The annual VFW Post 7319 Veterans Day Banquet was held at the American Legion with a potluck supper at 7:00 p.m. on November 11, 2025. Toastmaster for the evening was Mark Roberts who welcomed everyone and then introduced officers of both the VFW and American Legion and their Auxiliaries as well as the Mayor of the city of Wagner. Post Chaplain, Don Hubbard, then gave the Invocation.

Following a delicious chicken dinner, with pot luck provided by the Auxiliary, the drawing began for the annual gun raffle fundraiser. Winners of the three guns were Orv Tolliver, Tyler Kokesh and Chris Hudson.

The Missing Man Table, which was set up by Sandy Seiner, was explained by Mark. The POW/MIA table is set in a place of honor. It is set for one. This table is a way of symbolizing the fact that members of our military are missing from our midst. We call them comrades. They are unable to be with their loved ones and families, so we join together to pay our humble tribute to them and to bear witness to their continued absence.

Entertainment for the evening was provided by students from the Wagner Community School. Cooper Slaba and Hallie Roberts, two of the eleven Patriot Pen essay contest winners that were selected to represent Post 7319 in the District 7 level competition, were on hand to read their essays. Also present and reading his Voice of Democracy essay was Gavin Tjeerdsma. Gavin was one of the nine students from the Wagner Community School who had their essays selected to compete in the District 7 contest.

The Patriot Pen and Voice of Democracy contest had great participation this year. There were 160 Patriot Pen essays submitted and 134 Voice of Democracy essays written and recorded. This is the largest number of participants ever recorded for both contests.

The program for the evening was presented by Jen Lhotak, Wagner Community School counselor and Air National Guard soldier. She deployed to the Middle East a year ago with the Sioux Falls Air National Guard unit. She showed pictures and gave a very informative talk on her experience during her deployment.

Charles Mix County Veterans Service Officer, Jerry Seiner, spoke briefly about the VA benefits and healthcare available to veterans and asked those present to encourage family and friends who have served in the military to contact him for a visit to see if they are eligible to file a benefits claim or enroll in VA health care.

Mark Roberts presented the list of Post 7319 members who have passed since last Veterans Day. They were Mike Kirwan, LaVerne Andersh and Dennis Cihak. He asked for a moment of silence to honor those great veterans.

To conclude the evening, continuous membership pins were presented to post members to recognize their years of service as members of the VFW.

Chaplain Hubbard closed the banquet with the Benediction and Mark Roberts thanked all who attended.

Hallie Roberts, Gavin Tjeerdsma and Cooper Slaba who read their Voice of Democracy and Patriot’s Pen essays. Photos by Sandy Seiner