The Crookston VFW will officially be closing its doors this coming Saturday. A deal is being finalized, and Saturday will be the last day for people to stop by and enjoy the club. The Crookston Veteran of Foreign Wars group will still exist in Crookston, but the building will no longer be the VFW after the sale.
Peter Heydt has been the gambling manager on two occasions at the club, with the most recent since the club re-opened in June of 2020 after COVID-19. He spoke more about the events that will take place tomorrow and Saturday. “As far as I know, it will pretty much be normal business on Friday,” said Heydt. “We Will have Bingo at 6:30; hopefully, we will have quite a crowd again for the last couple of days.”
He also shared what events will be taking place on Saturday during the club’s final day of business. “On Saturday, we will have bingo at 1:00 p.m., and at 4:30, there is going to be a wedding party over in our side room here,” said Heydt. “We will have all the games open, some cheaper drinks to get rid of any open bottles, and we just hope it’s a good crowd on hand.”
Heydt is a Vietnam Veteran himself and spoke more on the issue the club and other clubs are starting to experience. “The problem we have right now is that Veterans of foreign wars are getting old,” said Heydt. “The new Veterans of Foreign wars are not interested in joining a club because they families to raise and are busier these days.”
The VFW opened back in 1936 and has been in business for 85 years. Heydt wanted to say thanks to everyone in the community for all the support they’ve received. “The community has been quite the help with certain things we’ve done here,” said Heydt. “We’ve had some auctions and open houses here, and we thank the community for all they’ve done. We welcome them to come in this weekend, we have signup sheets for them to sign in, and you won’t have to be a member to enjoy the club this weekend.”
Tomorrow and Saturday will be the last two days to use any bar chips you may have. The hours for the next two days will be Friday from 3:00 p.m. until 1:00 a.m. and Saturday from 12:00 p.m. until 1:00 a.m.
