The Ogdensburg Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 2936 will remain open.

Members agreed to keep the post, at 525 Caroline St., open after a meeting with the county and state department of Veterans of Foreign Wars Thursday. Over 30 past and present VFW members attended the meeting.

“I think it went very well,” said District Four Commander Frank A. Northrup. “I had a raise of hands of those that wanted to see the post continue, and just about everybody raised their hand.”

The post closed after it failed to pay its electric and phone bills and Commander Larry Latimer resigned earlier this month.

The group must now come up with money to pay its bills. Mr. Northrup said he could not “disclose” how much was owed, but said that the post could be “back on its feet” within a month.

“We have to get all the paper work and all the bills taken care of,” he said. “We have to see where they stand as well as their accounts are concerned. It takes a while to reorganize a post that has had problems like that.”

Mr. Northrup said there was no illegal activity involved.

“I don’t foresee a problem big enough to cause the post to close,” said Mr. Northrup. “But they had real problems there. If the community appreciates having veterans there and appreciates what the veterans did for them, they will give them a helping hand. That is what they’ve got to count on.”

There are several ways members can raise the money, Mr. Northrup said.

“If they’ve got members that have a few extra dollars that they want to donate them or if they have somebody that’s got facilities that can loan them money, with a guaranteed payback,” said Mr. Northrup.

“All they have to do is get their post back,” he said. “They have no electricity no power, so they can’t really have any activities in the post until they can get that taken care of.”

Once the bills are current, Mr. Northrup said the post can elect its new officers. In the meantime, two representatives—one from state and one from the district—will oversee the post during its recovery.

“Those two are the people who will be left in charge,” he said. “They represent me. They will keep an eye on their progress and report back to me.”

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