Granite State Detachment 542, Marine Corps League

Greater Hillsborough County Area

Commandant's Message

It is so hard to believe that we are already into the fall of 2024, and will be heralding in 2025 before we realize it! 

2024 has been a busy year with getting to know new members, realigning to a new meeting place and having Michelle VanValkenburg schedule some very successful fun raising events. 

I was able to get us linked up with the local recruiting command for combined displays for our first ever opportunity to participate in the annual car show on Labor Day weekend. I am looking to move forward

with several members to undertake this on an annual basis. It proved to be a great event for both public service to garner a small amount of funds that has been agreed to be boosted to be raised to $1000 for a scholarship presentation in the coming spring for a local Boys and Girls Club member to attend college. This is helping to get our foot in the door with this youth group as to how we might be able to help another worthy youth organization in addition to scouts. 

The Marine Corps League is becoming well known within our greater community not only to prior service Marines, Corpsmen and Navy Chaplains, but to the community we are serving through our community service activites.......Oorah and many thanks to our members for all that you do in this regard.

I am hoping to get members, families and friends interested in getting together for some friendly get togethers, like the upcoming corn maze event that Dan Fedor and Kaylee Bass are planning for October 19th. I need a few members to assist in putting together a Christmas celebration with a crazy Yankee swap included.  If you are interested please email or call me. This is the detachment of all, by all and for all.

Alieni Semel, Saepius Exertus, Semper Fidelis, Fratres et Sorores in Aeternum!   

Strangers Once, Often Tested, Always Faithful, Brothers and Sisters Forever  

Quidam Dedit Omnibus 

All Gave Some, Some Gave All

Commandant - Gary Gahan

Fellow members of the Granite State Detachment 542, we have the opportunity to end our calendar year with one more fundraiser to raise money for the detachment and have even more funds to support the important community causes all of us hold so dear. We will have a table at Bass Pro Shops in Hooksett on November 7th and 9th.

It is also an excellent way to get our name out in the community and let the greater Manchester folks know who we are and what we do and even gain some new potential members. Our presence keeps our name and our service remembered.

Please sign up in the link below and reach out if you have any issues. ( please note one of the days is Thursday Nov 7th so we will rely heavily on our retired members to volunteer for that day, the other day is a Saturday the 9th.)

Lord, Our Divine Physician, we ask you to guard and protect our Marine Corps League families.

Keep all of our members old and not so old from illness.

For those that are sick bring healing.

May your precious blood, oh Lord, be our defense.

By your grace may we turn the evil of disease into hope.

Bless our members who are fighting other conditions.

For all our members that have passed, have mercy.

Through Christ our Lord.

Amen 

God Bless,

Joe Duquette, Chaplain

Joe Duquette, Chaplain

Paymaster Donation Report for Third Quarter 2024

This quarter, as the new GSD #542 Paymaster, I am providing the third quarter 2024 donation information made by the Detachment to the very worthy Veterans and community organizations listed in the report.

The total donation for the quarter is $8,607 and its impact for these organizations is mainly due to the generosity and dedication of time by our members who have volunteered their efforts to the GSD #542 fundraising activities. 

Remember, “Team Work makes the Dream Work.” 

On another note, recently members received a memo and email from me in regard to Renewal Dues. Thank you to those members who have responded with their renewal payment of $35. 

If you have not sent your renewal payment as of yet, kindly send it to:

Marjorie A. Romano, Paymaster

55 Harding Street

Manchester, NH 03109

OR

 Members also have the option to pay online with PayPal via our website at:

https://granitestatemarines.com/mcl_payment/

Choose Renewal from the drop down menu, then click “Buy Now” and complete the payment process.

Respectfully submitted,

Marge Romano

Granite State Detachment #542

Invites Members, Families, and Guests

to Get Lost With Us in the

Hopkinton Corn Maze

Join GSD #542 on October 19th at 1300 hours at the

Beech Hill Farm and Ice Cream Barn, in Hopkinton, NH to explore their two Corn Mazes!

Beech Hill Farm has two corn mazes again this year. This year’s themes are “Rainforest Jumble” and “Amazing US Jeopardy.” Maze-goers search for signs with clues in a scavenger hunt style. Complete the puzzles to help navigate through.

I am writing this email as I head back from California to inform you that the Marine Corps League has a new National Commandant. Your new Commandant is TJ Morgan. As the League moves forward, New England Division is here to support Commandant Morgan in any way necessary. 

