NOVEMBER 2015 • First Call 1

Chris Urban, Commander NOVEMBER 2015 Jack LaPaglia, MembershipFirst Call!

The American Legion Utica Post 229

Utica Post 229 • 409 Herkimer Rd., Utica, NY 13502 • 315.793.9377 • uticapost229.org • nylegion.org

Post Meetings are first Thursday of the month at 7:30 p.m. (optional dinner at 6:15)

JOIN US ON VETERANS DAYFOR CEREMONIES, LUNCH

Veterans, family members and elected officials will honor the sacrifices of war veterans at six memorials and monuments in Utica on Vet-erans Day, Wednesday, Nov. 11.

Coordinated by Post 229, with help from Military Or-der of the Purple Heart, Viet-nam Veterans of America, Polish Legion of American Veterans and several other veterans groups, ceremonies get under way at 11 a.m. at the Soldiers and Sailors Monument at Oneida Square.

The group will proceed to the Parkway to stop at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial,

the POW-MIA Monument and the World War I/World War II/Korean War Monu-ment. After that will be Pur-ple Heart Memorial Park on Whitesboro Street in West Utica, and finally, All Veter-ans Memorial at the Post Of-

NOVEMBER3 Bingo, 6:30 p.m.5 Monthly Dinner, 6:15 Post Meeting, 7:30 pm Auxiliary, 7:30 pm7 Flags for Heroes9 VVA, 1 p.m.10 Bingo, 6:30 p.m.11 Veterans Day Early Bird deadline16 Bloodmobile, noon-517 Bingo, 6:30 p.m.20 Early Bird Dinner21 DAV, noon24 Bingo, 6:30 p.m.27 Bingo, 6:30 p.m.

InsideCommander 2Renew Membership 2Auxiliary 3HBOT for local vet 4Chaplain 5Bluewater Vets 6Players Visit Vets 8

fice on Pitcher Street. The day will begin and end

at Utica Post 229, with coffee and doughnuts at 9:30 a.m. and lunch starting at noon. A bus will be at the Post by 10:30 for those who need a ride.

Commander’s Call Chris Urban

PARADE IS BACK!The Veterans Day Parade

is back in Utica! The parade will be held on Saturday, Nov. 7, beginning at 11 a.m. Starting point is Our Lady of Lourdes Church on Gen-esee Street. The parade will finish at the Parkway Center

near where the Flags for Heroes and Families will be displayed. At the end of the parade will be a small ceremony with the mayor and some personnel from 865th Combat Support Hospital headquartered on Burrstone Road.

VETERANS DAYVeterans Day is Wednes-

day, November 11. Come join us for camaraderie and for our wreath-laying ceremonies at the Post and at monuments around the city. Utica Post 229 will Continued on next page.

Post 229 Service Officer Jerry Welpe is also an active DAV rep, available to help with filing and following up on VA claims.

He can be reached at the post most weekdays before noon. Call the post at 315-793-9377.

SERVICE OFFICER AVAILABLE

First Call • NOVEMBER 20152

Commander’s Call Chris Urban

Two highways in Oneida County have been renamed in memory of war veterans.

State Route 49 from Utica to Rome was dedicated Oct. 26 as Oneida County Viet-nam Veterans Memorial Highway.

Route 13 in the Village of Camden was designated as the Sergeant Elisha R. Parker Veterans Memorial Highway in a ceremony on Oct. 1. Ma-rine Corps Sgt. “Eli” Parker was killed in Iraq in 2006.

American Legion member Thomas J. Buono, president of Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 944 in Uti-ca, noted: “(W)e are honored to have Route 49 designated for America’s Vietnam Vet-erans, especially for the more than 9,000 who served from Oneida County, and the 68 soldiers who made the ulti-mate sacrifice. “

A parade of veterans, color guards and local officials pre-ceded a ceremony unveiling a “Vietnam Veterans Memorial Highway” sign at the Route 49 exit near River and Flana-gan roads in Marcy.

Sergeant Parker’s par-ents, Donna and Renny

2 ROADS IN COUNTY RENAMED TO HONOR VETS

provide a free lunch to any veteran who visits our Post on Veterans Day; lunch will be available from noon to 3 p.m. Come to the Post, enjoy a free lunch, catch up with some old friends, and make some new ones.

Tops MarketsTops Markets will give

an 11% discount on all purchases made by veterans

and military members on Veterans Day (November 11th). Please make sure to provide identification (DD

214 or ID card). Local Tops Markets are in Boonville, Camden, Canastota, Rome (217 Erie Blvd), and Sherrill.

Continued from front page.

