Legion Auxiliary raising funds to update aging kitchen

FREMONT - American Legion Auxiliary Unit 391 is working to bring its well-used but aging kitchen into the modern era and is asking the community to help finish the job.

The auxiliary, which operates out of the Fremont Legion Hall, is raising funds for a full kitchen renovation, with demolition scheduled to begin in August and completion expected in October.

“Everything is coming out,” Auxiliary President Kendall Bentley said during a recent visit to the hall. “We’re getting all new cabinets, appliances. We’ll get rid of the two stoves and go to one 48-inch-long bigger stove. We’ll get a new fridge.”

The current kitchen dates back to the early 1970s and still reflects the look of that era. The total cost to update the kitchen is estimated at $36,000. So far, the auxiliary has raised about $23,400, including a major grant and proceeds from local fundraisers such as a recent chicken barbecue and quilt raffle.

A key boost came from the Marilynn W. Taylor/Wohlt Cheese Fund within the Community Foundation for the Fox Valley Region, which recently awarded $20,000 toward the kitchen renovation.

“That was our big kickstart,” treasurer Jen Schilling said. “If we wouldn’t have that grant, I don’t think we would have been able to do this project right now. It would have been a couple-year type of project versus (starting this year).”

The Fremont Legion Hall serves as one of the community’s most active gathering places. In addition to monthly legion and auxiliary meetings, the hall is used for a variety of public and private events, including birthday parties and anniversaries, 4-H meetings, snowmobile club gatherings, chicken barbecues, Bunco card club meetings, Boy Scout soup fundraisers, baby and bridal showers, funeral luncheons and community meals.

“This is the only hall where you can have cooking facilities when you rent it,” Schilling said.

The hall rents for about $135 per day, which members say is intended to keep the space affordable rather than generate large profits. The kitchen is central to many of the auxiliary’s biggest fundraisers, including its annual chili supper and monthly pizza nights. Side dishes for events such as the chicken barbecue are prepared inside the hall, and all dishwashing and food prep, from cutting rolls to cooking chili and hamburger, depends on the kitchen.

Auxiliary members say that for years, much of the Legion’s kitchenware has consisted of mismatched donated items. While new appliances and cabinets are a major part of the project, they hope the remodel will allow them to purchase a dedicated, organized set of pots, pans, utensils and serving tools, and to keep an inventory so hall renters and volunteers can be held accountable for what is borrowed or used.

“Right now, we don’t have a decent knife set, so we all bring our knives from home when we need to cut cheese and all that stuff,” Schilling said. “Then you’re worried about forgetting your stuff here and losing your stuff.”

The group has created an Amazon wishlist for “in-cupboard” items like cookware and utensils that supporters can purchase to donate. Even if those items aren’t all in hand by August, members say they can initially rely on their old supplies as the new kitchen comes together.

The remodel is intended to strengthen not just the building, but the Legion’s ability to serve both veterans and the wider community. Each year, members host veterans from the Wisconsin Veterans Home at King for a meal, bingo and prizes. The hall also hosts a Memorial Day parade luncheon, which is open to the public, and has become a gathering place for Green Bay Packers game days and other social events.

The legion and auxiliary also sponsor youth for Badger Girls State and Badger Boys State, provide scholarships through the local high school and a community scholarship, hosts and supports blood drives, marches in local parades and presents Blue Star banners to families with active-duty service members. Legion members provide honor guard services for military funerals and donate gift cards and other support to veterans and reservists.

Though much of the surrounding community was impacted by flooding in recent weeks, the renovation is not tied to flood recovery. Volunteers sandbagged the building and monitored pumps round-the-clock to keep the building dry.

They see the renovation as an investment in a heavily used community asset that has simply reached the end of its practical life. The auxiliary is asking supporters to help close the remaining gap in its fundraising goal.

Donations can be made by check to ALA Unit 391 with “Kitchen Fund” in the memo and mailed to Premier Community Bank, P.O. Box 35, Fremont, WI 54940.

Members say that if the remaining funds can be raised through community support, money from other Legion and Auxiliary fundraisers can stay focused on their “true mission” of supporting veterans and local programs.