Let’s just face it – Lake Nona is one of the most happening places to be in America right now. Besides the amazing housing growth, new shopping experiences, and businesses seemingly opening up each day, things such as a performance resort, a water park, and an Amazon distribution center are all ready to go in the next few years. Needless to say, right now is a great time to be in Lake Nona; yet, the community still needs something else.
For any newcomers to the Lake Nona area, one of the largest communities in the area is the veteran community. Whether they served in the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, or Coast Guard, the veterans in the Lake Nona area are many and are always looking for their brothers and sisters in arms to come join them and, perhaps, relive some of the camaraderie they had within the services. Sadly, this has been rather difficult outside of happenstance meetings at other organizations such as the Rotary Club of Lake Nona Lunch or Chamber of Commerce meetings. For this reason, a new organization is forming within the Lake Nona area focused on veterans and their families.
Modeled after the Celebration Veterans Club, the Lake Nona Veterans Club is an organization that desires to promote awareness and interests in veterans affairs as well as participate in community and civic activities. Basically, the organization is a common place for veterans to meet up, find new friends, and also give back to the Lake Nona area, whether that service is through helping at the Fisher House, which is set to open on Feb. 14, or by being available for other events such as Memorial or Veterans Day. Regardless, the Lake Nona Veterans Club is filling a much-needed void that currently exists locally.
In addition to providing a common meeting space for veterans, the Auxiliary of the Lake Nona Veterans provides a place for spouses, widow/widower, partner, or adult child of a veteran to meet, find new friends, and also organize events to support the Lake Nona Veterans Club. For those interested, membership in the Lake Nona Veterans Club is open to any veteran who has served honorably in any branch of the United States military, National Guard or Reserve Forces, regardless of race, color, creed, gender or ethnic background. Also, membership in the Auxiliary is open to any spouse, widow/widower, partner or adult child of any active duty or honorably discharged United States military veteran, regardless of race, creed, gender or ethnicity.
Currently, monthly meetings of the Lake Nona Veterans Club are held on the second Thursday of each month (next meeting March 8) at 5:00 p.m. in the cafeteria meeting room within the Orlando VA Medical Center at Lake Nona. Monthly meetings of the Auxiliary are held at the same time in another location TBD within the Orlando VA Medical Center. If you are interested in joining the Lake Nona Veterans Club, please contact the group commander, Cameron Rice, at commanderLNVC@gmail.com for more details.
