Commemorative coin from first Erie muskrat dinner in 1948 donated to VFW post

ERIE — More than 75 people dined on roasted muskrat during the annual Muskrat and Turtle Soup Supper held recently at Erie Post 3925, Veterans of Foreign Wars. Among the attendees was David Burgard, who has come almost every year since 1953.

"I've been going every year except for the two COVID years and one year when I was serving in the Army," Burgard said.

He attended this year's dinner with his son, the Rev. David Burgard, pastor of St. Mary and St. John Catholic churches in Monroe. Father David is marking his 30th year as a priest and has dined with his father at multiple muskrat suppers in the past.

This year, the elder Burgard brought with him a commemorative coin from the first dinner held in 1948 that includes a Lincoln penny with the Erie VFW logo wrapped around it. The wrapping on the horseshoe-shaped coin has a four-leaf clover on the side with President Lincoln and the words, "Keep me and never go broke — I bring good luck." On the wheat side of the coin, the wrapping says "VFW Post 3925, Erie, Michigan."

Burgard, 88, donated the coin to the post.

"I got it at the V-J Day festival in 1948 when I was 13," he recalled. "It relates to the post and I thought they would want it."

The post was founded in 1944 and the post auxiliary that helps with serving the muskrat dinners was started in 1948. As is their custom, brothers Dan and Joey Dusseau helped cook the wild game dinner this year, carrying on a tradition that began with their grandfather, Joseph, who started the muskrat dinners in 1948. The brothers are both members of the auxiliary, with Dan currently serving as president.

The dinner included turtle soup, corn, mashed potatoes and a new item: roasted goose nuggets.

"It went over pretty good," said Terry Rollins, a past commander of the post, who served as chairman. "Everybody enjoyed the rats."

The number of meals served was about 10 fewer than last year's count, said Tom Merce, who also assisted with the dinner.

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"We had fried turtle in the past, but that is more expensive, so we tried goose nuggets this year. It was really good," Merce said.

The supper is a major fundraiser and social night for the post and included a silent auction and a drawing for a pork dinner

This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Commemorative coin from first Erie muskrat dinner in 1948 donated to VFW post