander John Hood, a Garden Grove resident, said the VFW has written a letter to the city asking for a six-month extension to stay.

Hui said the City Council is expected to formally consider the extension at a meeting in February. “I’m confident they’ll give them an extension; they’re not going to kick them out,” Hui said.

Hood said the post’s search for a new location has been futile. A prospective move to a another Buena Park site fell through, since it was too close to a church. A potential site was found in nearby Stanton, but city officials there turned them down.

Hood said the post is looking at possible sites in Fullerton and Anaheim.

“Truthfully, we don’t know what we’re going to do,” he said. “We’re in limbo.”

Post members are not looking forward to the bar closing.

Stanley Yenowine, 66, of Buena Park, also a regular, puffed on a cigarette and sipped a cold mug of 75-cent draft Budweiser at the bar. He didn’t like the idea of the place closing down. “It’s a hell of a way to fight a war,” he said.

Members said they will mostly miss the post’s camaraderie.

“This is our ‘Cheers,’ ” said Vickie Walklin, 71, of Anaheim, referring to the television series about a bar. “This is what keeps us young--being in here. You always feel welcome.”