Assemblyman Anthony Brindisi (at podium) and Sen. Joe Griffo (next to him) announced that a portion of Route 49 was being renamed in honor of Vietnam veterans. Third from left is VVA Chapter President and Legionnaire Tom Buono. LEFT: The sign after it was unveiled Oct. 26.BELOW: Dedication of highway in Cam-den in honor of Marine Sgt. Elisha R. Parker, who was killed in Iraq. Photos / NY State Senate.

Parker, said: “Memorials such as this serve as a vis-ible reminder of sacrifices

made, not only by Eli, but by all our fallen ser-vice members.” Sergeant

Parker graduated from Camden Central School in 2002.

NOVEMBER 2015 • First Call 3

Auxiliaryrosaria haggerty, president

President’s MessageROE HAGGERTY

Dear Auxiliary Members,

I hope everyone is as proud as I am to be a member of the American Legion Auxiliary. The most funda-mental values of the organization is patriotism. Please fly your flags, attend parades and teach our children patriotism.

American Education week is November 16 through the 20th. Our unit will continue to award a unit schol-arship in the spring. Also there are many scholarships offered by the Department and National Auxiliary. Let’s get a jumpstart on completing the applications.

Department Presi-dent Jan Mahoney’s project is “Agent Or-ange”. Agent Orange affects many Veterans and their families, both children and adults as a result of this herbicide that was sprayed dur-ing the wars. At the October meeting $200 was donated to an Army veteran to help with expenses for hyperbaric oxygen treatment.

At the November County meeting they will be col-lecting hats, gloves, scarfs and socks for the Veterans Center. Also at our unit meeting, Children and Youth chairman will collect hats, gloves and scarfs for local schools and shelters.

As Veteran’s Day and Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day approach, let us remember those who served our Great Country.

RENEWALS COMING IN;THANKS!

Quota: 214Paid members: 106Hello Ladies!Membership is coming in

regularly, and we are almost half way to quota! We thank all of you who have sent in your dues as you received your renewals. If you have already paid your dues and have your 2016 card, PLEASE ignore any future dues notice you get from National. Be assured, I have submitted your dues to Department and you are a member in good standing.

Remember the Early Bird dinner on Nov. 20. It is always free to those who pay their dues on or before Nov. 11.

Keep up the good work! It is through your dedication to our organization that we are able to help so many veterans, children, and citizens in our communities.

Thank you also to our new-est members for joining with us to help make our programs a success! And remember to thank our veterans for their service. It is because of them that our organization exists.

As always, our motto is SERVICE, NOT SELF.

Yours in service,Rosetta LaPagliaMembership chair

Jan Mahoney

Membership Quota for 2016 is 462. So far we have 287 for 62%.

It’s that time of year again where members are getting a second renewal notice from de-partment. If your mem-bership card has 2016 on it, you are good to go for another year. Please dis-regard the second notice if you have already paid.

RENEW ONLINEBy the way, it’s easy to

rewew online: Simply go to legion.org/renew.

The veterans expo held at SUNY was a great success. There were 60 booths with plenty of information. We are looking forward to the one that is planed for next year.

EARLY-BIRD DINNER NOV. 20;RENEW BY NOV. 11

Don’t forget the early-bird dinner set for Nov. 20th. Cocktails from 6 to 7 with dinner following at 7 p.m. If you are a paid member by Nov. 11, dinner is free. Guests are $10.00.Sign-up sheet is in the lounge. Hope to see all you early- birds there.

For GOD and Country.

Jack LapagliaMembership Chair

POST’S GOAL:462 MEMBERSFOR 2016

First Call • NOVEMBER 20154

Utica Post #229The American Legion

409 Herkimer Rd.Utica, NY 13502

First Call is a monthly publication of Utica Post 229 American Legion,

409 Herkimer Rd., Utica, NY 13502, whose mission is to serve veterans, members and local communities.

Yearly membership includes First Call, published 10 times a year.

Non-Profit Org.U.S. Postage

-PAID-Utica, NY

Permit No. 566

Since its founding in Paris in 1919, The American Legion has been an advocate for America’s veterans, a friend of the U.S. military, a sponsor of community-based programs for young people and a spokesman for patriotic values.

Editor: Robert Stronach. Send news, announcements and photos to FirstCall@uticapost229.org.

OCTOBER MEETING HONORED PAST LEADERS

The October joint member-ship meeting paid tribute to past Post commanders and Auxiliary presidents.

TOP: from left, Rose Coni-glio, Roe Haggerty, Rosetta LaPaglia, Gail Greco, The-resa Jenson, Peggy Kohler.

LEFT: from left: Al Alteri, Cal-vin Anacher, Jack LaPaglia and Chris Urban.