September 2012 • First Call 1

Chris Urban, Commander September 2012 Jack LaPaglia, Membership

First Call!The American Legion Utica Post 229

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

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

Utica Post 229 Color Guard on Memorial Day. The team took second place honors in the New York Department’s Annual Convention Parade, held July 20 in Rochester.

SEASON’S FIRSTDINNER DANCE

Post Seeks BidsFor Snowplowing

Inside

Commander’s Call 2Chaplain’s Corner 2 Post Gives Awards 3Memorial Day 4Dept. Convention 5Auxiliary 6

COLOR GUARD BUSY

The Utica Post 229 Color Guard has had a busy spring and summer, including taking second place honors in the New York Department’s Annual Convention Parade on July 20 in Rochester.

Previously they were state champions in their division three years run-ning.

This year, reports Color Guard Chair Anthony Pal-ladino, they participated in Memorial Day and Veter-ans day parades and wreath laying, funerals, Oneida

September

4 Bingo, 6:30 pm5 Bloodmobile, noon-56 Monthly Dinner, 6:15 Post Meeting, 7:30 pm Auxiliary, 7:30 pm10 Vietnam Vets of Am., 111 Bingo, 6:30 pm15 County Aux at 229 18 Bingo, 6:30 pm25 Bingo, 6:30 pm

DEPT. COMMANDER TIM VAN PATTEN VISITS AREA SEPT. 29

Department Commander Tim Van Patten will visit Oneida County on Sept. 29.

He will join an 11 a.m. lun-cheon and press conference at Smith Post in Rome, and then take a tour of Eastern Air Defense Sector (EADS) at Griffiss Airpark.

A dinner will be held in his honor at New Hartford Post in the evening, starting with a social hour at 5 p.m.

-- Paul Wojcik

County naturalization ceremonies, flag retirement ceremony, and served as honor guard for the Drums Along the Mohawk Drum and Bugle Corps competi-tion and for opening day at the NY American Legion Baseball Championships.

Color Guard team includes:

• Mike Cavanaugh, team captain,• Curtis Green, • Steve Currie, • James McGuire, • Dave Valentine, • Reggie Carter.

GOLD STAR MOTHERS’ DAY IS SEPT. 30

Sept. 30th is Gold Star Mothers’ Day. Vietnam Vet-erans of America will host a wreath laying and honor Gold Star Mothers at the Gold Star Monument at the main Post Office on Pitcher Street.

The ceremony will begin at 2 p.m. Color Guards from several legion posts will be on hand.

-- Paul Wojcik

The post is soliciting bids to plow the parking lot this winter season (Oct. 1-May 1), whenever two inches or more of snow accumulates. Bids are due at the post by Sept. 19.

The first dinner dance of the season takes place Fri-day, Sept. 7, at the post.

It’s a change from the usual Saturday dance because another event is scheduled for Sept. 8, re-ports Chair Rose Coniglio.

Music will be by Mys-tique, with dancing from 8 to midnight. Open bar gets underway at 6, with an Italian buffet dinner at 7.

Cost is $22 per person. To make a reservation,

contact Rose at 735-9091 or Post 229 at 793-9377.

First Call • September 20122

Commander’s Call

Chris Urban

Reggie Carter, and Tony Palladino (Chairman).

BRAVO ZULU YET AGAIN

Also this summer, Eagle Scout Candidate Ryan Crigger organized, planned, managed, and led a Hercu-lean effort to re-landscape the 90 feet of Post 299 that faces Herkimer Road.

The re-landscaping work took place on some of the hottest days of the summer and the results are abso-lutely amazing.

Bravo Zulu to Ryan Crig-ger, his dad Mike, his mom Laura, the 14 Boy Scouts who participated, Larry Weibel, Joanne M. Powers, and Dave Valentine.

BUSY SUMMERWhere has the summer

gone? I cannot believe that I’m writing for Septem-ber’s First Call already! I hope everyone had a safe and happy summer.

It was a busy and pro-ductive summer for Post 229.

BRAVO ZULUBravo Zulu to Bob Stro-

nach for being awarded 1st Place in the Annual Oneida County American Legion Newsletter Com-petition, 1st place in the New York State American Legion Annual Newsletter and Web Site Competi-tion, and 1st Place for the National American Legion Annual Newsletter Com-petition (a clean-sweep for Bob!).

