The VFW

The Earl J. Sanders VFW Post 754 was a veterans' establishment located in the town of Amherst. The lower level featured a bar, a pool table, and numerous tables for diners, while the upper level was an open banquet hall that residents could rent for events such as concerts, weddings, and funeral receptions. As a licensed club, the VFW has been able to preserve traditions that other bars can’t, such as allowing clientele to smoke indoors.

History
The Amherst VFW chapter was established May 26, 1921 by veterans of the Spanish-American War and World War I. It was named after Earl J. Sanders, a U.S. Army private and Amherst resident who died in 1918 fighting on the German lines.

The building itself was constructed in the early 1960s, mainly by veterans of World War II. From the1960s and onward, the VFW sponsored numerous youth and adult sports teams, with trophies and plaques filling the building, as well as having had a pitch league, a bowling league, and a billiards league.

Towards the later years of its operation, the VFW started to see a sharp decline in clientele, hurting the VFW financially. Around 2016, the VFW was forced to close its full kitchen, replacing it with a limited selection of bar foods. On February 28th, 2020, the VFW had its last night of regular bar service and has since been closed to the public.

The Bar
The VFW Bar housed liquor, beer, and snacks. Snacks ranged from typical potato chips, pretzels, and pizza, to more exotic cuisines like pickled eggs and kielbasa. A sign behind the bar advertised the monthly meat raffle. A grizzled veteran could usually be found hunched at the end of the bar, watching a basketball game. The bar is also the location of The Sign In Book, a composition book meant to log non-members who visit the bar.

Notable Bartenders

 * Scott - Never served himself, but is a descendant of a soldier. As a child, he spent a lot of time in the VFW with his grandfather. Adult Scott would go on to balance a job as a bartender at the VFW with a side job working at the Mullins Center.
 * Grandma
 * Snack Man

The Dining Area
The dining area at the VFW featured tables for patrons to sit at, as well as other amenities. One wall of the dining area contained a dart board, with the ability to rent darts from the bartender. A shelf full of various board games was adjacent to this dartboard. Occasionally, the popcorn machine would offer free snacks, ranging in freshness from newly popped to week-old.

One table in the dining room is permanently set aside to honor prisoners of war and those who are missing in action.