Mondays · 8:00 AM
Monday coffee call
Forty or so regulars, a pot that never runs dry and the week's news from the Star Press read out loud by whoever got there first.
2120 S Madison St · Open six days a week
Post 214 · Since 1946
Coffee at 8. Claims at 10. Fish fry Friday.
A veterans hall run by veterans. Our accredited service officer helps you file VA claims for free, the honor guard stands at every member's funeral, and the canteen keeps the coffee on until somebody turns the lights off.
- Claims help
- Free, by appointment, Mon–Thu
- Canteen
- Tue–Sat from 3 PM
- Members
- 612 and counting
Tuesday, 10:15 AM
A Marine and a soldier, forty years apart, waiting on the same claims officer.
The service office
Never pay anyone to file your VA claim
Wanda Sizemore is a VA-accredited service officer and a Navy corpsman who spent eleven years at Great Lakes and Bethesda. She has filed more than 1,900 claims from the little office behind the bar, and she will not charge you a cent.
Bring your DD-214 if you have it. If you don't, she can request it from St. Louis while you drink your coffee.
- Disability compensation and increases
- PACT Act claims for burn pits and Agent Orange
- Pension and survivor benefits for widows
- Appeals, including ones somebody else started
What goes on here
Six days a week on South Madison
Members get a vote. Everybody else gets a seat. You do not need to be a member to come to anything below.
Fridays · 5 – 7:30 PM
Friday fish fry
Hand-battered cod, slaw, rye bread and pie from the Auxiliary. Twelve dollars, kids under ten eat free, carryout at the side door.
Wednesdays · 7:00 PM
Peer circle
Veterans only, led by two members trained through the VA's peer support program. What's said in the back room stays in the back room.
Thursdays · 6:30 PM
Thursday bingo
Twenty games, a progressive jackpot and the loudest caller in Delaware County. Proceeds go to the honor guard's travel fund.
The post in 2025
What one hall did last year
Counted from the service office log, the honor guard roster and the canteen till.
Calendar year 2025
Figures read out at the annual meeting, January 2026.
- VA claims filed for veterans and widows1214
- New monthly benefits won for local veterans2$1.38 million
- Funerals attended by the honor guard97
- Fish fry plates served11,460
- Rides to the Marion VA Medical Center3306
- 1Yes, really. Wanda swears she didn't plan it.
- 2Annualized value of claims granted, as reported by the VA.
- 3Our two-van shuttle, Tuesdays and Thursdays.
From the canteen
Why they keep coming back
I sat on a 40 percent rating for nineteen years because I thought that was it. Wanda had me at 80 in seven months.
When my husband died the honor guard was there in the rain, all eleven of them. I've been in the Auxiliary ever since.
My dad wouldn't talk to a counselor. He'll talk to the guys at coffee call. That's good enough for me.
On the board
Coming up at the hall
Oct17
PACT Act claims clinic
9:00 AM – 2:00 PM · Service office
Walk-in help for burn pit and Agent Orange claims. Bring any medical records you have.
Oct24
Chili cook-off and euchre
4:00 PM · Main hall
Eight-dollar bowl pass, euchre tournament at six. Entries close Thursday.
Nov11
Veterans Day ceremony
11:00 AM · Front flagpole
Colors, the reading of names and taps at eleven, then free lunch inside for every veteran.
Nov26
Thanksgiving dinner
1:00 PM · Main hall
Free for veterans and families. Call by the 20th so the Auxiliary knows how many turkeys.
Nothing in that category this month.
Your claim takes about an hour. The coffee's free.
Book a slot with the service officer Monday to Thursday, or call and Wanda will find you one this week.