News, Entertainment, Enlightenment
Jootz is having an open house April 21-22, April 25 and April 28-29 at 14 Windsor Circle, Springfield Pa. 19064
State Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi and Rogers Howard, the taxpayer representative seeking to replace him as the Republican nominee for the 9th District seat, will square off in a debate, 7 p.m., April 19 at the Crosslands Retirement Community, 1660 East Street Road, Kennett Square, Pa. 19348
It will be hosted by the League of Women Voters.
Pileggi is in a surprising tough battle with Howard who has tapped into to anger about cronyism and government waste, and how the Republican majority installed in 2010 has neglected to make the reforms it claimed it would.
Unitarianism started in Transylvania.
Honor Flight Philly First Solo Mission Lands — Honor Flight Philadelphia’s first solo trip ended with a rousing reception at Anthony’s Restaurant, 4990 State Road in Drexel Hill from their day in Washington D. C., April 14.
Greeting the three busloads of World War II veterans and their guardians were The Greater Overbrook String Band; Philadelphia Flyers Ice Girls; Swoop, who is the Philadelphia Eagles mascot; an arch made by fire company ladder trucks; honor guards from at least two different units; the Manhatten Dolls singers; and Congressman Pat Meehan.
There was hardly a dry eye among the veterans as they walked or were wheeled down a red carpet past a throng of flag wavers.
“It was a memorable day for me, said Myer Kurgan, a 95-year-old Army veteran from Delaware Valley Veterans Home in Philadelphia. “It was very thoughtful.”
Kurgan served 38 months in Europe during the war.
“I started to feel good again,” said William Wilson, also of Delaware Valley Veterans Home. “I wouldn’t give it up.”
Wilson,87, was a Marine Aviation gunner who served in the South Pacific. “We did a lot of damage,” he said.
Honor Flight is a national non-profit organization founded in 2005 to give aging or terminally ill veterans a day of honor in Washington D.C.
There is no cost to the veterans.
The Philadelphia hub was started by Springfield resident Andrew Schiavello, who last June had seen a feature about the national group on Fox News that piqued his interest.
“I called (Honor Flight) about it,” he said. “There wasn’t a hub in Pennsylvania and they had been trying for six years.”
He decided to start a Philadelphia hub.
“How can a city this big not have a hub when little towns across the country have them,” he said.
The national group sent him the paper work along with directions as to how to start things. He got an accountant to help him set up a 501C3 tax empt organization and he created a board of directors.
With all the T’s crossed, Honor Flight sent him the applications on file for the Philadelphia area — which had a 100 mile radius and included South Jersey, the Poconos, and Delaware.
There had been a waiting list of 130 persons some of whom had been on it since 2008. Only a handful were still interested in participating. Thirty had died. The health of others had declined. The average age of World War II veterans is 87.
Schiavello and his fellow board members Cathy Domizo of Newtown Square, Marie Martinelli of Havertown, Tracy Hagan of New Jersey, Laura Bennditt of Philadelphia, and Andrew’s wife, Angela, began seeking new applicants. VFW and American Legion posts were contacted and message was spread through word of mouth.
They were “living Honor Flight”, Schiavello says.
“Any time I saw an older gentleman, I asked him (if he was a World War II veteran)” he says.
The group got a chance for a practice run last November when the History Channel asked them to organize a trip to Vietnam veterans for a Veterans Day event. Normally, Honor Flight assigns places on the basis of age, which in the case of the Philadelphia region means World War II, or on whether the veteran is terminally ill. The special trip was a boon to the group, however, as the cable channel supplied the funding which the new group desperately needed. Each trip costs about $250 per veteran.
Due to the age of the veterans Honor Flight discourages trips from December through March when icy walkways are a concern.
So this meant Philadelphia’s first solo fight was going to be in April. The recruiting continued.
Linda Frangipane of Vitas, a national veterans care group, joined the organization. She signed up 25 vets and provided 50 wheel chairs. Bill Lawrence of Springfield was tasked with publicity. All are volunteers.
When the day came 74 veterans and 72 guardians boarded the bus.
Schiavello, 52, who is the owner of Cappuccino Connection, a wholesale coffee supply house, said fundraising may be the hardest and most unrecognized part of making the trips works.
He said the assistance provided by local businesses was invaluable. He cited Swiss Farms Goldenberg’s Peanut Chews, Herr’s, Wawa, the Pilgrim Gardens McDonald’s, and Anthony’s Restaurant as being especially helpful. He also expressed gratitude for the contributions by the Philadelphia Phllies; the Philadelphia Eagles; the Philadelphia Flyers’; bugler Al Harper; The General Smedley D. Butler Marine Corps League Detachment; American Legion Post 667; the Pennsylvania State Police which provided an escort for the veterans departure; Warriors’ Watch Riders which provided an escort for the veterans arrival; and the Broomall and Garrettford-Drexel Hill fire companies.
