Add yourself or your family member to our growing Brooklyn Historical Society VETERANS Book of Honor, recording your service to America.  Open to anyone who has lived in the cities of Brooklyn Park or Brooklyn Center.  Click the link below to bring up a printable page.
BHS Veterans Book of Honor link (rtf format)
Veterans Monuments & Flags
Palmer Lake VFW Post 3915
2819 Brookdale Drive, Brooklyn Park, MN 55444
                           (763) 560-3720
The Clarence LaBelle VFS Post #217 was organized in 1930.  The post was named for a soldier from North Minneapolis who made the ultimate sacrifice in World War I at the age of nineteen.  He had recovered from his initial wounds and went back into action before he met his demise.  The first commander of the post was P. A. Bowers.  In 1940 the VFW post moved into their new accommodations at 2201 51st Avenue North in the former Reed School.  Later the Post sold its real estate in later years and moved into the Palmer Lake VFW in Brooklyn Park.  The Post sponsored many activities like Buddy Poppy sales, many Pancake Breakfasts, Bingo Games and dances.  The Post also sponsored  Ice Fishing contests, boxing matches that included a Champion Boxer, the late Arnie Nyberg, owner of Chrysty's Auto Repair at 53rd & Dupont.  The Post sponsored basketball teams, softball teams, gun safety training for young people and Boy Scout Troops.  The net proceeds from these many projects were used to help needy veterans and their families.

Along with the Post, the Auxiliary was also founded in 1931.  A primary effort is to support the activities of the Post like:  funeral luncheons, teen dances, Halloween parties for children, Junior Girls Auxiliary flags, layettes for needy moms, sewing pajamas, scuffs, laundry bags, Memorial Services, rolled bandages to help with the war efforts, blood donors, Civil Defense training, Poppy Sales, sewing items for the cancer foundation, reading to the blind at the Minnesota Veterans Home and the VA Hospital and many more functions.  When the Post moved to the Palmer Lake VFW in Brooklyn Park in the early 1990's, they moved to the new location as well.
The plaque at the base of the flagpole at Mound Cemetery where the Palmer Lake VFW proudly supports efforts to honor our Veterans. 
Memorial Day service image from program at Mound Cemetery (2007).
For VFW Membership, here's a link to the national organization of the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States.
Click here to go to the National VFW home page for news & programs!  This is also a good starting point for links to Veterans Services!
Click to return to BHS HOME page, the SITE INDEX / LINKS page or the FALL EVENT details summary.  See our 2008 SESQUICENTENNIAL page.                       Updated March 2008
Page courtesy of Brooklyn Historical Society, a group that works to preserve the history of Brooklyn Township in Hennepin County, State of Minnesota and the cities of Brooklyn Park and Brooklyn Center.