Veterans of Lansingburgh, Inc.

777 1st Avenue

Troy, New York 12182

PHONE: (518) 233-8656

WEBSITE: www.thelansingburghvets.com

JAN - MAR 2013 Edition

Jim Lanteigne, John Reitano, Mike Fiffe, Tom Dougherty and Bill Gordon celebrate after the Navy defeats the Army at the 2012 Army/Navy game. See more pictures on the website.

OFFICERS: President: Paul Higgitt, Jr. Treasurer: Ned Davey Vice President: Bill Gordon Financial Secretary: Ed Jackson Secretary: Al O’Brien Asst. Financial Secretary: Rich Layton

BOARD OF DIRECTORS: Pat Abrams Tom Doin Lisa Higgitt Bill Atchinson Tom Dougherty Tom Rooney Mike Brown Bob Gallagher Tom Yaiser

LADIES AUXILIARY OFFICERS: President: Marcia Margiotta Secretary: Ann O’Brien Vice President: Alice Collum Treasurer: Kelly Konifka

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

The Holiday season is here again. It’s the time of year when you get together with family and friends and are thankful for the many blessings in our lives. When you enjoy the holidays with your families, take a moment and remember the service men and women, who are deployed throughout the world, in your thoughts and prayers. They sacrifice so that we can remain safe and enjoy the freedoms we have on daily basis. 2012 was another successful year for the Veterans of Lansingburgh. We continue to be generous is our donations to the less fortunate. We pride ourselves and our organization by helping those in need. The Color Guard continues to represent us in ceremonies as well as performing duties at the monthly Honor A Deceased Veteran Ceremony. This past month we held the annual children’s Christmas party, the annual Army-Navy football game tailgate party and we hosted an annual luncheon for VA hospital patients which included Santa Claus and gifts. And, Bill Gordon and his wife Karen flicked the switch to light the lights at Monument Square during the annual Victorian Stroll. With 2013 almost upon us, I encourage all members, Veterans, Associate Members and Auxiliary Members to get more involved and make our Organization even better. Judge Davey is always looking for more members to sell the monthly 50/50 tickets. That is an easy way to get involved and not commit to a huge amount of time into helping the club. Veterans are not required to work, but if more vets pitched in, it would lessen the work load on many others. We are always looking for additional help; all you have to do is ask. I do want to THANK all the members that do pitch in and help out. Your efforts are greatly appreciated. Remember, the code changes January 1st. Make sure you pay your dues ahead of time. When you go to the club, show the bartender your 2013 dues card and he will give you the new membership code. In closing, I want to wish everyone a Happy New Year! Be thankful for what you have and be generous to the less fortunate. God Bless you and your families. I look forward to seeing you around the club in 2013.

Respectfully Submitted,

PJ Higgitt President

LADIES AUXILIARY NEWS:

Dear Auxiliary:

I sincerely hope that everyone has had a wonderful holiday season. The Auxiliary was busy during the last three

months in preparation. Some of the Auxiliary participated at the GI Cleanup Party in October and the Veteran’s

Walk in Troy in November. We hosted our annual Children’s Christmas Party December 1st at the Purple Heart.

The Auxiliary decorated the club and the tree at the Purple Heart. We have been busy helping with many

holiday parties and functions at the club. As you know it takes the active participation of all to successfully carry

out our mission at the club. I would like to express my thanks to all of you who made the Children’s Christmas

party a success. Brian McCarthy, Alice Collum and Carrie Vuignier did a great job in their roles as Santa, Mrs.

Claus and the “Elf” respectively. Sherry Nailor and Lori Winnie did a wonderful job shopping. I am sure the

children enjoyed their day and their gifts. For those of you who participated in decorating, you did a great job

and thank you.

The club will busy now with the spring months coming to plan for the annual Memorial Day Parade.

Announcements will be forthcoming on how you can participate.

