By Jared Schmeltzer
Reporter
Saturday afternoon, over 50 civilians and veterans gathered on the corner of Johnson and East 6th streets in Merrill, to celebrate the groundbreaking of the new Northwoods Veterans Post. The event kicked off with patriotic tunes courtesy of the Merrill City Band and vocals from the Church Mutual employee choir. Various members of the VFW along with executives from Church Mutual Insurance Company were on hand at the event and spoke on the impact this building will have on local veterans and the community.
Church Mutual donated the 4.3 acres of land where the building is currently under construction. The 14,376 square-foot facility will support more than just veterans, as it will be accessible to scouts, families of veterans and the entire region. The new post, expected to open in 2020, will include eight offices, four meeting rooms, an education center, a storage building, volleyball courts and access to outdoor activities such as hiking, biking, an ATV and snowmobile trail.
The facility will be used for training events, sports, meetings, social events, but most importantly veteran affairs services. Currently, many vets must travel to Tomah, La Crosse, Milwaukee or elsewhere in Wisconsin for such services.
The Northwoods Veterans Post will be home to eight different organizations, making it one of only a few organizational posts in the nation to provide unique opportunities to bridge the gap between veterans, youth and the private sector. In addition, the building will provide a home for our nation’s first United States Military Chaplains Registry; offering opportunities for continued support all over the world.
“This post is a good resource for the community,” said Vaughn Edsall, manager of physical security and safety at Church Mutual, and also a U.S. military veteran. “But more importantly, a lot of veterans who serve overseas in combat zones come home and don’t have access to the services they need. So what I’m hoping is that local veterans can now come home and this post will provide them with all the services that they need.”
Church Mutual is one of the largest and best-known employers in the region, with many veterans working as executives, including President and CEO Rich Poirier; Vice President, Secretary, and General Counsel Mike Smith; and many more throughout their company.
“Church Mutual is a big business in this community, and we are very committed to the community as well as the military,” said Dawn Bernatz, Director of Marketing Strategy and Communications at Church Mutual. “So when this opportunity came up and they were looking for a place to go, knowing we had all of this land, all the powers that be and the leaders talked about it and decided that it would be a really great thing to give them this land, because the Post will serve so many veterans and their families that need support. There are so many military veterans that work for our company throughout the country, so it was a really neat opportunity, We are very happy to be a part of it, because Church Mutual is so dedicated to Merrill and anything that we are capable of doing to help the community, we will.”
According to (U.S. Army Ret.) Colonel Paul Russell, chairman of the Northwoods Veterans Support Group, fundraising is still ongoing for the Veterans Post. For more information or to donate, call 715-351-2889, email [email protected], visit www.NorthwoodsVeteransPost.org, or visit their Facebook page, facebook.com/nvp.org.