From Ridgefield with love

A 1964 U.S. Postal Service mailbox was given new life with the help of The American Veterans Car Club. After fixing up the box with paint and decorations, the club decided to use it to collect support letters from the public for active members of the military or coast guard and veterans. The bright red mailbox can be found outside Bob’s Automotive, Inc. in downtown Ridgefield or at events with The American Veterans Car Club. 

Bob Ford is the Owner of Bob’s Automotive, Inc. He also served in the Coast Guard and Navy for 16 years. Ford vividly remembers the support letters that civilians would send during his deployment, and how just about everyone would read them in the barracks or chow hall. 

“They are uplifting, they renew your faith in your fellow Americans, and remind you that people actually care,” he said. 

“Being an American veterans car club, we’ve all been deployed before and we all know what it’s like to get these letters,” Ford later added. “They are pretty neat to read while overseas in the middle of the night having coffee.”

Bob Ford’s son, Robert Ford, was in the Marine Corps for five years and recalls everyone enjoying the letters they received.  

“It was sentimental to see someone sending us stuff, it showed us people cared and took our minds off the people who didn’t like us being over there,” He said. 

Dick Bannick served in the U.S. Army for six years and was stationed in Europe during the ‘60s when programs like this didn’t exist. 

“If we had gotten letters like these they really would have been appreciated,” Bannick said.  “When you’re overseas there’s a lot of people who don’t get mail during mail call. These supplement for the people who don’t get letters, it’s very uplifting to get mail.”

The idea of this mailbox has been an evolving process that started with Bob Ford’s daughter buying the mailbox in Oregon. 

“We bought it for a couple specific uses at first but they didn’t seem to work out,” he said.  “Then, during Christmas, we were going to use it for letters to Santa, but again that didn’t work out. We thought ‘hey let’s do the same thing but letters for veterans, and on duty military.’” 

Those who would like to write a letter can find template letters connected to the mailbox outside Bob’s Automotive. The club reads all the letters before sending or delivering them to be sure they are appropriate. After a bundle of letters is collected and read, the club goes to a recruiter to find an address for a deployed unit, then sends the bundle of letters from the citizens. 

Members of The American Veterans Car Club are excited to see the impact of the mailbox and hope to have more people dropping off letters.

“Stop by and write a letter to a veteran thanking them,” Bob Ford said. “That’s what this is all about, thanking them and wishing them well, and some sentiments to them of how you feel. Please make them positive, these people are away from their home, family, and loved ones. We will take care of everything, you just need to write the letter.”

American Veterans Car Club’s history 

The American Veterans Car Club is a nonprofit started two years ago by veterans, for veterans. The group meets every second Wednesday at 6 p.m. inside Bob’s Automotive Inc. They participate in car shows and work to raise money to donate for veterans projects. While The American Veterans Car Club was at the 2019 Portland Roadster Show they brought the mailbox and were able to collect 57 letters over the course of two days. 

{{tncms-inline content="<p class="p1"><span class="s1">The American Veterans Car Club’s next event will be the TAVCC Car Show and Swap Meet at the Kalama Fairgrounds, 253 Kalama River Road, Kelso. On September 14 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. the club will be collecting support letters for veterans, and on duty military. All proceeds from the car show will go to Veterans and Children’s charities.</span></p>" id="b18129cf-847a-4a4c-bd15-18a29a81634a" style-type="bio" title="TAVCC Car Show and Swap Meet" type="relcontent"}}

{{tncms-inline content="<p class="p1"><span class="s1">The American Veteran Car Club meets on the second Wednesday of each month at 6 p.m. in Bob’s Automotive, Inc., 327 Pioneer St., Ridgefield<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Call Bob Ford for more information: (360)518-7828</span></p>" id="f6cf2fb8-6403-495c-8cbd-06509bc9c0f5" style-type="bio" title="Want to join The American Veteran Car Club?" type="relcontent"}}