Newton NJ American Legion Post gets Lowe's donation for new roof

NEWTON - Inside the Post 86 hall, the sounds of hammering was loud, and even in the first level gathering room, the action of attaching shingles to the roof echoed down the stairs.

The post on Wednesday was the site of a one-day "hit" as a roofing crew arrived, ripped off old shingles, laid down new plywood decking and then a layer of new shingles − all a donation of the Lowe's Home Improvement store on Route 206 in Hampton Township.

"We do projects like this, to help out our neighbors," explained John Feeney, a department manager from the store. "It might be a senior who needs help painting the house, or bigger projects, like this."

Among the store employees is Robert Glesias, who is also commander of Post 86. He had talked at work about how the post building was badly in need of reroofing, but didn't have the money to get the job started.

Glesias and vice commander Harry Kaplan had joined Feeney in the first-level bar to distance themselves from the noise coming through the vaulted ceiling of the meeting room upstairs.

Feeney, himself a veteran who was wearing his Lowe's vest, decorated with patches. "[The company] encourages us veterans to wear our vests at work," he said.

Feeney was at the scene as the roofing crew showed up at the Yates Avenue post to begin work. Almost immediately, the crew found a problem. The roof's decking was old fiberboard and would not hold modern shingle nails or tacks.

So, Feeney got on the phone and within an hour, a Lowe's delivery truck appeared with 130 sheets of half-inch plywood.

He said that was supplied from store stock.

The store, through manager Melissa McCambridge, had arranged for the roofing crew and got a supplier, Owens Corning to donate the shingles. The three-man roofing crew came from Momentum Solar of South Plainfield.

While he didn't have exact numbers, Feeney estimated that the project's total costs would near $40,000, including the quickly arranged shipment that morning of the plywood. "And we got donations and paid for the labor," he said.

"We are always looking for hometown projects," Feeney said. "This (Legion) was just a good fit."

According to the company, the "hometown" campaign was launched last year with a five-year, $100 million commitment to the communities around its stores. The projects range from neighborhood housing, to wider-serving places such as parks and community centers.

Post 86 was chartered in 1919 to honor Lt. Charles A. Meyer, Jr., a Newton native, who was killed at age 26 during the Battle of the Argonne Forest in World War I.

Initially, the post met at the old Cochran House then moved to a location on Trinity Street which was sold to the town in 1966 and is site of the Municipal Building. With those proceeds, the post built and moved into its current location at 20 Yates Ave.