President’s Letter Fourth Quarter 2019 Dear Navy League Members and Friends: With this fourth quarter President’s Letter, my three-year tour of New Look Coming duty as President draws to a close. At midnight on December 31, for Newsletter 2019, the watch was passed to Captain Frank Russo, USN (Ret), our outstanding former Treasurer. George Simpson, our acting Secretary, became our elected Secretary. I assumed the duties of Treasurer. We seem well staffed with the tremendous talents of Executive Director Jessica At a November meeting, the Hitchen, Development Navy League’s National Director Erika Myers and Executive Committee voted to volunteer extraordinaire approve the use of the Navy Mary Brogan to go forward League seal as the official logo and do great things! of the Navy League of the United States. This seal has an October historic legacy for our USCG Sector NY and organization and will replace MSST NY held their Outgoing President Charles Blaich, seen here the previous slanted anchor Enlisted Person of the with incoming President Frank Russo, had his logo. National has encouraged Quarter ceremonies on name added to the Council’s Presidents’ Plaque. all councils to adopt the seal, October 23 and 28, along with updated brand respectively. Congratulations to CS3 Zachry Mccullagh and SK1 guidelines, during an 18- Isaac Caraballo and thank you for your exemplary service. month roll out. On October 21, I presented at the World Trade Center Museum my As you may have already recollections as a NYC Fire Chief on 9/11 to the international noticed, we adopted the seal students of the Naval War College Command College program. on our website and social media platforms in January. We Amazingly, there is still genuine interest 18 years later. We hope are in the process of the 2020 Command College Class can join us for a U.S. Navy converting our other assets, Birthday Celebration in NYC. including this newsletter, so cont’d next page keep an eye out for a fresh new look in the next issue. !1 President’s Letter Fourth Quarter 2019 from page 1 Development News We helped families from 1st Marine Corps Our annual #GivingTuesday District enjoy the Halloween season on campaign told several stories October 25 by sponsoring prizes for their of why our members choose to costume contest and Trunk or Treat support our Council. We raised decorating contest. $2,420 — just shy of our $2,500 goal. Advisory Committee November member Joe Ryan was the Erika represented the Council at the lucky winner of the Veterans on Wall Street Symposium on autographed Giants Team Ball. November 4 and had the opportunity to Thank you NY Giants for make some new corporate connections. Costumes ranged from cute — donating our raffle prize and like this one — to scary at the On November 8, I attended the New York thanks to the Graphics 1st Marine Corps District City Pickle Night Dinner, held in honor of NJROTC cadets for selecting Halloween Party. and announcing the winner. the 214th anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar. Quite an event, it is organized annually by Advisory The Development Committee Committee member Sally McElwreath. I encourage you to try to and Development Director attend next year. Erika Myers are busy planning the 118th Anniversary Dinner. On a busy November 12, Erika and I attended a Coast Guard This year’s honorees are naming ceremony conducted by Admiral Karl Schultz, Admiral William McRaven, J&J Commandant of the Coast Guard, while Jess and Frank met with CEO Alex Gorsky, CG RADM Rock and the Fleet Week staff from Navy Mid-Atlantic to Commandant Admiral Karl begin planning for Fleet Week New York 2020. It should be great! Schultz and Ken Fisher of Fisher Brothers. To learn more about this impressive slate, visit nynavyleague.org/ 118dinner. Invitations with event details should arrive in your mailbox soon. Please spread the word to others who might enjoy the evening and wish to support our programs. Member tickets are limited, so act quickly. Full- price tickets are $750 per person. Tables are also selling fast due to the caliber of our On November 12, Admiral Karl Schultz, Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard, presented the families of Coast Guard reservists Vincent Danz honorees. Interested corporate and Jeffrey Palazzo with framed photos of the ships being named in their donors can contact Erika at honor. Joining Admiral Schultz to honor the memory of these two 9/11 [email protected] or call heroes, who also served in the NYPD and FDNY, were NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio, then-NYPD Commissioner James O’Neill and FDNY Chief of 212-825-7333 x2. Department John Sudnik. Hope to see you there! cont’d