05/24/2026
As we're preparing for leadership handovers, there's a few thoughts I just wanted to share.
To our incoming commanders and leadership,
Whether this is your first year or a consecutive year, we all start the year with plans for the coming year. Remember, this is a marathon and not a sprint, if you start off with a bang and then fizzle within a couple months, it will make for a very long year. While the commander is the considered the senior person in the post, we are a figure head who is there to represent our membership, not act as a dictator.
You will make mistakes, we all do. Holding a position doesn't make you exempt from that. When (not if) that happens, be accountable for those mistakes, learn from them, and then move forward.
You may have been handed others as part of your leadership that you aren't a fan of, let that go and focus on betterment of the organization and membership. When you come to the table to discuss - set aside pettiness, egos, and the mindset of this is how it's always been done. This organization is evolving over time, and our mindsets need to be open to do the same.
Allow yourself to learn as the year progresses. Situations will present themselves that you may have never dealt with, seek guidance and don't be afraid to ask questions. Nobody knows everything and it's okay to admit you don't always have the answers.
Lastly, don't forget to recognize those who show up! It doesn't have to be anything elaborate, but acknowledge those who are supporting at the post meeting, on your social media, through an email, etc. This also includes your auxiliary, if your post has one!
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To our membership,
We need you! Most of the posts are lucky if they see 10% of members show up to meetings and even less than that showing up to events. As the outgoing district commander and a post commander, there is nothing more discouraging than to keep pouring hours of time and effort into events for a couple people to show up.
You don't have to show up for everything, but please show up for something - maybe you can manage coming to one meeting a quarter, that's better than never showing up.
We understand that everyone has lives outside of the VFW, as do we, but if we all made a small effort, it would keep a handful of people from carrying all the weight. We've all heard the saying 'many hands make light work', this is just as true with our posts as with anything else.
For those who consistently show up - THANK YOU! I don't truly think there's a way to explain how encouraging it is to see you there time after time. There's been more than a couple times this last year that I felt like just throwing my hands up and being done, but then I would go in and see a familiar face and be reminded that it's worth it. It's members who show up that keep the posts running and the leadership pushing forward.
Bottom line - you matter!
I hope as we head into this next year, we can all focus forward on what we can do as a post and district family to make this an organization where people want to be. It's truly been an honor to serve in the leadership, both at the post and district levels, for the last few years and I look forward to seeing where we can go from here.
-Mindy King
outgoing District 5 Commander
