Welcome to the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 7591 located at 301 Cottage Grove Road in Madison, WI.
Post 7591 is a great place to meet local veterans from WWII to OIF/OEF, learn more about your federal and state benefits, develop and enhance the community, and most importantly support our fellow service members.
Our Post is open to the public. We have a full bar, we are currently open from 11am until close (generally 10pm or bartender discretion) every day of the week, a Friday Fish Fry with baked and fried cod, and seasonal varieties of catfish, perch or walleye. We offer a large hall available for events, as well as other events and opportunities to get involved. As always we welcome new members and fresh ideas!
A note to all our members: We need your help to keep our Post strong. It is a small time commitment on your part. Please come to our post meeting on the 2nd Thursday of the month at 7:00pm. We have resumed limited Steak dinner again on Post Meeting nights…canteen and food services are open to the public, we accept cash and as of August 2022 accept credit/debit card and we have an ATM available.
The VFW
The Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States (VFW) is the nation’s oldest and most respected veterans service organization. Our mission is to honor the sacrifice and ensure the rights of American war veterans through advocacy, support and community service, while promoting patriotism.
The VFW provides a wide range of support to veterans and their families, including financial assistance for families of deployed troops, dedicated VFW service officers to aid veterans in filing benefits claims, and a free phone time program to allow active-duty personnel and VA patients to connect with their family members. In addition to troop support, the VFW sponsors scholarship programs, educational outreach, youth activities and community service.
You can learn much more about the VFW by visiting the National website or by taking a look at our Mentorship Guide (PDF).
Read the latest issue of VFW Magazine here.
VFW Day Post 7591 History
In 1963, a group of Veteran of Foreign Wars (VFW) members were contacted by the Wisconsin Second District Commander Ruebin Kottwitz to organize a second VFW Post in the greater Madison, Wisconsin area. After two organizational meetings at the Colonial Inn on Monona Drive in Monona, Wisconsin, VFW Post 7591 was instituted with 48 charter members on Sunday, 13 October 1963 at Village of Monona Community Center. Post 7591 was named in the honor of Donald Day and Galen Day Junior, who gave their lives in the service of their country during World War II. The Day brothers were the sons of Galen “Pappy” Day Senior and Ruth Day. Galen “Pappy” Day was one of the prime movers in establishing VFW Post 7591. Upon the death of Pappy Day, the name of VFW Post 7591 was changed to the VFW Day Post 7591 to honor all three Days.
The charter officers for the new post were Stan Sperley – Commander, Stan Salverson Junior – Senior Vice Commander, Joe Daggett – Junior Vice Commander, and Kenny Salverson – Chaplin.
In the beginning, it was difficult to find a place to hold meetings, they were held in private residences, the Old Colonel Inn on Monona Drive and in the Monona Community Center. Later the meetings were moved to the Park Ponderosa Supper Club in McFarland, Wisconsin.
During the period when the post held its meetings in McFarland, the VFW Day Post 7591 began to host its Bingo nights to raise funds to support many of the post’s projects As the post grew, members continued to look for a suitable location to establish a permanent home.
In October of 1978, negotiations were started to purchase the old Dream Lanes Bowling Alley at 301 Cottage Grove Road in Madison, Wisconsin. After about three months of negotiations, a selling price of $175,000 was agreed upon and a contract to purchase the site was signed in January 1979. At the time of the contract signing, the post only had assets of $12,000. With the assistance of American Legion Post 429 of Monona, who provided a loan of $4,500 and some dedicated VFW post members who also signed some demand notes, the closing requirements were met. Post representatives to the purchase contract were Max Koons – Commander, Stan Sperley and Donald Cunningham.
The old Dream Lanes Bowling Alley was not in the best of shape. To convert the building from a bowling alley to a suitable place to hold post meetings and social activities took many long hours of work and money. The old bowling alleys were removed, the floor re-cemented, new carpeting and tile laid, and the walls received a fresh coat of paint. After three months of hard work the home of the VFW Day Post 7591 was ready for operations. In April 1979 the post received its bar license, and was able to open in its entirety to the members and the public. In 1979, VFW Day Post had grown to over 570 members, and in 1984 the post was able pay off the mortgage and burn the mortgage papers. The post headquarters was now owned outright. This was only possible due to the hard work of many members.
Officers
Please review the list of our Post Officers and Auxiliary Officers. If you have any questions about the Post or the Auxiliary, these are great people to talk to!