AMVETS support museum move

FAIRBORN — A local veterans’ organization has stepped up to support the Miami Valley Military History Museum as the organization prepares to move to the Fairborn community. AMVETS Post 444 presented the MVMHM with a $750 check Tuesday evening, to support the museum’s efforts to bring its operation to Fairborn.

AMVETS Post 444, Sons of AMVETS, and Post 444 Ladies Auxiliary each donated $250 towards the move. The donation will go towards the museum’s “Operation Big Switch,” supporting the museum’s move to Fairborn.

“We try to support any veterans here,” AMVETS Post Commander David Nill said. “Finding something local to help out was worth it.”

The MVMHM is currently located on the Dayton Veterans Affairs campus. Moving to Fairborn will allow curators Catherine Beers-Conrad and her husband Mark Conrad to display more of the thousands of local military artifacts currently housed in Dayton.

“We go to the VA enough, but we didn’t even know they were out there,” Nill said. “This is a military town. I think there’s much better support here than at the VA.”

Nill said he expects the museum will benefit from the “synergy” such a facility would have with nearby Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Wright State University, and other veterans- and first responder-focused infrastructure that Fairborn has to offer.

Amongst other contenders, trustees of the museum are looking to procure the old American Legion building on the corner of Main and Broad Street. The property boasts a 14,000 square foot space for the museum, and presents an opportunity to host events. The estimated cost for the building is $150,000-$200,000.

London Bishop | Greene County News Catherine Beers-Conrad (left) accepts a donation of $750 from Fairborn AMVETS Post 444 to move the Miami Valley Military History Museum to Fairborn.
https://www.fairborndailyherald.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2021/04/web1_20210413_181944.jpgLondon Bishop | Greene County News Catherine Beers-Conrad (left) accepts a donation of $750 from Fairborn AMVETS Post 444 to move the Miami Valley Military History Museum to Fairborn.

By London Bishop

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