New president after 17 years

The same time that Blaine Brooks was elected commander of the Waseca Veterans of Foreign Wars, his wife, Carol, was elected to be the local auxiliary’s president.

Growing up mostly in Waseca, Brooks is familiar with the community. She graduated from Waseca Central High School and attended church in town.

With husband Blaine in the VFW, Carol decided to join the Auxiliary, becoming a life member September 25, 2019.

After getting elected as president in May, she realized she had big shoes to fill. The previous auxiliary president, Linda Johnson, served for 17 years.

However, instead of getting nervous, she embraced the call to lead the club. “I’m not afraid of a challenge,” she states. “It was a little intimidating at first because so many people have more experience than me. But I’ve been getting the hang of it.”

Brooks was also close to Johnson, serving as secretary throughout the past year. “She was my mentor,” she states. “She helped me learn the duties of all the positions within the auxiliary.”

One of her goals is to get the club get more familiar with the internet and social media. Her background in IT work will help with that. “I was able to start using the website to put information on there,” she explains. “The auxiliary at the state and federal level required us to start doing that. I’m helping get the right people in place that know how to do the online Facebook page stuff.”

Another goal, which is top priority on Brooks’s list, is to get more memberships. “Both the Auxiliary and VFW have received awards for community service,” she says. “We want to continue keeping those high standards. But to do that, we need to have members.”

The VFW and auxiliary support each other throughout every event, meaning Blaine and Carol Brooks will be working with each other for at least a year as both of them will be serving one-year terms at their respective positions.

Blaine and Carol have learned to work with each other early on. “I met Blaine through friends during high school,” she explains. “He asked me out first, and we’ve been together for 53 years.”

Both are passionate about community service, something they hope pique the interest of others who are considering joining the VFW or the auxiliary. They are especially interested in getting younger members in.

“Our members that come in through the auxiliary are faithful and passionate about what they are doing,” Carol explains. “However, they are getting older.”