Indiana veterans group meets weekly at Tell City cafe
Every Thursday, Tell City veterans gather at Julie’s Cafe for lunch, creating a steady point of contact in a county where 1,066 veterans live.
A weekly lunch at Julie’s Cafe is giving Perry County veterans a place to show up, sit down and reconnect in person. Every Thursday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., the gathering at 922 Tell Street in Tell City offers a low-barrier meeting point for veterans who may be isolated, disconnected from services or simply looking for other veterans to talk with.
The Indiana Department of Veterans Affairs lists the lunch as a recurring weekly event, and the calendar shows it continuing across multiple months in 2026. That makes the Tell City lunch more than a one-time social stop. It functions as part of a broader outreach effort aimed at keeping veterans connected to one another and to the support network that exists around them.
Perry County’s veteran population gives that kind of regular contact added weight. The U.S. Census Bureau’s 2020-2024 estimate puts the county’s veteran count at 1,066, and veterans make up 7.7% of the county’s population, a share higher than the state and national average. With a 2025 population estimate of 19,389, Perry County is small enough that missed connections can matter quickly, especially for veterans who live outside Tell City or who may not routinely visit county offices.
Tell City, the county seat and largest city, is the natural gathering point. Julie’s Tell Street Cafe already operates as a breakfast-and-lunch restaurant and promotes itself as serving award-winning plate lunches and desserts, making it a familiar midday setting rather than a formal government office. That kind of location lowers the threshold for attendance, which is important in a rural county where getting help can depend on whether people are willing to walk through the right door.
That door can lead to more than lunch. The Indiana Department of Veterans Affairs says county veteran service offices serve as local points of contact, working with the state department, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and veterans service organizations to help veterans and family members access benefits and services. In that context, a standing weekly lunch in Tell City becomes a practical bridge: part social gathering, part informal check-in, and part gateway to help that might otherwise go unused.
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