In 1963, a group of Veteran of Foreign Wars (VFW) members were contacted by the Wisconsin Second District Commander Ruebin Kottwitz to organize a second VFW Post in the greater Madison, Wisconsin area. After two organizational meetings at the Colonial Inn on Monona Drive in Monona, Wisconsin, VFW Post 7591 was instituted with 48 charter members on Sunday, 13 October 1963 at Village of Monona Community Center. Post 7591 was named in the honor of Donald Day and Galen Day Junior, who gave their lives in the service of their country during World War II. The Day brothers were the sons of Galen "Pappy" Day Senior and Ruth Day. Galen "Pappy" Day was one of the prime movers in establishing VFW Post 7591. Upon the death of Pappy Day, the name of VFW Post 7591 was changed to the VFW Day Post 7591 to honor all three Days.

The charter officers for the new post were Stan Sperley - Commander, Stan Salverson Junior - Senior Vice Commander, Joe Daggett - Junior Vice Commander, and Kenny Salverson - Chaplin.

In the beginning, it was difficult to find a place to hold meetings, they were held in private residences, the Old Colonel Inn on Monona Drive and in the Monona Community Center. Later the meetings were moved to the Park Ponderosa Supper Club in McFarland, Wisconsin.

During the period when the post held its meetings in McFarland, the VFW Day Post 7591 began to host its Bingo nights to raise funds to support many of the post's projects As the post grew, members continued to look for a suitable location to establish a permanent home.

In October of 1978, negotiations were started to purchase the old Dream Lanes Bowling Alley at 301 Cottage Grove Road in Madison, Wisconsin. After about three months of negotiations, a selling price of $175,000 was agreed upon and a contract to purchase the site was signed in January 1979. At the time of the contract signing, the post only had assets of $12,000. With the assistance of American Legion Post 429 of Monona, who provided a loan of $4,500 and some dedicated VFW post members who also signed some demand notes, the closing requirements were met. Post representatives to the purchase contract were Max Koons - Commander, Stan Sperley and Donald Cunningham.

The old Dream Lanes Bowling Alley was not in the best of shape. To convert the building from a bowling alley to a suitable place to hold post meetings and social activities took many long hours of work and money. The old bowling alleys were removed, the floor re-cemented, new carpeting and tile laid, and the walls received a fresh coat of paint. After three months of hard work the home of the VFW Day Post 7591 was ready for operations. In April 1979 the post received its bar license, and was able to open in its entirety to the members and the public. In 1979, VFW Day Post had grown to over 570 members, and in 1984 the post was able pay off the mortgage and burn the mortgage papers. The post headquarters was now ours outright. This was only possible due to the hard work of many members.

Since 1963, our post has had a number of honors: three commanders have been designated as All American, three have been All State Captains, six were all All State, five were Dane County Council Commanders, three have been Wisconsin Second District Commanders, and five have been national Aid De Camps. This year our commander represented the VFW in the Veterans Day celebration as the key note speaker in the rotunda of our state capital.

Today VFW Day Post 7591 has boosted its membership to over 589 members, of which 348 are life time members.

If you have and questions or comments concerning the history as noted here, please contact the post historian, at steel38@tds.net with your comments.