ANOTHER BRAVO ZULU

In July the Color Guard took 2nd Place in the Color Guard competition at the Annual American Legion State Convention in Rochester. Bravo Zulu to all the Color Guard members: Mike Cava-naugh (Captain), Curtis Green, Jim Mcguire, Steve Currie, Dave Valentine,

ONCE MORE:BRAVO ZULU

On August 2 we hosted 180 members of the Spirit of Atlanta Drum and Bugle Corps (participants in Drums Along the Mohawk Competition in Rome) for dinner. The kids were wonderful and we received a number of nice messages from their par-ents. Bravo Zulu to Sharon Lange, Joanne C. Powers, Zeke Zaleski, Frank Cas-sella, Tom O’Toole, Jim Haggerty, and Tony Pal-ladino for cooking, helping to serve, and cleaning-up.

BE RESPECTFULIn August I suspended

several of our members’ bar privileges for 30 days. Our bar has a very friendly and relaxed atmosphere and all of our patrons must treat everyone with dignity and respect at all times.

BINGO FUNWe can always use more

volunteers for Tuesday evening Bingo. Please contact the Post and leave your name for Bingo Chairman Jim George. We do have a lot of laughs on Tuesday evenings.

For God and Country...

I love to feelThe sun upon my backA breeze upon my faceA joy within my heartThat nothing can erase.

I wait to feel each seasonThat God will show me the

wayTo experience the nightI long to see each day

The morning birds sweet songThat sounds so free and clear

It permeates the airAs an echo does the ear.

When I pray at nightI thank the Lord above

For the miracles of His handHis undying love.

SEPT. NOTABLES

Sept. 1 WWII began (1939)Sept. 3 Labor Day Sept. 3 Uncle Sam’s birthday, first appeared in 1813Sept. 5 First Continental Congress (1774)Sept. 6 Pilgrams set sail from Plymouth EnglandSept. 7 National Grandparents DaySept. 11 World Trade Center attacked (2001)Sept. 14 Francis Scott Key wrote Star Spangled Banner (1814) Sept. 17 U.S. Constitution signed (1887)Sept. 22 first day of autumn Sept. 29 US Army was established (1789)

Chaplain’scorner

Paul Wojcik

Ryan CriggerEagle Scout Candidate

September 2012 • First Call 3

The June meeting featured the presentation of several Red, White and Blue Awards to people who worked with the post and its military liaison, Pat Dodge, to bake or provide goodies for the troops.

Officers also welcomed new member Gerard Sessa

of Utica, a Korean War-era Army veterans.

Receiving Red, White and Blue Awards were:

• AARP’s Greater Utica Area Chapter, represented by Jean Barney and Red Burkett.

• Jeannette Grube.• Joyce Astafan.

Not present but receiving awards later were:

• Mr. & Mrs. William Urban.• Walgreen Store at 1750

Genesee St., Utica (Store manager was Chrystal Petry.)

• Walgreen Store at 49 Kellogg Road in New Hart-ford. (Store manager is Chris

Morris-Hart. )Noting that Walgreens has

donated thousands of candy bars, Pat said: “The program they started is to enable ev-eryday citizens to show their support of the troops by purchasing a candy bar and putting it in the box.”

AWARDS THANK THOSE WHO HELP PROVIDE GOODIES FOR TROOPS

Commander Chris Urban presents Red, White and Blue Awards to AARP’s Red Bukett and Jean Barney, and to Jeannette Grube (below left) and Joyce Astafan (below right).

New Member Gerard Sessa is welcomed by Vice Commander Jim George during the June 6th membership meeting.

Utica Post will have a monthly lotto, starting in October and continuing ev-ery other month, Treasurer Jim Haggerty announced.

Coming This October: Utica Post LottoPrizes will $50 every day

except Sunday, when the prize will be $100.

“We will use the evening lotto numbers, and there is

a $10 prize for the number above and below the winning number,” he said. Tickets will be available in the bar, from Jim Haggerty or from

Richard Greco. Jim’s number is 368-4837 and Dick’s is 736-0426. “Please help sup-port our post by purchasing a ticket for $5.”

First Call • September 20124

Two Korean War veterans led Utica’s Memorial Day Parade on May 28, which capped a day of remembrance for Amer-cian servicemen and women who never made it home from war.

Preceded by Utica Police and Fire Department Color Guards, Utica veterans Thomas O’Toole and Cal-vin Anacher led the 50-unit parade as grand marshals. Both men are long-time members of Utica Post 229. O’Toole has been a Legion member for 28 years, and Anacker, for 58 years.

O’Toole, then an Army sergeant, saw action as a tank commander in the area known as the Punchbowl, a basin sur-rounded on three sides by mountains. He served with the 224th Infantry Regi-ment, part of the 40th Infantry Division. Anacker served in the Army and initially took part in Operation Blue Jay at Thule, Greenland in 1951, hauling supplies, cargo and materials needed to extend the airstrips there, and then hauled supplies and materials to construct radar sites and extend airstrips in Newfoundland, Lab-rador, Baffin Island and Greenland.

