Madera Ranchos veterans coffee hour
For The Madera Tribune
Military veterans from various branches gather for a weekly meeting in Madera Ranchos. The group gathers every Monday, from 9-10 a.m., and encourages other veterans to participate.
Veterans’ Voices is directed toward veterans and their families who have given so much to ensure our freedom in this country. This is an area where you may share your experiences, or read of other veterans’ experiences. We thank you for your service, and hope that you know how much you are loved and appreciated.
I was fortunate enough to be invited to have coffee with other veterans at the Ranchos Liberty Café right in the heart of Madera Ranchos. A little history of this group of veterans.
It all started about six years ago. This was a vision of a young Army Veteran fresh out of Iraq. He wanted to do something for the veterans in the Madera Ranchos area. He and his wife were part owners of the Doe Ray Me Bakery and came up with the idea of starting a veteran coffee hour at their bakery for all of the Madera Rancho veterans. They would offer active duty and military veterans a free cup of coffee from 9-10 a.m., every Monday. There were five veterans that showed up the following Monday.
This young man is now out of the Army, but still lives in the Ranchos. Joshua O would attend as many Mondays as he could, but he had a full-time job. Jack A was one of the original five veterans that attended and he asked Jack if he would keep the group going. He responded, “I would do my best.” Through word of mouth and posting every Sunday about the military veteran’s coffee hour on the website, “What’s up in the Ranchos,” this group has now grown from five to almost 40 military veterans. We now meet at the Ranchos Liberty Café every Monday, from 9-10 a.m. We have a great time with some very interesting conversations. This group started with a young veteran who wanted to give our local veterans a place to go and to experience great fellowship and camaraderie.
