Millard's Veterans Alliance Is Waiting on Electrical Work. Veterans Day Week Still Runs Through S Plaza.

"Not having that post, you do not have a place for your records, you do not have a rallying point, you do not have a place where people can know where to contact you or how to contact you." Larry Stunkel, quartermaster of Millard VFW Post 8334, told WOWT this in July while explaining why the VFW and American Legion Post 374 were combining under one roof.

He was describing something the VFW had already been through. Its original location was sold in 2022, it moved in with the Legion, and engagement dropped before members started coming back. For Millard's two veterans posts, a building is what keeps the membership together. That explains why the stalled work at the former El Bee's on South 144th Street matters, and why Veterans Day week this year still runs out of the post the Legion has been working to leave.

A building that was supposed to open October 1

The new home is the former El Bee's restaurant at 10402 S 144th Street, near 144th and Werner Way. Signs outside already call it the Millard Veterans Alliance. Here's how the date has moved:

• April 29, 2024: El Bee's closed its 144th Street location. Its Waterloo location stayed open, Grow Omaha reported.
• July 2026: WOWT reported that Post 374 had spent 13 years near 138th and S Street on a lease with Lord of Hosts Church, and that the lease ends at the close of the year. Members voted to merge with VFW Post 8334 and buy the El Bee's building jointly, and they hoped to move in by October.
• October 2026: The post's own newsletter said work was "progressing" but "no move in date has been announced."
• October 21, 2026: KMTV's 3 News Now reported that construction was paused for 30 to 40 days while crews work on the electrical system. VFW Commander Greg Kleve said January 1 is the earliest the two posts can move in, so the building won't open in 2026.

Kleve told 3 News Now that some of the crews are volunteers, and that the coming holidays make it harder to get people out to the site. A lease that ends at the close of the year and a building that opens January 1 at the earliest leave almost no room in between. That's why November is a busy month at the current post.

What the extra 1,500 square feet is for

The El Bee's building gives the merged group about 1,500 more square feet than the current Legion space. Commander Eric Peterson of Post 374 told WOWT the room "will allow us to do larger events and try to generate more revenue too." It also has a bar and a bigger kitchen. "The kitchen is pretty huge. This is probably twice as big as we got so," Kleve said.

The kitchen matters because so much of the post's calendar is built around food. The October 2026 newsletter, published as "Millard Veterans Alliance News," lists $3 tacos on Mondays, Cook's Choice on Wednesdays, and weeknight specials like chicken and noodles, BLTs and fries, and hot beef sandwiches. The Sons of the American Legion, or SAL, run raffles at taco nights, and the Auxiliary sells 50/50 tickets during Husker games. The Auxiliary says the money goes back into activities at the post and to causes in the community.

That's the revenue Peterson wants to grow, and it already reaches past the post's own walls. Peterson told WOWT the Legion has hosted cookouts at Victory Apartments, housing for veterans who are getting back on their feet, along with clothing drives and student scholarships. The Riders chapter gave some of its May Poker Run money to the Corporal Daegan Page Foundation. A kitchen twice the size means bigger versions of those events. Until the move, everything comes out of the current kitchen, which the newsletter says is short on volunteers.

Veterans Day week, starting at S Plaza

The newsletter gives the post's location as 13913 S Plaza, Omaha, NE 68137, and its phone number as 402-895-1324. In June, Grow Omaha described the two posts as sharing space next to The Amazing Pizza Machine. The newsletter doesn't say whether the bar and kitchen are open to the public or only to members and guests, so call before heading over for tacos or bingo.

These dates fill the week, starting Thursday, November 5:

1. Thursday, November 5, 6 to 7 p.m.: Veterans Shine On at Memorial Park, 6005 Underwood Ave. City of Omaha Parks and Recreation hosts this public evening, with a wreath-laying ceremony, music, refreshments and the lighting of the WWII Colonnade. Mayor John Ewing Jr., Councilmember Pete Festersen and retired Navy veteran Eric Ewing are scheduled to speak.
2. Friday, November 6: High school playoff football. Post 374's color guard presented the colors at Millard South football games this season. Its newsletter lists November 6 and 13 as possible playoff dates, still to be determined. The same color guard won first place in its category at the Millard Days parade.
3. Sunday, November 8: SAL Turkey Bingo at the post. The kitchen is open from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. with burgers and chips for $10, and bingo starts at 1 p.m.
4. Monday, November 9: $3 tacos at the post.
5. Tuesday, November 10, 11 a.m.: Pinochle at the post. It runs every Tuesday.
6. Wednesday, November 11, 11 a.m.: Veterans Day ceremony at Memorial Park. The Sarpy Serenaders' event listing shows the group performing. In bad weather, the ceremony moves to American Legion Post 1, 7811 Davenport St.

Memorial Park is a short drive up Dodge Street from Millard. The bingo, the tacos and the Tuesday pinochle all happen in the Legion's current building, which the posts expect to leave after the holidays.

How neighbors can help before January

The posts have asked for three kinds of help: money, volunteer time and attendance.

For money, the Legion's online fundraiser for the new building has a $250,000 goal. Challenge coins cost $10 at the post's bar, and Peterson wrote in the newsletter that they help pay for the new Millard Veterans Alliance. The two posts also formed the Millard Veterans Foundation. Stunkel told WOWT it gives them more room to market and reach out, and that "the money, its not just for the VFW, its not just for the legion, its for veterans and veteran support organizations in the community."

For time, the October newsletter says the kitchen is down a couple of volunteers. It describes a shift as "only a couple of hours," and it's looking for a kitchen cashier to work one or two Wednesdays a month, with training provided. The color guard and honor guard also welcome volunteers. Members helped with demolition at the El Bee's building over the summer, and some of the crews finishing it are volunteers too.

Attendance is the third. Peterson wrote that the new club "is progressing nicely, although sometimes slowly, but that's the way these things can go." Kleve described the move to WOWT in July:

"We are really excited. This is kind of a good dream for us to come true."

The newsletter calls Post 374 the second-largest post in Nebraska. Its next move is to 10402 S 144th Street, on January 1 at the earliest. The SAL's sign-off in the October newsletter still says, "We look forward to seeing you at the Post!" For this Veterans Day week, that post is at 13913 S Plaza.

If you're a veteran or military household settling into Millard, or you're helping someone who is, contact a Good Life Group agent at BHG | The Good Life Group for help with your move and with finding the local groups that welcome veterans.