Earlier in the day, Utica Mayor Robert Palmieri, Police Chief Mark Williams and Fire Chief Russell Brooks joined Army Private Taylor to kick off a series of memorial services at six monuments around Utica by placing a wreath at

KOREAN WAR VETS LEAD PARADEpost 229 spearheads memorial day remembrance

the Soldiers and Sailors Monument at Oneida Square. Col. Gary Howard, a retired Army chaplain, and his assistant, Sgt. 1st Class Timothy Morrell, led the crowds of veterans, Gold Star Mothers and others in prayer at the sites, which included the Vietnam Veterans Memori-al on the Memorial Parkway, the POW-MIA Monument on the Parkway, the World War I/World War II/Korean War Monument on the Parkway, the Purple Heart Park in West Utica, and the All Veterans Memorial at Utica’s Main Post Office on Pitcher Street.

Gold Star Mothers Shirley Jones and Mary Wheeler placed a wreath at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, with the assistance of City Court Judge Ralph Eannace and Memorial Day Chair-man Paul Wojcik. Jones and Wheeler also placed a wreath at the All Veterans Memorial, along with local Vietnam

Veterans of America Commander Tom Buono and former Air Force pilot Shir-ley Eadline, who represented Congress-man Richard Hanna.

O’Toole and Anacker placed the wreath at the POW/MIA Monument; Utica Post Commander Chris Urban and Auxiliary President Peggie Kohler laid the wreath at the World War I/World War II/Korean War Monument; and Marine veteran Vin Egresits was joined by Air Force veteran Shirley Ead-line from Congressman Hanna’s office to present the wreath at the Purple Heart Memorial Park.

UTICA POST 229 and the City of Utica co-sponsored the parade, which stepped off at Genesee and Eagle streets and continued up Genesee to the Parkway. The post led a committee of veterans’ orga-nizations that planned the day’s activities, with Paul Wojcik serving as chairman.

CAL ANACHER AND TOM O’TOOLE

See Memorial Day coverage, including a photo gallery, at uticapost229.org

Chaplain Gary Howard prays at Vietnam Veterans Memorial, where Gold Stars Mothers Shirley Jones and Mary Wheeler laid a wreath with the assistance of Paul Wojcik and City Court Judge Ralph Eannace.

September 2012 • First Call 5

AT THE CONVENTION (from left): Dave Wilson, Paul Wojcik, Jim Haggerty, Frank Cassella, and Tony Palladino.

Members of Utica Post 229’s Legion Family participated in the Annual New York Depart-ment Convention, held July 19-21 in Rochester.

The Post Color Guard took second place honors in the Legion Family division.

The post newsletter, First Call, and the post website, uticapost229.org, grabbed first place awards in the New York American Legion Press Asso-ciation competition in the large

MEMBERS AT DEPARTMENT C0NVENTIONpost category (350 or more members).

The convention kicked off with a welcome by Monroe County Executive Maggie Brooks (at left with outgoing Department Commander Mike Bowen) and concluded with the election of Timothy Van Patten as 2012-2013 department com-mander (right). In between were resolutions, speeches, awards, and a parade in downtown Rochester (below).

see convention coverage and photos at nylegion.com (a ny legion news website)

First Call • September 20126

AuxiliaryPeggy Kohler, president

President’s MessagePeggie Kohler

Dear Auxiliary Members,

I want to welcome all the members back for the com-ing year. Hope you all had a nice summer.

The first Auxiliary County meeting will be here on September 15. Lunch at noon.

Yours in service...

By Rose A. Coniglio

I did not get a quota yet for the 2012-13 year, but dues are now $20.

So renew your member-ship early. If you haven’t paid 2011-12 dues yet, please do so we can get your membership up to date and so I can accept your 2012-13 dues.

Our Auxiliary year goes from July to July.

Make checks out to American Legion Auxil-iary Unit 229 and send to:

Rose A. Coniglio607 Jay St., Apt. C2Utica, NY 13501Thank you !

Membership:A New Year

Dave and Evelyn Wil-

son, as they walked back to the hotel after watch-

ing the convention

parade in Rochester.

We’ll Send Package To Your RelativesServing In Military

By PAT DODGEAnyone with relatives in the military anywhere,

who would like us to send a care package, please call 732-0302, email sarad.101@gmail.com, or send a note to 1825 Merriline Avenue, Utica 13502.

Please include the service member’s address, what he/she likes and needs, how many other troops in the immediate group so we know how many cookies to send.

If you also provide DOB, we can send a birthday card. Last year no one provided an address for anyone.

I would be happy with this if I didn’t know we still have people in the military serving here and abroad.

