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Gooney Bird News
G OO NEY B IR D DE TA CHME NT #43 4 P . O . BO X 17 7 5 N EW M IL FO RD , N J 0 7 64 6
January 2015
Volume XXXVII Number I
Officers Commandant:
Al Frater 201-906-1197
Senior Vice Commandant:
Joe Johnson 201-385-6058
Junior Vice Commandant:
Ron Vrablic 201-342-6649 [email protected]
Paymaster:
Jim Biringer 201-384-2062
Adjutant:
Carl Peter 201-837-1071
Judge Advocate:
John Wilkins 201-880-4096
Chaplain:
John F. Smith 201-262-6188
Ed Kolb 201-385-0155 Sgt. at Arms:
Gil Kociolek 201-836-1906
For information email:
Chaplain Emeritus
To all Marines: The January meeting will be on the 8th. Meetings are held at the New Milford VFW Post 4290, 267 Madison Ave., New Milford, NJ at 8:00PM
Commandant: Al Frater
Since our installation is January 8th this is my last message as Commandant. I enjoyed my term and I am sure that Ron Vrablic will do an excellent job keeping our detachment running well in 2015.
Our Toys for Tots program has come to an end and, as usual, it was very successful. I want to thank all the members who
helped. Our Christmas party was again a great success. Many thanks to Gil Kociolek for doing a great job!
I hope everyone had a great holi-day and I wish all a great 2015.
Semper Fi Al Frater Commandant
Commandant’s Message
Attention on Deck!
The installation of our new officers will be held at the meeting of January 8, 2015. This meeting will be formal. Family and friends are
invited and encouraged to attend. There will be a reception after the meeting.
Officers for 2015 are:
Commandant: Ron Vrablic Sr. Vice Commandant: Joe Kellett Jr. Vice Commandant: Mark Hilb
Judge Advocate: John Wilkins
Happy New Year!
Gooney Bird News January 2015
Volume XXXVII Number I
Page 2
Gooney Bird Committees
Newsletter Editor
Carl Peter 201-837-1071
Membership:
Jim Biringer 201-384-2062
Veterans Affairs:
John Finkeldie 201-868-4759
Historian:
Dave Biesel 201-387-1529
Scholarship:
Phil Sullivan 201-261-6319
Toys for Tots:
Al Frater 201-692-7977
Parades and Ceremonies:
Vacant
Color Guard:
Vacant
Boy Scouts:
Joe Johnson 201-385-6058
Ball Journal:
Dave Biesel 201-387-1529
Detachment News Bylaws
2015 marks a decade since our bylaws have been re-viewed. With times, thoughts and attitudes changing, a focus group will be set up to review and modify them if necessary. I encourage all members to participate and provide feedback to better benefit the detachment.
Ron Vrablic
Scholarship
The application form for the 2015 Scholarship Awards will be available after Janu-ary 1, 2015. Any members in good standing, including members who live out-of-state, who would like an ap-plication for a child or grand-child must request and com-plete the form before the deadline. Members who live locally are advised to attend a meeting to obtain a form. Your eligibility to be a spon-sor will be verified upon submission of the completed application.
The completed scholarship application must be received by April 15, 2015 for consid-eration.
Phil Sullivan Scholarship Chairman
Iwo Jima Luncheon
Notice hasn’t been sent yet, but the Rockland County Detachment of the Marine Corps League usually has a memorial luncheon in re-membrance of Iwo Jima. We would like to see a good turnout this year. Those of us who have attended in prior years usually car pool there, so not knowing where it is no excuse. It is a good event to remind us of the sacrifices our Marine broth-ers made on Iwo Jima. If you are interested in going, see any of the officers and we will see that you get a reservation form.
Membership
It is important that those members who pay on an an-nual basis check their records for their annual renewal date. If you are past due, please send in your $40.00 immedi-ately . The officers want to ensure that all members re-main in good standing with the League.
In addition, if you have re-cently retired or have spare time in your busy schedule, we ask that you consider attending meetings and/or participating in our programs during the upcoming year. The Detachment is always looking for help
All Members:
It is important that any member who has had a change in address, phone number or email, please notify the detachment im-mediately. Any change should be reported to the membership chairman at [email protected] or in writing at Gooney Bird Detachment PO Box 1775, New Milford, NJ 07646 .
Thank You
Semper Fi Jim Biringer Membership Chairman
Gooney Bird 2014 Meeting Schedule:
January 8, 2015 February 12, 2015 March 12, 2015
April 9, 2015 May 14, 2015 June 11, 2015 July 9, 2015
August 13, 2015 September 10, 2015
October 8, 2015 November 12, 2015 December 10, 2014
Any meeting date is subject to change. Check future newsletters or our website for any changes
Each year the New Jersey Vietnam Veterans' Memorial Foundation awards two (2) scholarships to high school seniors from New Jersey who plan to further their edu-cation either at a college, university or trade/technical school.
