MIDDLETON–After decades running a beer tent at the Good Neighbor Festival (GNF), the Middleton “Sonny” Simon VFW Post 8216 announced it would withdraw from the festival last week.
Citing concerns over safety and inclement weather, the VFW, who is a founding member of GNF in 1964 sent an email to the Times-Tribune outlining why they wanted to back out.
The organization is worried that the “open campus,” which would allowing alcohol on the entire grounds of the festival, will lend itself to underage drinking.
In an email signed “VFW Post 8216” the group said this idea has come up in previous years but stalled out, “The idea of allowing beer consumption across the Fest grounds (open campus) has come up in years past, prior to the current GNF Executive Committee (GNF) being seated. It was never implemented because of clearly identified increased risks and liabilities and the inability to adequately address those risks and liabilities.”