Please remember that our meetings are held at 6:00 PM, the second Monday of every month. This is where you

will be informed of upcoming events. The Auxiliary would like to welcome our new members: Cheri Halikias

and Billie Jo Sass.

Respectfully, Marcia Margiotta mmargiot@excelsior.edu; Phone 235-8404

Mrs. Claus and Santa’s elf listen in as Rocco Marinucci tells Santa what he wants for Christmas!

Carlie and Christopher Bell pose for a memorable photo with Santa Claus.

Other 2012 Children’s Christmas Party photos that were received can be found on the Club website.

VETERAN’S OF LANSINGBURGH CLUB REPORTS

MEMBERSHIP

Dues Renewal: On January 1, 2013 the code for the club door will change. lf you did not pay your 2013 dues, you will not receive the new door code until your dues are paid. See a bartender or myself to renew your dues. Make sure you show your current membership card so we have the correct information.

Membership Dues

Veteran Lifetime Membership $150

Active Duty Membership $5 initial fee (for processing/the Club pays the rest)

Veteran Membership $20 initial fee; thereafter $15 per year

Associate Membership $22 initial fee; thereafter $17 per year

Auxiliary Membership $22 initial fee; thereafter $17 per year Change of Address/Phone #: Contact me with any changes to your address/phone number.

RICH LAYTON Membership Chair

PARADE COMMITTEE

ATTENTION: VETERAN, ASSOCIATE AND AUXILIARY MEMBERS!

We need your help to prepare for this year’s 17th Memorial Day Parade.

Meetings are held after the monthly meetings (approx. 7:30 pm) every 2nd

Monday of the month.

Committees include: Awards, Band, Entertainment, Decorations (which

includes building the floats), Graveside/Flag Burning, Kitchen,

Marshalls/Dignitaries, Permits/Insurance and Transportation.

The parade is our club’s biggest event of the year. YOUR help is needed to

make this event a success. Please make a commitment to help YOUR Club! A

sign-up sheet will be available at the club. See us if you have questions.

Bill Gordon / Lisa Higgitt

SICKNESS AND DISTRESS

There is a dry wipe board at the front bar to let the membership know when a member is sick, in the hospital or in need of help. To make this work, we need all the members to let someone know when they know a fellow member is in need. If you know of someone, call the Club (518-233-8656) or call me at home (518-279-3412) or my cell (518-330-9346). I will make sure we get a card out to them and check on them periodically. It’s all a matter of members taking care of members.

PAT ABRAMS Chaplain

SCHOLARSHIP

COMMITTEE

The Veterans of Lansingburgh Scholarship Committee is awarding a $1,000 scholarship to a high school senior who attends Catholic High School, Lansingburgh High School, LaSalle Institute or Troy High School, and plans to attend college or another post secondary school program after their high school graduation. The student must be a child or grandchild of a Veteran who served on active duty in the Armed Forces or was a member of a Reserve or National Guard component and was either Honorably discharged or is still active in that capacity. Applications/instructions are available at the Club, in all high school guidance offices of the schools listed above, and on our Club’s website – www.thelansingburghvets.com. Deadline to submit your application is February 27, 2013. The 2013 winner will be announced at the Veteran’s April 8th meeting. DONATIONS: Special thanks to the Club Dart League for their continued donations to this committee, as well as Club members who have made donations to the Scholarship fund. Donation checks should be made out to the Veterans of Lansingburgh and sent to: The Veterans of Lansingburgh, ATTN: The Scholarship Committee, 777 1st Ave., Troy, NY 12182. Thank you!

LISA HIGGITT Scholarship Chair

KITCHEN REPORT JAN 4 – Fish JAN 6 – BRUNCH JAN 11 –Meatloaf JAN 18 – Roast Pork JAN 25 – Steak FEB 1 – Fish FEB 3 – BRUNCH FEB 8 – Baked Ham FEB 15 – Chicken & Biscuits FEB 22 – Veal Parmesan FEB 29 – Steak MAR 1 –Fish MAR 3 – BRUNCH MAR 8 – ½ Baked Chicken (fully cooked) MAR 15 – GERMAN NIGHT! MAR 17 – ST. PATRICK’S DAY - Corn Beef & Cabbage MAR 22 – Grilled Ham Steak MAR 29 – Choice of Steak & Fish MAR 30 – JACK HUNT BUFFET - Easter Buffet

“HEY YOU!”