Also making a significant contribution were members of Local 752 IATSE Ticketsellers. Ann Hagen helped check in veterans in at 5:30 the morning of the trip, and Carol Clowry and Mike Lutz were guardians. Board member Tracy Hagen, who is also a member of the union, went along as a guardian as well.
Those wishing to make a donation, and donations are very much needed, can do so either through PayPal or by credit card from the website .
For information about getting involved with Honor Flight Philadelphia, or about where to mail a check call 610-662-1812 or email andrew@honorflightphiladelphia.org
Russell (Rusty) L. Carter was welcomed home this afternoon, April 14, with a police escort that included cars from just about every jurisdiction in Delaware County, fire engines, Mummers, dozens of motorcyclists from Warriors’ Watch Riders and a crowd of hundreds that lined his small block on Orchard Road between Leamy and Woodland avenues in Springfield Pa.
The procession proceeded through an arch made from ladder trucks from the Springfield and Clifton Heights volunteer fire companies from which hung an enormous American flag.
Rusty served as a member of the 101st Airborne Division and was deployed to Afghanistan. In July 2010, he came under hostile fire and suffered a concussion. A month after being treated from his wounds he returned to his unit.
On Jan. 2, 2011 while returning from a night mission, Rusty was in the turret of his Humvee that experienced mechanical problems and went over the side of an unprotected bridge, crashing into a ravine and coming to rest in the river bed 50 feet below. While the five other soldiers on board sustained recoverable injuries, Rusty suffered several broken bones, severe lacerations to his face and skull and a complete C 4 separation of the spine.
Rusty has lost all motor function; he is paralyzed from the chest down and has no feeling from the elbows down. He also suffers from minor traumatic brain injury. The prognosis is that he is permanently disabled, will never walk again and no longer has use of his hands.
The event was organized by Warriors’ Watch Riders, an organization of motorcyclists dedicated to honoring those who served pictured below turning onto Orchard Road from Leamy Avenue.
Orchard Road in Springfield Pa. will be closed at about 12:30 p.m., today, April 14, for a big welcome home for Army Specialist Russell (Rusty) L. Carter to his home on the street.
Rusty served as a member of the 101st Airborne Division and was deployed to Afghanistan In July of 2010. He came under hostile fire and ultimately suffering a concussion. A month after being treated from his wounds he returned to his unit. On Jan. 2, 2011 while returning from a night mission, Rusty was in the turret of his Humvee when, after experiencing mechanical problems, it went over the side of an unprotected bridge, crashing into a ravine and coming to rest in the river bed 50 feet below. While the five other soldiers on board sustained recoverable injuries, Rusty suffered several broken bones, severe lacerations to his face and skull and a complete C 4 separation of the spine.
While he has undergone spinal and neck surgeries, he is paralyzed from the elbows down.
Rusty will be escorted home by Springfield Police and The Warriors Watch Riders, along with members of the community.
Please join Jerry in welcoming home a severely injured young soldier from Springfield, PA (See the above link regarding our hero, Army Specialist Russell Carter).
The escort is expected to arrive at 1 p.m.
God Bless Our Troops, God Bless America and God Bless Rusty Carter.
Hat tip Cathy Craddock.
Aslo today, at 6:30 p.m., the World War II vets participating in the Inaugural Trip of Honor Flight Philadelphia will be returning to Anthony’s Restaurant, 4990 State Road in Drexel Hill from their day in Washington D. C.
The public is encouraged to greet them.
Honor Flight is a national non-profit organization founded in 2005 to give aging or terminally ill veterans a day of honor in Washington D.C.
There is no cost to the veterans. Thousands of them have participated in the last six years.
The Philadelphia hub was started and is managed by Springfield resident Andrew Schiavello.
Happy Friday the 13th.
Tanks not getting filled means the economy is tanking.
GOP presidential front-runner Mitt Romney will be appearing at the Tri-State Tax Day Tea Summit, 6:30-8 p.m., April 16, at the Franklin Institute, 222 N. 20th St., Philadelphia.
With 13 days to go before Pennsylvanian’s Republican Primary, a confident Sam Roher told a gathering in Eddystone, tonight, April 11, what kind of leadership will be needed to extract this nation from the fiscal and social mess in which it finds itself.
He’s added one for this bid — should it be done at the federal level?
Rohrer gave specific examples of recent laws passed that he would have opposed which included the Stop Online Piracy Act, The National Defense Authorization Act For Fiscal Year 2012, and the Patriot Act because of their threats to civil liberties.
Much of Roher’s talk was a history lesson including interesting snippets regarding how William Penn and his religious convictions influenced our nation’s Founding Fathers.
Roher was introduced by Dale Kerns Jr., who along with Tom Boggia, is running to be delegates to the Republican National Convention from Pennsylvania’s 1st Congressional District.
Sam, you have my vote.