The Commandant expressed that he has plans and goals moving forward, and he will convey that plan to the board at our next board meeting. Having said that, as a veteran service organization we have been lacking in that aspect. Commandant Morgan along with COO Bob Borka will continue to build a program where there is a VSO in each Division. New England , which is one of two Divisions that does not have one yet. There were a couple of members who expressed interest, unfortunately it wasn't going to work.  This individual (VSO) will be a principally accredited service officer for the MCL. Again, I ask that anyone interested please reach out to me. 

The other National officers are as follows:

Sr. Vice Commandant Russ Miller

Jr. Vice Commandant Dave Porter

Nat. J A Bruce Rakfeldt

I will be sending out more information/knowledge from the convention once I get home and get back to normal. 

Any questions please feel free to contact me. 

Semper Fi

Patrick Maguire

National Vice Commandant 

New England Division 

Marine Corps League 

(Dated 8/17/2024)

We are happy to welcome our newest members to the Granite State Detachment #542 in 2024 that were sworn in at the various times in the last couple of months. We are looking forward to years of friendship, camaraderie, and fun as we help fellow Marines, Veterans, and the Community together!

Welcome

Paul Connolly

Arthur Kidd

John Sofronas

Sara Steffan

Glen Thayer Sr.

Stephen White

Left to right: Dan Fedor, Arthur Kidd and Gary Gahan at the wearing Ceremony of Arthur Kidd

Granite State MCL 542 Detachment new member, Bill Rogers DOES parachute. Bill is a 90 year old Navy Corpsman serving the Marines and saving lives in Korea as a 17 year old. Here is attached the story that was on WMUR last night regarding Bill's journey from the sky yesterday where I went to watch his three point landing.  Bill is truly an amazing man.

November 10th will be a busy day for the 249th Marine corps birthday celebration.  Join us for a day of celebration!

The day will start at 0800 for the annual raising of the Marine Corps colors on the top of the NH State House. Followed by breakfast in Concord NH.

Your attendance is requested at the Manchester Expeditionary Brigade luncheon in Manchester at noon. The information and sign up is in the link below. (Early bird pricing if purchased by Oct 18th.)

A beautiful sunny, and breezy ideal day to volunteer at the "Money Hole" (Hole 14) at the August 14, 2024 Building Dreams for Marines Golf Tournament fundraiser held at the Overlook Golf Club located in Hollis, NH. Picture below is Lauri Romano Beaule, Marge Romano, and GSD# 542 Marine Corps League Commandant, Gary Gahan. Other volunteer Detachment members not pictured were: Dan Fedor, John Nye, Glen and GJ Thayer.

We volunteers all had so much fun with the golfers as they were all in good spirits while enjoying their golf game as they supported the BDFM organization. As volunteers we ended the day at the "Money Hole" with approximately $1400 in donations which will aid the BDFM organization to continue to help Veterans with modifications to their homes to improve their quality of life at no cost to the Veteran.

August 31, 2024 - Granite State Detachment #542 erected its firth booth at the annual Cruising Downtown Manchester car show. We had a lot of fun on a great day, getting to share with the community a little about who we are and what we do. The major of Manchester even stopped by the booth to check it out! Below are a few pictures from the end of summer day at the car show.

Above, left to right: Marge Romano, Eric Anthony, Glen Thayer, Major Jay Ruais, and Gary Gahan in front of the Granite State MCL tent.

Our Fundraising event at the Bass Pro Shops in Hooksett, NH on August 24 and 25th as we shared who we are and what we do with the community that came out to Bass Pro Shops that weekend. Thank you to all those who volunteered and who donated.

Pictured above left, Jim Ambrose, Right picture, Kevin Brown and Marge Romano

During the September Members Meeting we had a guest speaker, Hud Connery from the Vet Center in Manchester/Hooksett location. He shared what they do and who is eligible to join. Please click on the image of the locations below to see additional information on our website.

We are starting a list of businesses in our area that offer discounts to Veterans. If you know others please email us at granitestatemarines542@gmail.com .

Bass Pro Shops - Hooksett

The Home Depot

Lowes

Tucker's Restaurant -Bedford, Hooksett, and Merrimack

T-Bones - Bedford, Derry, and Concord

For a list of Veteran Owned Business in NH please visit: www.veteranownedbusiness.com

Memory Mums for Veterans and Families - drop off Mums at the NHSVC from September 14 - 20. 

POW/MIA Remembrance Ceremony hosted by the VFW - Saturday, September 21st at 11:00 AM. in the NHSVC Chapel.

Memorial Walkway and Headstone Cleaning Event - hosted by Rolling Thunder of NH, Gold Star Families, and US Air Force Academy Association of Graduates of NH - Sunday, November 3rd at 10:00 AM. All are invited to attend. Many hands make quick and joyful work!