next page !2 President’s Letter Fourth Quarter 2019 from page 2 Our Annual Membership Meeting on November 13 saw us recording nearly 200 votes in the unanimous election of our new Board of Directors. Thanks to all who came in person and best of luck to new and returning Directors. Thanks also to Frank, Advisory Committee member Madeline Penachio and Council member Louis Liotti, who attended National’s Congressional Fly-In to bring the Navy League’s advocacy messages to the Hill. The Navy-Notre Dame football watch party on November 16, while unfortunately a loss for the Naval Academy, was still a well-attended and enjoyable social event. For Thanksgiving, my wife, Mary, and I were invited by my son, LCDR Dan Blaich, USCG, an H-65 pilot, to a Thanksgiving dinner at USCG Air Station Savannah hosted by the Savannah Navy League. It was great! President O.C. Fowler runs a great Council. December Frank conducted the George Washington NJROTC inspection on December 4, coming away impressed with the quality of this unit’s cadets under the new leadership of Advisory Committee member Kevin Bedard. Council member John Nash, a WWII veteran, was a speaker at John Jay’s Pearl Harbor Remembrance Ceremony on December 9. He was joined by his wife, Irene. Council member Dick Pusatieri runs the Student Veterans program at John Jay and coordinated a very moving program. We sponsored holiday fun at the 1st Marine Corps District’s family party at Tun Tavern this month as well as a celebration for the NYC-based Marine Recruiters. Our Council Christmas Party was held on December 11 at the India House and wrapped up a great year. The absence of our own Admiral Bob Lunney and wife Joan due to medical issues caused concern and we extend our best wishes to them and all other members for health in 2020. Our last event of 2019, the Army-Navy Game Watch Party, was held on WWII veteran John Nash December 14 and USNA came away with the win. Thanks to our new VP of spoke to John Jay Student Veterans at a Pearl Harbor Membership, Lu Caldara, for joining me as an enthusiastic ambassador for the Remembrance Ceremony Council at these football parties, which brought in several new members. We on December 9. look forward to more events like this next year. Enough from me. Please continue reading on the next page to hear from our new President, Captain Frank Russo, USN (Ret). Semper fi, Col. Charles R. Blaich, USMC (Ret.) President !3 President’s Letter Fourth Quarter 2019 Meet our new Council President, Frank Russo First, I would like to offer my thanks to Charles for his tremendous leadership over the past three years and his friendship, and to the Board and the membership for their confidence in me to assume the watch. Overall, the Council has experienced success over the past years due to the work of Charles, Ted Mason, Bob Lunney and the other leaders who care so much about our organization and our mission to support the sea services. The Council is on solid financial ground and our efforts have helped our members advocate for the sea services with members of Congress, support Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard personnel and their families in this area, and support the activities of our sponsored youth programs. I will be introducing a few strategic initiatives to the Board to continue building the Council through strength in membership, development and reputation. I propose that we work to: • increase our membership to have the organization reflect our great city and to increase membership involvement in our activities and programs; • diversify our fundraising efforts, with continued efforts to grow our annual dinner as well as develop other sources of funding for our programs; • raise the visibility and profile of the New York Council in the New York area. As our Executive Director likes to say, “we are the oldest non-profit no one has heard of” and it is our job to change this. I look forward to working with the Board, the Council’s leadership and you, our members, to continue to make the New York Council even better. Upcoming Events Wednesday, January 29 — Coast Guard Station New York Enlisted Person of the Quarter 9:00 A.M., CG Station NY, 10 Search Ln, Staten Island NY; ID required Friday, January 31 — Naval Recruiting District New York Recruiters of the Quarter and Year 10:00 A.M., Fort Hamilton; ID required Week of February 3 — MSST New York Enlisted Person of the Quarter and Year Presentation details to be announced Wednesday, February 12 — National Security Briefing Luncheon with VADM Andrew “Woody” Lewis Noon–2:00 P.M., New York Athletic Club; co-hosted by American Legion Post 754 Thursday, March 26 — 118th Anniversary Dinner 6:00 P.M. reception, 7:15 P.M.