The Veterans Club Dispatch-May 10, 2026

Veterans & First Responders Weekly Update

President’s Message

Connection matters more than most of us like to admit.

For veterans and first responders, isolation can sneak up on us quietly. Life gets busy. Careers change. Retirement happens. Kids grow up. People move away. Before long, it becomes easy to spend more time alone than connected to the people who understand us best.

That’s one of the reasons The Veterans Club exists.

A simple cup of coffee at a Patriot Pour may not seem like a big thing on the surface, but connection rarely begins with grand gestures. More often, it starts with small, consistent moments. Sitting across the table from another veteran or first responder. Talking about life. Laughing about old stories. Discussing grandkids, fishing, work, health, motorcycles, football, or absolutely nothing important at all.

What matters is that we gather.

Connection can happen a thousand different ways. Lunch with another member. A hike on Tubbs Hill. A trip to the shooting range. A sporting event. Touring a local business. A phone call. A cigar on the back patio. Meeting for breakfast. Watching a movie. The activity itself is often secondary. The real value is simply spending time together.

Nike made famous the phrase “Just Do It.” There’s wisdom in that when it comes to human connection too. Reach out. Invite somebody. Show up. Don’t wait for the perfect moment or the perfect plan.

The Veterans Club helps create those opportunities through regularly scheduled Patriot Pour meetings and our monthly Dinner Gatherings. They’re predictable, dependable places where you know other veterans and first responders will be there. Places where conversations happen naturally and friendships are built over time.

And that matters.

Because through conversation, we stop being thousands of individuals living in isolation. We become a community.

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PATRIOT POUR MEETINGS

Tuesday May 12 @ 1100 – PF #1 at The Bunker Bar
Wednesday May 13 @ 0900 – Hayden at Avondale Golf Course
Thursday May 14 @ 0800 – CDA at Best Western Plus
Thursday May 14 @ 1100 – PF #2 at American Legion Post #143
Friday May 15 @ 0900 – Priest River at Infinity Cafe

UPCOMING EVENTS

May 13 @ 1730 – A Brief History of the KCSO at CDA Public Library (link)
May 13 @ 1915 – Top Gun Movie at Regal Theater (link)
May 14 @ 0915 – The Veterans Club Board Meeting at Best Western Plus
May 16 @ 0800 – North Idaho Stand Down at KC Fairgrounds (link)
May 16 @ 1200 – Ray Bassler Celebration of Life (link)
May 28 @ 1130 – Ladies of The Veterans Club Tea Party (link)
May 28 @ 1700 – Dinner Gathering (link)

Jun 13 @ 1000 – Kootenai County Sheriff Community Event (link)
Jun 13 @ 1200 – Women’s Veterans Day (link)
Jun 25 @ 1700 – Dinner Gathering (link)

Jul 25 @ noon – The Veterans Club 2nd Annual BBQ Celebration (link)

Aug 2 – National Night Out

Dec 5 @ 1800 – Christmas Dinner/Party (link)

For more event info, please visit www.theveteransclub.org/events/

For our full Google Calendar, please visit: www.theveteransclub.org/google-calendar/

Would you like your veteran and/or first responder event featured on TheVeteransClub.org and/or listed in our newsletter?  Submit a flyer with all information to info@theveteransclub.org.  All postings subject to editorial review.

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PATRIOT POUR is the heartbeat of The Veterans Club — a weekly coffee meetup where veterans and first responders gather for real conversation, steady encouragement, and authentic connection.  No dues. No pressure. Just coffee and camaraderie.  Click here to see all the locations:  https://theveteransclub.org/the-patriot-pour/ 

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One More Thing

One of the questions I hear most often is, “How do we start a Patriot Pour in our town?”

The answer is actually pretty simple: gather people together and start having coffee.

That may sound overly simplistic, but The Veterans Club was intentionally designed to grow organically through relationships, not corporate structure. We are not trying to manufacture identical meetings in identical rooms with identical conversations. Human relationships don’t work that way.

Every chapter develops its own personality.

The men and women who gather in Hayden are different from those in Post Falls. Coeur d’Alene feels different from Priest River. Spokane will eventually develop its own flavor too. That’s part of the beauty of it. Each community brings its own stories, humor, experiences, struggles, and strengths to the table.

What matters is not that every Patriot Pour looks exactly the same. What matters is that every Patriot Pour creates space for connection.

There are a few foundational pieces we encourage every chapter to include: a welcome and introduction, a brief invocation or prayer, the Pledge of Allegiance, announcements, and vibrant conversation. Beyond that, your chapter should reflect the people in the room and the community it serves.

The Veterans Club will help you get started. We provide invitation cards, flyers you can post around town, digital marketing materials, event signage, donation boxes, and leadership support up the wazoo. What we won’t do is micromanage your gathering. I firmly believe healthy chapters grow naturally when local leaders are trusted to build relationships their own way.

Starting a chapter costs nothing. There are no dues. No demands. Just veterans and first responders gathering together, building friendships, and making sure nobody slips quietly into isolation.

If you’d like to talk about starting a Patriot Pour in your city or community, reach out to me directly at info@theveteransclub.org or call (208) 209-7170.