[05/30/01] Members of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post No. 10734 voted Tuesday to sell their Indiana Avenue meeting hall, ending a stay of less than a year.

Post spokesmen declined to discuss reasons for the vote, though members said last week the branch was having problems meeting costs.

Bobby G. Sanders, immediate past commander, said the aluminum building would be sold as soon as possible. “It’s just like selling a house,” Sanders said. “Whenever a buyer comes along and says they want in, we’ll probably have to be out in 30 days.”

Commander Wayne Nowell Sr. said the group will get a Vicksburg Realtor to handle the transaction.

Although near the city limits, the building is in Warren County. Because there is no zoning in the county, there are no limits on how a buyer may use the structure.

Post 10734 was chartered in September 1994 and opted to buy land and build the building years later.

Members will keep meeting regularly, Sanders said. “We’re bigger than this building,” he said. “We can meet in somebody’s house or in the library if we have to.”

Veterans of Foreign Wars is an international organization open to membership for men and women who fought for the United States in World War II, the Korean conflict, the Vietnam War, the Persian Gulf War and all of the expeditionary campaigns in Bosnia. Founded in 1899, it has 1.9 million members in 9,500 posts nationwide. Nowell said the VFW also has several chapters overseas.

Local VFW members help charities such as the Mississippi Burn Center and Child Abuse Prevention Center. Its members also raise money for the VFW National Home in Eton Springs, Mich., and the Veterans Administration Hospital in Jackson.

Post members met at a restaurant until the Indiana Avenue hall was finished in July. There were problems from the beginning including neighbors in nearby Oak Park saying it should not have been constructed in a residential area. Nevertheless, the hall opened its doors in August for meetings, bingo three nights a week and social gatherings.

“We are disappointed to lose this building. There’s no doubt about that,” Sanders said. “But our charter still stands. We’re still a group, a strong group.”