Thanks for your continued support of our troops.

‘Remember, Renew, Reach Out,’ UrgesDept. President

The new Department Auxiliary president is Sally Johnston, a 25-year member from John E. Harrica Unit 875 in Chateaugay, NY.

“My motto this year is Re-member, Renew, Reach Out,” she said. “Remember why you joined, Renew your commit-ment to the organization, Reach Out to those in need. If you will examine yourself utilizing the 3 Rs, you will find that you have all that you need to attract new members and retain our exist-ing ones while working on our programs.

“Our membership is the most vital part of our organiza-tion; without membership we cannot fulfill the needs of our programs, which our Veterans, Veterans families, active duty personnel and our community so desperately need.

“I would ask that each of you to arm yourselves with a Legion Family Membership Applica-tion and prepare an elevator speech, a 2- to 3-minute expla-nation of who we are, what we do, and eligibility to join the largest patriotic women’s orga-nization in the world, and don’t forget to include the benefits that are available as a member of this elite organization.”

Unit Hosts CountyUtica Unit 229 will host the

County Auxiliary meeting on Sept. 15. Lunch starts at noon.

September 2012 • First Call 7

Give BloodAmerican Red Cross bloodmobile is

at Utica Post 229 every first Wednesday of the month from noon to 5.

Past Commander Tony Palladino was elected 2nd vice commander for the county.

Post Chaplain and Law-and-Order Chair Paul Wojcik was re-elected 5th District chaplain and re-appointed De-partment vice chairman for conventions.

Post Members Serve at All Levels

The Color Guard is coming to attention and offering a salute to Post 229 and Commander Chris Urban -- as a way to say thank you for the Appreciation Day held in their honor at the post on Aug. 4.

Team members enjoyed the lunch and beverages, and say they are proud to serve and represent Utica Post 229.

Color Guard Salutes Post

He used maple, “because out of every guitar that I’ve owned, the maple ones always had a warmer sound and more sustain to them. I think it just gives a much fuller sound. That’s pretty much the standard with the high-end guitars as well.”

He has one finishing touch left to do: scripting the name of its maker on the head stock. But it won’t be his given name, Henry James George II. Instead it will be part of his Mohawk name. It’s Okwa:ho.

“That’s one way to say ‘wolf ’,” Jim noted. He’s named after his grandfather, who was a Mohawk chief and whose name roughly trans-lates as Lone Wolf. “My full name is Okwa:ho Owella (prounouned o-GWA-who o-gweela). Mine roughly means younger or junior wolf.”

When Jim was growing up, he spent a lot of time with

his grandfather, who lived at Akwesasne (Saint Regis) res-ervation (which straddles the New York-Canadian border) before moving to Utica.

As a chief, his grandfather had met with Pope John Paul II several times and devel-

oped a friendship to the point of exchanging personal letters.

Jim used to accompany his grandfather everywhere, including celebrations at the Martyrs Shrine at Auriesville, NY and the National Kateri Tekakwitha Shrine at Fonda,

NY. (Kateri, a 17th cen-tury Mohawk mystic being canonized as a saint by the Vatican in October, lived her young years at Auriesville, and then her teen/young adult years at Fonda after the Mohawks moved their village across the river.)

Decorating the body of the guitar is an image of a crow, or tsio ka’:we in Mohawk (pronounced joe-ga-way). Its wings are tucked, head turned and eyes staring straight out. It was painted by Auxiliary member Eileen Bowes.

He could cite several reasons for using a crow: It was one of his grandfather’s favorite creatures, he said, and in mythology, “it carries the soul (of the departed) to the other side.”

Another reason is tinged with humor: “It reminds me of past mistakes, and not to repeat them if I don’t want to eat crow.”

-- by Bob Stronach

hand-crafted guitar continued from back cover

Guitar sports image of crow, painted by Auxiliary member Eileen Bowes.

First Call • September 20128

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.

LEGIONNAIRE DEBUTS HAND-CRAFTED GUITARThe sound of an electric guitar pierced

Utica Post 229 at a June karaoke night. It wasn’t a recording. Vice Commander Jim George was debuting a guitar he had spent over a year hand-crafting. He performed a number of rock and soft rock songs as people sang along.

Jim was pleased with the sound: “It screams when it’s turned on.”

He has owned a number of guitars, and often found himself dissatisfied with some-thing about each one. So he decided to make his own.

“This is my first ‘real’ one (making from scratch). I used to buy older ones or busted-up ones and ‘Frankenstein’ them. That’s pretty much how I got to learn to put them together. Plus, I used to tinker with mine all the time. I also used to fix them for friends, depending on what the problem was.”

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