As a longtime member of the Fox Valley Veterans Breakfast Club, Vietnam veteran John Hodgson loves being able to hang out with his fellow veterans while enjoying a good breakfast.

Hodgson was ringing in the holiday season with other veterans during the club’s holiday celebration on Dec. 11 at 113 Main restaurant in downtown Oswego.

“I like the camaraderie,” said the 78-year-old Oswego resident, a 1965 graduate of Oswego High School.

Hodgson also is committed to helping his community. That includes being president of the board of fire commissioners for the Oswego Fire Protection District and a trustee on the Oswego Township Cemetery Board.

Vietnam veterans Jim Davidson and Rick Gardner are co-presidents of the Fox Valley Veterans Breakfast Club. Gardner talked about the casual nature of the club.

“There’s no sign up sheets, there’s no dues to pay, there’s no rules,” he said. “It’s just about the camaraderie.”

Guest speaker Michael Gilio, a former infantry unit leader for the U.S. Marine Corps from June 2003 to July 2011, thanked those in attendance for their service and told them they can provide guidance to a younger generation of veterans.

Gilio also is a deacon at Harvest New Beginnings Church in Oswego.

“There’s a younger generation of veterans that are lost in the sauce,” he said. “They don’t know which way is up or down, or left and right. And they need your leadership. They need what you bring to the table...The mission never really ends. The uniform may come off, but the mission doesn’t. It just shifts. It goes from surviving to serving in a new way. And that’s where we’re at now. You still have so much to give and a younger generation of veterans are seeking it.”

This was the first holiday party the Fox Valley Veterans Breakfast Club has hosted in the last few years. Lori West organized the event.

“I wanted to bring this back,” West said. “It’s so much fun to go to. Everybody gets to have some Christmas joy.”

Jeffrey Sexton, general manager at 113 Main, was happy to have the event take place at the restaurant.

“We’re all about giving back to the community when we can,” he said. “So as soon as Lori reached out with the opportunity of helping out the veterans, we jumped on it. We love doing stuff like this.”

He sees the holiday party becoming a yearly tradition for the restaurant.

“Absolutely,” Sexton said. “We’d love to have them back. At the end of the day, it’s about the community. It’s about doing something nice for the people that matter.”