Winners are notified in early May and awarded the schol-
arship during the Memorial Day Ceremony held at the New Jersey Vietnam Veter-ans' Memorial. In addition to the scholarship application and proof of acceptance to a college or trade school, all applicants must submit an essay about his/her visit to the New Jersey Vietnam Veterans' Memorial, located off the Garden State Parkway
at exit 116 in Holmdel. Free guided tours of the Memorial are available on Saturdays at 11:00 AM and 1:00 PM dur-ing scholarship season (February through April) to accommodate students sub-mitting a scholarship appli-cation. For details go to http://www.njvvmf.org
Jim Biringer
NJ Vietnam Veterans' Memorial Foundation Scholarship Program
Gooney Bird News January 2015
Volume XXXVII Number I Page 3
Christmas Party
On Saturday, December 12, 2014, the Gooney Bird De-tachment held its annual Christmas Party at the American Legion Post 128 in Teaneck. There was plenty of good food from Schrei-ber’s Deli in Oradell. Music was provided by the Cristal Band, led by John Gris-backer on sax, Steve Get-tanella on the drums and Dan Sovak on the keyboard. They got us on the dance floor and led us in an old
fashioned song fest.
I would like to thank Al Frater and Dotty who helped me with setup, Mike Perrone, who provided the floral ar-rangements, Dave Biesel, who provided a gift for the raffle, Carl and Lorraine Pe-ter, who helped clean up, Anne Marie Frater for being our photographer and last, but not least, Mike Wassuta and Cindy.
Gil Kociolek
Mike Wassuta getting the food ready.
Gooney Bird News January 2015
Page 4
Volume XXXVII Number I
Collecting toys with Santa on Cedar Lane in Teaneck
Toys for Tots kickoff at Englewood Hos-pital. Pictured are Al Frater , Ron Vrab-lic, and Jim Biringer with Warren Geller,
the CEO of Englewood Hospital
Al Frater, Ron Vrablic, and LCpl Joseph Wright with Santa at Applebee's
Presentation of annual check by Gooney Bird Detachment to Bergen
Center for Child Development
Officer Kathy Powers of the Woodcliff Lake PD collected over 1,500 toys for the Toys for Tots Program. We thank Kathy for her contin-ued efforts for Toys for Tots!
Picking up toys from the Red Hat Society. Our thanks to all the women for their efforts
in supporting Toys for Tots
Toys collected by the Red Hat Ladies
We had a very successful Toys for Tots season. We collected 5,439 toys and sev-eral donations. After a kick-off at Englewood Hospital, we were at Applebee’s for Breakfast with Santa, Hack-ensack University Medical Center children's wing to donate toys, had our usual display in Teaneck, the Red Hat Society, and collected a truckload of toys from the Woodcliff Lake PD where officer Kathy Powers has helped us for several years.
I would like to thank all the members who helped make this year another great suc-cess with otys for Tots
Simper Fi Al Frater
Volume XXXVII Number I
Gooney Bird News January 2015 Page 5
Semper Fidelis
The deadline for submis-sion of articles for the February 2015 Gooney Bird News is January 31, 2015.
This year marks the thirty-seventh year of the Gooney Bird Detachment. Hopefully we will have a productive year with more members
getting involved in all of our functions (Bingo, parades, 50/50’s, etc). We also need new members to keep us in the forefront of the Marine Corps League. We need your input to make our thirty-seventh year success-ful.
We continue to accept contri-
Nota Bene butions to help defray some of the cost to produce your newsletter. You can also help by signing up to receive your newsletter via email or by buying a business card ad at an annual cost of $40.00.
The Gooney Bird News is always looking for articles about the Detachment and
other items of interest to Marines. Comments and suggestions are also ac-cepted.
Semper Fi Carl Peter Newsletter Editor [email protected].
Visit us at www.gooneybird.org or follow us on Facebook
Marine and Gooney Bird member Larry Chukoian (92) passed away quietly on De-cember 24, 2014. Larry was a Corporal in the Marine
Corps from 12/28/42 to 12/22/48. He was with the 4th Marine Division fighting in the North Pacific during World War II. He took part
In Memoriam
92nd National Marine Corps League Convention Host: The Department of Arizona, Chairman: John Walker
Dates: August 9th - 15th, 2015
Site: Scottsdale Plaza Resort (4 Diamond Resort)
7200N. Scottsdale Rd. Scottsdale, AZ 85253
Telephone (480) 922-3302 Fax (480) 948-0513
The Scottsdale Plaza Resort is serviced by the Sky Harbor International Airport. Transportation to and from the airport and bus sta-tion is available daily from 5AM to 9 PM (shuttle runs every half hour} at a cost of $10.00 per person each way. Airlines servicing this airport are: Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Frontier Airlines, Great Lakes Airlines, JetBlue Airways, Southwest Airlines, Sun Country Airlines, United Airlines, U.S. Airways and WestJet Airlines.
in beach landings at Roi-Namur, Saipan, Tinian and Iwo Jima
The Gooney Bird Detach-
ment wishes to express its condolences to the Chukoian family.
Can anyone guess where and when these pictures were taken? You should all know--most of you have been there. (Don’t let that Marine standing there have any in-fluence on your answer).
Gooney Bird News January 2015
Volume XXXVII Number I
Page 6
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A special thanks to the following members for their support of the
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Shelly Levy Richard Allen Frank Doyle
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