McConnaughhay Roofing gifts new roof to Ottawa VFW

A job that took three days for McConnaughhay Roofing to complete saved the Ottawa VFW years.

The Ottawa roofing company, in conjunction with Ottawa Roofer Union Local 11, recently replaced the roof of the Ottawa VFW hall – a project that would have cost nearly $50,000 – at no charge to the veterans fraternal organization.

What we did for them is pebbles compared to what they’ve done for us, so this is something we’re more than happy to do. We’re happy to help the men and women who’ve served.

—  Jamie McConnaughhay, the company foreman of McConnaughhay Roofing

Jamie McConnaughhay, the company foreman and son of the owner, Keith McConnaughhay, said he and some of their workers would stop in to the hall at 1501 La Salle St. after work and couldn’t help but notice “they were having some pretty bad leaks.” The VFW workers even had to put buckets down to catch the rains slipping through the aged, damaged roof.

“We’d been doing some repair work for them over the years, but it just got to a point where the roof just couldn’t be repaired anymore,” Jamie McConnaughhay said. “Seeing buckets sitting there with water flowing in, that doesn’t float with me, not for them.”

McConnaughhay went to his father for the OK to provide some materials and manpower, and solicited some help from the roofer’s local as well. Together, it took them about three days to complete the project, but it would have taken the VFW years to save up to undertake.

“We knew their memberships were down,” Jamie McConnaughhay said, “and, just like everyone else, they were struggling to find funding for a project of that scale

“What we did for them is pebbles compared to what they’ve done for us, so this is something we’re more than happy to do. We’re happy to help the men and women who’ve served.”

VFW post commander Mike Gladd said the organization has received help from so many, including the city of Ottawa, Illinois Valley Plumbing and other veterans clubs, such as the American Legion. The first step was to upgrade the restroom area and, with that now done, attention was turned to the roof, a project that had been in talks for nearly five years but seemed financially out of reach.

The McConnaughhay gesture came just in the nick of time.

“Thank God for Jamie and Keith and the union guys who did this for us,” Gladd said. “With the finances and the difficulties we’ve had that we were shut down for a while, it took a lot just to get the doors back open … Once we reestablished ourselves, we started figuring out what needed to be done, prioritize things as far as the infrastructure goes.

“But my conversations with Jamie came to this and thank God, they came up with a game plan, the materials and the help of a few labor unions, all donated. God love them all because we weren’t sure what we were going to do. They stepped up and came through for us. To be honest, it brought a tear to my eye.

“Times have changed in this country and people don’t help each other the way they used to out of the goodness of their heart. It’s discouraging … but when something like this happens, it replenished by faith in humanity.”