Place Flags for Veterans Day - Thursday, November 7th @ 1:00 PM. All are invited to participate.

Remove Flags from Graves - Tuesday, November 12th @ 1:00 PM. All are invited to attend.

Wreaths for Boscawen - Saturday, December 7th @ 10:30 AM. Please consider purchasing a wreath or donating at https://www.bluestarmothersofnh.org/wreaths-for-boscawen. All are welcome! 

Some of you may have noticed that back in May our Facebook page was no longer published on the social media site. It seems that someone attacked (h@cked) our page and made it so that it was unpublished and no mater what we did to fix it, nothing worked.

Therefore, we have ad to recreate our Facebook page with a slightly different page name.

Below is the link for the new page, we ask that you go to the page and click the follow button so that you can see all of our posts.

The eight-point Veteran’s Creed is:

1.   I am an American Veteran

2.   I proudly served my country

3.   I live the values I learned in the military

4.   I continue to serve my community, my country and my fellow veterans

5.   I maintain my physical and mental discipline

6.   I continue to lead and improve

7.   I make a difference

8.   I honor and remember my fallen comrades

Source:  https://www.vfw.org/media-and-events/latest-releases/archives/2018/6/veterans-organizations-establish-veterans-creed

Sun relentless, pulls steam from the green

Jungle or marine, all give their moisture

Break time, long hump today

Patrols out searching and it comes

Lines crossed; wires tripped

First a sprinkle, then the storm as

Tree line erupts sparkling pain

Marines, as always, respond

To the sound of the gun

“Right back at you, get some.”

Flankers move to sergeant’s bellows

Six paces ahead, a string is pulled

19 and strong, he drops, crumpled

On the move even before cries of

Corpsman up leave a mouth

Kit flops, focus sharp, moving

Sliding stop and searching

Eyes, hands, brain team together

Where’s the hit, where? Where?

And second doc is cutting clothes away

And a young soul already moving to God

A hole in the shirt, a tiny mark

Could’ve fixed it with a band aid

All these years, how? How?

Still unanswered

Join us for our next FUNday breakfast on October 26th at 0800 at the Airport Diner for the FUNday meet-n-greet breakfast @ 2280 Brown Avenue, Manchester to join in on all this fun! Hope to see you there!

Below please find some links for the VA website that may be helpful to you.

Outreach events

VA benefits can help Veterans and their families buy homes, earn degrees, start careers, stay healthy, and more. Join an event for conversation and information.

Outreach Materials

Use our outreach materials to help Veterans manage their journey with VA and learn about their benefits.

State Departments of VA Offices

Select a state or territory below to visit the website for that location’s Department of Veterans Affairs office.

Download or Print out your VA Welcome Kit

Whether you’re just getting out of the service or you’ve been a civilian for years now, the VA Welcome Kit can help guide you to the benefits and services you’ve earned.

September 1st - Membership Dues are due. Please mail in your check to the address at the bottom of this email.

October 19th - Corn Maze in Hopkinton, NH - See details above and To Register

Monthly Member Meeting - Every 2^nd Tuesday at 1800 for the detachment meeting at the American-Canadian Genealogical Society at 1 Sundial Ave., Suite 317, Manchester, NH 03103.

Upcoming Meeting Dates

October 8, 2024

November 12, 2024

December 10, 2024

Monthly Breakfast -Every last Saturday of the month at 0800 at the Airport Diner for the FUNday meet-n-greet breakfast @ 2280 Brown Avenue, Manchester.

Upcoming Breakfast Dates

October 26, 2024

November 30, 2024

December 28, 2024

Members of the Marine Corps League join together in camaraderie and fellowship for the purpose of preserving the traditions and promoting the interests of the United States Marine Corps. 

Our mission is to voluntarily aid and render assistance to all Marines, FMF Chaplains, FMF Corpsmen and former Marines, FMF Chaplains and FMF Corpsmen and to their widows and orphans. 

Our Membership Coverage Area is the greater Hillsborough County with some towns in Rockingham County. For the full list of towns we encompass, please check out our membership page on our website.

Monthly Meetings

When: Monthly Meetings of the Granite State Detachment are held on the 2nd Tuesday of each month

Where: The American-Canadian Genealogical Society (ACGS), 1 Sundial Ave, Suite 317, Manchester, NH 03103

Time: Meetings begin promptly and 1800



Info: Membership is not a requirement for attendance and guests are always welcome to attend these events.

2024 Officers

You have received this email because you have subscribed for a newsletter at https://www.granitestatemarines.com. We will never sell or share your information, and will be used for informational purposes only. You can always unsubscribe from our mailing list, by clicking on Unsubscribe.