This Is Not Your Typical Veterans’ Organization 

    The Army and Navy Club of Manchester, Connecticut is experiencing the same difficulty as most veterans’ organizations throughout the country. Membership is decreasing. The Club lost its last WW I veteran several years back, the WW II veterans are dying off as are many Korean War vets, Vietnam era veterans were not big on joining veterans’ organizations upon return from active duty, and there are just not that many people serving in the armed forces as there once was.

     At one point the Army and Navy Club had well over 2000 members. Today its membership is just over 800 strong. In actuality this is a much larger membership than most clubs in the area. This can be attributed to the fact that this is not your typical veterans’ organization.  The Army and Navy Club is strictly a local organization. It has no national affiliation. It has no political agenda and was founded primarily to promote comradeship between veterans of the United States Armed Forces.

    The club, which is located at 1090 Main Street in Manchester, was founded in 1919 for returning World War I veterans. The Cheney Brothers Textile Mills donated the property on which the club stands. Local businesses and citizens donated building materials and labor. The club has opened its membership to veterans of all our wars. The original members have gone the way of all good soldiers but the organization remains active in many patriotic and civic causes.

     The Army and Navy Club has begun a concentrated effort to recruit new members. Basically membership requires that a candidate be an American Citizen, discharged under honorable conditions from the military forces of the United States or have served on the ships of the Merchant Marines from December 7, 1941 to August 15, 1945. Present membership dues are only $20 per year. The club has recently established a policy of allowing active members of the military to join and continue a dues free membership until released from active duty.

     There is a wide range of activities sponsored by the Club. Six dinner dances are held during the course of the year at a minimal cost to members. An annual banquet and an appreciation night are held each year, again at a minimal charge. There are card tournaments, D.J. dances and bus trips offered periodically. There is a weekly set back league, a dart league, a shuffleboard league and a softball team and golf league that compete during the appropriate seasons. Bingo is held every Saturday night throughout the year. The Club bar is open on a regularly scheduled basis six days a week (closed Sundays). Drink prices are extremely reasonable.

 Military personnel and veterans interested in membership should feel free to contact the Club at (860) 646-9133.

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