The meeting space for the Willoughby American Legion, VFW Post 1500 and the Combat Vets Motorcycle Association recently received upgrades from Home Depot and local businesses. (Submitted)

Through a significant contribution of materials and labor, the meeting space for the Willoughby American Legion, VFW Post 1500 and the Combat Vets Motorcycle Association recently received upgrades that have been a long time coming.

At 38295 Pelton Road, 40 Home Depot employees orchestrated the project in one day, said Christopher Woodin, current commander of VFW Post 1500 and past secretary for Combat Vets. The post also received a $16,000 grant.

“They came from Cleveland Heights, Euclid, Chardon, Mayfield, Mentor,  Medina — all over,” he said. “We were so thankful for them. For them to come and orchestrate all of this work in one day was unbelievable as far as getting everything in. It looks beautiful — night and day from before, and after.”

Additionally, stone from DeMilta Sand and Gravel in Eastlake and a 40-yard garbage bin from Tony Scheiber’s Hauling out of Fairport Harbor were donated as was coffee from Dunkin’ Donuts in Mentor. DBB Electric, a veteran-owned company, provided electrical services.

Others integral in the project include Willoughby Mayor Robert Fiala and Kari Pfeifer, VFW Ohio senior vice commander, as well as Woodin’s quartermaster and his canteen manager.

“We had heard The Home Depot periodically hands out grants,” Woodin said. “I actually stopped at the Mentor Home Depot and ran into the manager, Mike Pinguh. He was gracious in hearing our requests for the grants.

“He had told me to put a letter together and at that time, I stated if we can just get some landscaping done, that would be greatly appreciated.”

More than 100 are members with the VFW post, close to 300 with the American Legion and roughly 50 with Combat Vets. Due to an aging population of members, it’s not an easy task for them to maintain the post like they used to, Woodin said.

“Anything would’ve been appreciated — $500, $1,500,” he said. “(Pinguh) ended up making many trips out to our post to see what we were dealing with. He immediately started measuring and, ‘What do you want to do with this? What do you think about this?’ I was overwhelmed. I’m like ‘we’re probably getting a little too expensive here.”

Woodin took over Post 1500 over a year ago and since that time, small adjustments have been made with the money available.

“It’s probably been 25 years since that post has been upgraded,” he said. “At that point, I’m like our floor and hall is atrocious. It could be stripped and waxed. LED lighting in our kitchen — those regular lights get so hot on top of the ovens in here. Our ceiling tiles were still from back when the smoking days happened, so we were starting to save up to get those replaced.”

Furthermore, the carpeting was 25 years old with rips and tears in it, and there was also a desire to do an outdoor lounge area in the back area of the building for members. As a result, a material list of a 24-by-12-foot outbuilding off the back of the building was supplied.

“Jeff Wheeler Construction out of Mentor is going to construct that for us free of charge as a donation to our post, so that is greatly appreciated,” Woodin said.

As part of the upgrades, seven flagpoles were installed out front to honor all the branches of service.

“We have a sign out front and it’s illuminated,” Woodin said. “We had found out that there was just an extension cord going underground, so we thought we probably need to do some proper conduit there and they provided all the material for that, and ran the electric wire from our building to the sign.

“Later, we’ll get an electrician to tie that in for us.”

Rather than taking the money the post makes to make necessary upgrades, that can now be used in the community to help out.

“This took a huge burden off of us and allows us to further help veterans in our community,” Woodin said. “It’s all such a trickle down effect if you think about all that money we don’t have to spend.”

“What we are dealing with with every other American Legion, VFW and these veteran organizations is the decrease in population of members,” he added. “There’s power in numbers, so we’re trying to fix these posts to attract younger veterans to come in from Afghanistan and Iraq.”

Woodin is hoping that by attending to the post’s aesthetics, it will attract younger veterans.

“I understand they’re young, have young families and they don’t want to hang out at a perceived bar if you will, but it is so much more than that,” he said.