The Gilpin County Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 7563 donated $405 to the 4H during the Gilpin County Fair. VFW Commander Jacob Upchurch and Quartermaster Joe Davis said they made the donation because 4H is a wonderful program that deserves our attention.

A VFW member and long-time Gilpin County resident, Brian Dornbrock’s father-in-law

had a dunk tank, where someone sits above a small dunking pool while people throw a ball at

a target above the tank. If they hit the target, the victim is dunked into the pool.

At the Gilpin County Fair on July 15, the VFW set up the tank and charged people $1

for three to five throws at the dunking pool. Ready to be dunked at the pool were Joe Davis,

Brian Dornbrock, and Krystal Meyers, who works with Gilpin County Special Events. The $405

donation came from the many “dunks” Gilpin fairgoers paid for.

Upchurch is originally from Kentucky. He has been in Colorado since 2009. He joined the National Guard in 2003 and went active in 2009. He was stationed at Fort Carson with the 4th Infantry Division, where he deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan.

Upchurch first joined the VFW in Bennett, Colorado, in 2017. He moved to Gilpin County in 2021. He has been commander since July, 2023. He works for the Department of Defense in Aurora. Before that he worked as a contractor doing HVAC. He has a wife, Cindy, and two daughters, Grace, age 7, and Lily, age 4. They live in Gilpin County.

Joe Davis said his father was in the military, so he was born in Hawaii and then has lived all over the world including Maryland and New York. He served in the Army for 20 years, from 1975 to 1995.

Both Upchurch and Davis said that the VFW is engaging in outreach, trying to get more veterans involved “so we can help them. We want to be a vital part of the community, including Nederland, Gilpin County and Idaho Springs.”

The Post meets on the fourth Monday of every month at the Gilpin County Community Center at 6:30 p.m. Facebook page is VFW 7563 Black Hawk, https://m.facebook.com/groups/1016112869830933/