MOST FRIDAY NIGHTS: Chicken wings, chicken tenders, subs, wraps, soup, burgers, fries Thanks to all who have helped out during the last few months. I am ALWAYS looking for help in the kitchen. Please do not wait for a phone call! See me if you want to book a party, work in the kitchen, or have any questions. Thanks!

TOM ROONEY Head Chef

UPCOMING CLUB EVENTS

Celebrate New Year’s Eve with us!

Join us on December 31st! We’ll celebrate with a DJ at the main bar! Limited snacks, champagne, noise makers, hats, crowns, etc. available – first come, first served.

LET’S PARTY!

SUPER BOWL PARTY!

For those who are in the Super Bowl Club Sunday, February 3rd at the M.O.P.H.

For those who are not there will be finger

foods at the Vet’s Club.

Veterans of Lansingburgh 67th Anniversary

Join us for discounted drinks

as we celebrate our Club’s Anniversary!

ST. PATRICK’S DAY PARTY – March 17th!

Celebrate with music, food, drinks and lots of fun!

REMEMBER EVERYONE IS IRISH ON ST. PATRICK’S DAY!

So get your green attire ready!

Bobby Bloomfield’s Golf League

Meeting Saturday, March 23rd at 1 pm

Congratulations to the 2012 winners: A Flight – Mike Brown / B Flight – Dick Varone

We need golfers! If interested, contact Mike Brown at the bar or 542-5137

Annual Jack Hunt Buffet

Join us for our annual “Jack Hunt Buffet” on March 30th.

The Club will be closed on Easter, Sunday, March 31st. Please enjoy this time with your loved ones.

DID YOU KNOW…

Raytheon, Motion Reality demonstrate immersive tactical training systems

Virtual immersion simulation technology from Raytheon and Motion Reality Inc. (MRI) made soldiers feel they were in the middle of the action during the U.S. Joint Staff's second annual Bold Quest exercise at the U.S. Army Maneuver Center of Excellence at Fort Benning, Ga. Using VIRTSIM virtual immersion training, three squads of Army, Marine Corps and coalition soldiers executed tactical missions, including movement to contact, cordon and search, area recon, room clearing, and force on force. Soldiers were able to monitor their progress as the system provided real-time capture of all engagements for immediate, or after action, review and analysis by trainer and soldier.

Users were fully immersed in individual skills, tactical squad behavior and mission rehearsals without wires or tethers. Wireless stereo head-mounted displays provided each trainee with an independent 360-degree view of any virtual environment, enhanced by muscle-stimulation technology, functional replica weapons and other elements to provide realistic training effects.

VIRTSIM fuses Raytheon's expertise in military and civil domains with MRI's award-winning motion capture technology and 3-D effects. The system works with reflective markers placed on users' bodies that track their movements along a basketball court-sized "field." "This year's Bold Quest evaluated virtual training technologies to help dismounted ground forces improve their tactics and techniques," said Jeff Miller, vice president of Combat and Sensing Systems for Raytheon's Network Centric Systems business.

"VIRTSIM was the only system permitting an entire squad of up to 13 individuals to train as they fight. Unlike wired systems that project images on screens, VIRTSIM immerses soldiers from head-to-toe, creating the closest possible experience to an actual mission," Miller added.

Dog noses inspire explosives detector Researchers in California say a chip inspired by the biology of dogs' scent receptors is capable of quickly identifying dangerous substances such as explosives. Scientists at the University of California, Santa Barbara, said such highly sensitive devices that sniff out vapors from explosives and other substances could become as commonplace as smoke detectors in public places.

