EDISON — Every other Wednesday 12-15 veterans meet together for breakfast at the Edison Depot Restaurant. The restaurant sets out places in a horseshoe formation for the group to visit and enjoy breakfast and conversation together.
“We have good camaraderie,” said Navy veteran, Ned Goff. “We tell sea stories and war stories and every time we tell them they get better.”
The group isn’t sure of the exact date they started. However, Walter Hurd can verify that it’s been at least 30 years.
Hurd started coming the year he retired after 24 years as principal at Delaware Hayes High School. That was in 1989 and that was when the group began to meet.
They originally called the club “McKale’s Navy” since the first members were navy veterans. It was a play on words since one of the members name was McKale, or Hale. No one is sure of that, but there was a 1960s TV show called McHale’s Navy and they stuck with the name “McKale’s Navy.”
The group met at Pat’s Restaurant in Cardington for breakfast until it closed and have been meeting at the Edison Depot ever since.
The group defers to Hurd on the history of the group. They refer to Hurd who just celebrated his 90th birthday as “The Commander.”
Hurd was a member of the OSU Marching Band and an OSU graduate. He first taught music at Jeffersonville before serving in Korea in 1951. When he returned he was band director at Miami Trace before finishing his career at Delaware Hayes as principal.
Hurd and Goff invite all veterans from every branch of the service to join in the breakfast fellowship at Edison Depot. There are members from the Army, Air Force, and Marines attending as well as Navy veterans.
Their main purpose said Goff is to enjoy the friendship of fellow veterans.
“We welcome all veterans,” said Goff.
Their meeting dates are every other Wednesday morning at 8 a.m. at Edison Depot on State Route 95 (552 W. High St.) in Edison. The next meeting will be Oct. 30. The number is 419-946-3663.
