Ladies, put the dollar bills away. There will be no well-oiled, hard-bodied men dancing at the VFW Saturday night.
Post commander Chip Shaffer said he did not want to get into a legal fight with the city fathers, who said the VFW could be in violation of three city codes regulating decency in this fast-growing town of 27,000.
"The question to consider was: How much do we extend to defend?" Shaffer said. The post would rather use its money in other ways than a battle with the city to allow the scantily clad "Men of the USA" to perform, he said.
The VFW, on West First Street, had planned the event to raise money for U.S. military personnel and their families.
Shaffer received a letter Friday from City Administrator Walter Denton stating the event could be in violation of three city codes: illicit dancing in an establishment that serves alcohol; a sexually oriented establishment within 1,000 feet of a church or school; and sale or consumption of alcohol within 100 feet of a sexually oriented establishment.
The VFW post has a liquor license and is within 1,000 feet of St. Clare Catholic Church. But Shaffer argues that the VFW is not a sexually oriented establishment and that the dancers would not be illicit. He said he and the promoter were working out the details of what exactly the dancers would wear and were leaning toward a Speedo-style garment that covers more than a G-string.
I have to admit that when I think of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, this was not an image that came to mind.
3 comments
I am reminded of the statue erected at the front gate of Fort Dix, NJ with the slogan “This we’ll defend!”
After reading your post, I would have to say, “This, we’ll defend?????”
One of the best things about the military draft was that it exposed men to people that they otherwise never would have met.
I can hear my grandfather (God rest his soul) spinning in his grave. Never a prouder VFW could you have met. I’d bet his last words were a war story from his time in the Pacific in WWII.