Suffering from a lack of participation, the local chapter of Disabled American Veterans came close to shutting down last week.

Chapter 55 was spared an untimely demise due to a dedicated contingent of mostly Simi Valley veterans who came out in support of the chapter and suggested ways to improve and grow its membership.

About 25 veterans—and a handful of other supporters— filled the chapter’s monthly meeting space at the Simi Valley Senior Center on Feb. 9. Prior to the start of the meeting, one vet surveyed the room and said how pleased he was by the turnout.

Commander Sal Ayala, who has led Chapter 55 for eight years, agreed.

“I’d like to thank each and every one of you for being here. We really appreciate your concern about our chapter,” said Ayala, a Simi resident who served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War. “This is the first time we’ve had this many people.”

Previous meetings over the past three or four months had not reached the necessary number to enact proper business as required by the DAV constitution, Ayala said. On the verge of closing the chapter and returning its charter, the chapter’s leadership sent out a plea to area members— in the form of 110 letters mailed to Simi residents—to attend the Feb. 9 meeting and vote on the future of Chapter 55.

“I would like to hear your voice and what you would like to do with this chapter. Of course, I don’t want to close it,” said Ayala, a member of the DAV for 43 years. “We are lacking participation and we need support in this chapter.”

Given the number of people in attendance, there was no need to take a vote on closing the chapter—it was obvious the members want to keep it going. Still, several expressed their concerns for the future.

Army veteran Werner Pohle said that, considering how patriotic Simi Valley is and the number of vets living in the community, he doesn’t understand why it is difficult to get a quorum at the meetings.

“When I first came to this Chapter 55, we always had anywhere between 21 and 30 people at the meeting,” Pohle said.

“(I missed a few meetings) but then I came back last month and saw seven people sitting there, including the officers. That made me very sad. What made me really upset is when I got the letter.”

Chapter Adjutant George Kalemkarian said that Chapter 55 covers more than Simi— it includes vets in cities like Agoura Hills, Camarillo and Santa Paula.

“It’s not easy to have a lot of the members attending because a lot of the members are from out of Simi,” Kalemkarian said.

Membership growth has also been stagnant. Ayala reported that no new membership applications had been sent to DAV National in the past few months.

Upon hearing this, first-time attendee Dave Gorlick joined on the spot. The Simi resident is a Korean War veteran who served in the U.S. Navy from 1953-54.

Fellow Simi resident Avery West was thrilled to no longer be the newest member—he joined the DAV in October.

But the U.S. Air Force vet said keeping the chapter in good standing would take more than adding to its ranks: It needs to promote active involvement.

“Quite frankly, at the meetings what we tend to do is go after last month’s minutes . . . and go over bank accounts. That’s not why I joined,” West said. “I joined to do something of service.

“I know you do much, much good behind the scenes, delivering the bread, the blankets, (performing) the services for families that have lost loved ones . . . that’s greatly appreciated and it’s one of our primary purposes,” he continued. “But to attract people to meetings I think we need to do something more than go over last month’s minutes.”

West suggested having a speaker at each meeting, to inform the membership and “keep their curiosity up.” He said assigning more volunteer opportunities would also spark interest.

The rest of the membership felt these were good ideas.

The group also discussed changing the meeting time to an evening or weekend and changing the location as well.

Ayala said he’d like to see more activities at meetings, too, but that it’s difficult since they are not in a building they own or where they can cook.

Wayne Wright, with the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 10049, offered up the post on Los Angeles Avenue and the poster exhibit at the Simi Valley Town Center as possible meeting spots.

Mayor Pro Tem Barbra Williamson said the city is currently working on transforming the old fire station in the Santa Susana Knolls into a veterans’ center.

The chapter also agreed that they need better outreach to get more “young blood” since Chapter 55 is mostly made up of World War II and Korean War vets.

Finally, Ayala said it is time for new leadership. The chapter will nominate new officers in March and vote in April.

Dennis Weber, past state commander of the DAV and a member of Chapter 73 in Woodland Hills, encouraged his compatriots to get moving on reinvigorating Chapter 55.

“Chapter 55 has always been a great chapter in this community. It does a lot of outreach, it does a lot of joint effort (with other veterans agencies),” Weber said.

“ It bothered me that this could be the end of 55 but I can see that is not a true story. But what bothers me (still) is there is a lot of loose ends here. . . . Let’s get some teamwork going here. Help the commander and start thinking about another commander for next year.”

Nutshell

Disabled American Veterans Chapter 55 meets at 3 p.m. on the second Thursday of every month at the Simi Valley Senior Center, 3900 Avenida Simi. The next meeting is scheduled for March 8. For more information, call (805) 527-3041 or email ca55mail@davfrat.org.