Open Jam helps keep the good times rolling at American Legion Post 112
May 7—MONTVILLE — Sundays at the American Legion Post 112 in town keep getting busier, and louder.
For nearly two years, the post has hosted Open Jams in the evenings, usually from 3 to 7 p.m., as a way to both bond with the community and help keep the post's doors open.
Musicians from as far as Massachusetts and Rhode Island, along with residents, come together to play music. Open Jam is a place for everyone, veteran or not. It doesn't matter how talented or skilled anyone is, either, as long as everyone has a good time.
"They come for the love of the music, but they also understand they're supporting the house and keeping the doors open," said Bill Bauer, the post's house committee chairman
Bauer, a 30-year veteran with the Coast Guard, watched as posts in Norwich and New London were forced to close in his six years with the Legion. He said Post 112 was next on the chopping block as it faced significant debt and the potential to lose the building as the world dealt with the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic
That's when he met fellow veteran Tim Cuff.
Cuff, 66, had experience organizing similar events at other posts. Bauer, 53, said he roped Cuff into helping out when Cuff stopped in for a drink one night and the two got to chatting.
"Without Tim stepping up and coming on board, I really think we would've fell into the statistics of being the third one to go in the community," Bauer said of the post.
Now, Bauer said, the Sunday Open Jams are one of the largest fundraisers for the post as each one brings in a third of the post's monthly operating budget.
Cuff finds new musicians each week to guest host ― usually a guitarist, a bassist and a drummer ― while anyone can sign up to join in on the jam. The music can range from classic rock to the blues, and even some songs from the 1950s.
Bauer and Cuff each called the event family-friendly and open to the public. There's no entry fee and the musicians aren't paid. The only income comes from the drinks served.
Anthony Edley, nicknamed "Shredley" for his guitar skills, was one of the three guest hosts on Sunday and said he's played at about a dozen of the Sunday Open Jams. He called them a good time with good people from the community.
"Everybody's just having a good time," Edley said. "That's the point of music."
Edley, 33, is a guitar teacher with a studio at the Middlesex Music Academy. He teaches about 50 students during the week and spends his weekends playing solo acts or with bands.
Edley said the jams are a great place for people of all skill levels to play at as they teach musicians how to play with others.
"There's kind of a lost art of just getting in a room with people and making music with people you've never met," Edley said.
For Danny Newman of Norwich, this rings true.
Newman said he's been playing for about 45 years and started coming to the open jams years ago, when they were still in Preston. He was warming up his guitar at a picnic table under the tent as he prepped to join the jam.
"I'm still learning," Newman said of playing the guitar, "and I'm learning here every week from these guys."
The Sunday evening Open Jams mean more than a few hours of music for the veteran members of the post.
"It means everything," said 69-year-old John Cameron, a Marine veteran.
Cameron and 75-year-old Mike Drowne, a Navy veteran, explained that these jams allow their home away from home to stay open, which allows them to help their brothers ― no matter which branch they served in ― when they need it most.
"Push come to shove, we're all brothers and we pull together when we need to pull together," Cameron said. "No matter the circumstances, we are together."
The post is a nonprofit in town and spends its money on its building, its members and the community. When a veteran can't afford to pay their oil bill for a month, the post helps in any way it can. Each year the post donates turkeys for Thanksgiving and toys to the Department of Children and Families for Christmas. The post sponsors Eagle Scouts and Little League teams.
When Drowne calls Cameron at 4 a.m. because he needs to talk to a fellow veteran, Cameron is at his front doorstep as quickly as he can be. The two call themselves a team who volunteer at the post as much as possible.
On Sundays, Drowne likes to channel his inner Elvis Presley and sing a bit on stage.
"It's about coming in here as that brotherhood or sisterhood and being able to have somebody that you can relate to," Bauer said.
The post rallied together to help keep the doors open and now have a place to not only help each other, but to continue to give back to the community that surrounds them.
"This is my family right here," Cameron said. "This is the place I feel the most comfortable."