Led by UCSB scientists Carl Meinhart and Martin Moskovits, the research team designed a detector that uses microfluidic nanotechnology to mimic the biological mechanism behind canine scent receptors. "We have developed a device with the same or better sensitivity as a dog's nose that feeds into a computer to report exactly what kind of molecule it's detecting," Meinhart said in a UCSB release Tuesday.

A microscale channel of liquid absorbs and concentrates molecules, and once absorbed into the microchannel they interact with nanoparticles that amplify their spectral signature when excited by laser light. A computer database of spectral signatures identifies what kind of molecule has been captured, the researchers said. "The device is capable of real-time detection and identification of certain types of molecules at concentrations of 1 ppb [part per billion] or below," researcher Brian Piorek, a former mechanical engineering doctoral student in Meinhart's laboratory, said.

Dressing U.S. Troops to Safeguard Against Insect Attacks

Outfitting soldiers with clothing that effectively repels or kills insects is one of the strategies U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientists are using to help protect U.S. military personnel deployed overseas against disease-transmitting mosquitoes and sand flies. As part of the Deployed War-Fighter Protection Research Program, scientists at the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) Center for Medical, Agricultural, and Veterinary Entomology (CMAVE) in Gainesville, Fla., and other ARS laboratories are collaborating with U.S. Department of Defense personnel to improve personal protection for troops.

They're also developing public health insecticides and devising improved application technologies to kill insects. ARS is USDA's principal intramural scientific research agency. ARS chemist Ulrich "Uli" Bernier and his colleagues at the Gainesville center work with military personnel on a number of projects, which include evaluating the effectiveness and assessing the quality of various combat uniforms, factory-treated with permethrin. A bite protection test, which requires placing a treated uniform sleeve into a cage of mosquitoes, was developed by Bernier to assess how well uniforms protect soldiers.

About 65 U.S. military uniform constructions and compositions have been evaluated so far. Fabrics are tested immediately after factory treatment and after laundering 20 to 50 times. Bernier recently verified bite protection testing on Army combat uniforms constructed of a more durable fire-resistant fabric. Alternative fabrics were needed because the original fire-resistant uniform material tore too easily, reducing its ability to protect against insects.

For additional and longer protection, scientists are designing new products to augment uniforms. ARS chemist Kamal Chauhan at the Henry A. Wallace Beltsville Agricultural Research Center in Beltsville, Md., and Bernier have created an attachable repellent-treated band that can be worn on a sleeve or collar to help protect exposed skin. Preliminary evaluations indicate that the band comprising novel-high vapor pressure compounds may also be used against pyrethroid-resistant mosquitoes and bed bugs. Chauhan also has filed a patent for his latest invention-a disposable, reversible band-aid that offers short-term protection against biting insects. This new product may potentially be used in applications for recreational activities and to ward off insects that pester pets and livestock.

SIGN-IN-LOG: The Club “Sign-in Log” is to be used for all NON MEMBERS. This

is a State law. All non-members are required to sign in using the Guest Book located

inside the front door. MEMBERS are asked to meet their Guest at the door. Guests

must PRINT their full name. Sponsors must be PAID members and the Sponsor MUST

be present. Remember, when you leave, your non-member guest must also leave.

SPECIAL THANKS: To Lisa Saunders for putting together a great fundraiser for the M.O.P.H. Lucky winners of the jerseys at the Army/Navy game were: Tom Hirsch (Army) and Sue Brown (Navy). A special thank you to Hank Miller who won the 50/50 and donated a portion back to the Memorial Day Parade!

From the Editor: Hope you enjoyed this edition of the newsletter. If you

aren’t reading this newsletter online, please go to our website - (www.thelansingburghvets.com) to stay up-to-date with all club activities, events and veteran links. Remember to volunteer at “your” club.

And most importantly to support our troops! Lisa Higgitt