The Liberty Mid-Winter 2024 Edition

Sons of The American Legion 
1304 Park Blvd. 
Detachment of New York ^{Troy, NY 12180}  (518) 463-2215  ww.sonsdny.org 
Mid-Wunter 2024 Edition 
COMMANDER’S MESSAGE…by Peter J. DeAngelis, Jr. 
Commanders Message Mid Winter 2024 
Happy New Year to All! 
 I hope you all had a won derful holiday season with  your families and friends. It’s been so much fun and a  great time seeing a lot of you  as Department Commander  Tim , Auxiliary President Ka ren, and I travel throughout  the great state of New York. I am looking forward to con tinuing the third district visit ation going right into our -Winter Conference, and also  seeing the Seventh and  Eighth Districts later in the  months of January and Febru ary.  
 In membership, as of De cember 28 we have exceeded  our goal for January at  64.79% with 19,868 members  paid so far for the 2024 year. Nationally we are in good  shape and in 23rd Place. I am looking forward to see ing you all at the Mid-Winter  Conference. 
 I am very happy to see a lot  of participation in our mem ber development programs  with the leadership class and  the adjutant classes. 
 In closing I just want to let  you know how proud I am of  everybody and all the hard  work we are doing and to  thank you for supporting my  “Work Mode” theme along  with my Tusten Youth Com mission project. 
You guys have definitely ex ceeded my expectations!! 
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FROM THE ADJUTANT’S DESK…by Robert Avery  
 Welcome to our Annual Mid-Winter Conference! Please take part in all the educational opportunities, meetings,  and down time with your fellow members of the New York American Legion Family. Our guest this year is the Leading  Candidate for National Vice Commander NE next year, Robert Manzo from Maryland. 
 The Dec 31, 2023 Year-End National Report has NY with 30,695 total members. YES!! We are are now finally OVER  30,000 members! Thanks to every member in the Detachment of New York! We ended at 102.78% of our goal, or 831  members more than we needed for the 100%. Our Renewal Rate for 2023 was 91.67% which was 8^th place in the Na tion. We still are the 4^th largest Detachment being 724 members behind Ohio. 5th place Michigan is still moving up  with their own membership numbers. They are 4,420 members behind New York, so they have picked up 1,000 or so  members compared to the 2022 final spread.  
 This year’s membership is moving along and we are currently in 29^th place by percentage in the Nation and 7^th place  in the NE Region. We have 21,474 paid members and are at 70.03% 10 days prior to the 60% Target Date. That’s over  2,500 members MORE than we had this time last year……so great job gentlemen! Remember the 3 “R’s”………Recruit,  
Renew and Reinstate! Just another point on membership, I am convinced that the online renewal site has been as sisting in building our membership. Just in my own Squadron we now have over 10% of our members using the online  renewal. The site can be found at Legion.org/SAL-Renew 
The BIG “3” 
 As Adjutant, it is my job to ALWAYS stress the importance of the three (3) forms that your Squadron is required to  submit to Detachment HQ each and every year. 
 Due by April 15^th is the Squadron Data Report (SDR)….. Maintaining your squadron’s current information by com pleting an annual Squadron Data Report (SDR) is very important to both the Detachment and National organizations.  It is especially necessary in regards to your membership dues and renewal information. Complete an annual SDR even  if your squadron information has not changed.  
 Also due by April 15^th is the Officer Certification Form (OCF)….. Most every Squadron’s annual election occurs in the  month of May and the OCF needs to be filed with Detachment HQ immediately afterwards. This is required even if  the Officers remain the same!  
 Due by June 1^st is the Consolidated Squadron Report (CSR)…..Of all reports, the Consolidated Squadron Report  (CSR) is perhaps the most critical document a squadron can complete. CSR information is combined with other squad rons in creating a final report used by The American Legion, forwarded to the U.S. Congress, and is used to apply and  verify awards at National Convention. It also is the basis for Detachment level awards given at Convention each year.  Not all squadrons participate in every program; leave those fields blank. The key is to report on the activities your  squadron participated in from June 1st to May 31st. The form can also be completed online at mylegion.org. 
Thank you in advance for completing all three (3) forms EVERY year! 
R.J. Avery 
Detachment Adjutant – New York
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William Clancy for SAL National Commander
D E T A C HM E N T O F N E W Y O R K N E W S LE T T E R PAGE 4 
Americanism…by Herman Downer 
 The Detachment Americanism Commission’s mission is to support The American Legion Americanism  Programs and pass the information on to our Squadrons. There are many Americanism Programs in the  Department of New York. They include Scouting, American Legion Baseball, Blood Donor, Boys State, and  Junior Shooting Sports just to name a few.  
 The Detachment Americanism Commission has our own programs that we want to highlight as well. The  Cerullo Scholarship is open to a Department of New York American Legion Family member in good stand ing who is in their senior year of High School, or a graduate enrolled in college. The winner receives a five hundred dollar scholarship and is eligible for three renewable scholarships.  
 There are also two Essay Contests that are held annually. The first contest is open to all New York State  school children in first through fifth grades with the topic “What America Means to Me”. There is one win ner from each grade level participating. Each winner receives one hundred dollars. The second contest is  
open to all New York State school children in sixth through eighth grades. There will be one winner from  all grade levels participating. The winners will receive three hundred dollars. They have a choice of three  topics to choose from: The United States Bill of Rights, The United States Declaration of Independence,  and the United States Constitution.  
 The James E. Daly Americanism Award is open to any member the Department of American Legion Fami ly in good standing. The recipient is to be nominated for their Outstanding Americanism work in their  Squadron and/or community.  
 Another new program is from the National Sons of the American Legion called “Flying Flags for Heroes”.  Whenever your squadron participates in placing flags on veteran’s graves, they can be reported to Flying  Flags for Heroes website or even to the Americanism Commission and we can report them. If your Squad ron would like any information on a program in your area or how to start a program in your area, please  contact The Detachment Americanism via email dnyamericanism@gmail.com or connect with us through  Facebook “Detachment of New York Americanism Committee”. 
For God and Country 
Herman Downer, Jr 
Detachment Americanism Chairman
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Finance…by Michael Rowald 
Important Notice from the Finance Commission 
 The Detachment of NY Expense Voucher Form is to be filled out by those Detachment  officers, Commission and Committee members who are authorized to do so in accordance  with the current approved Expense Authorizations. Forward the voucher form with re ceipts to the email address noted on the form within 30 days of the expense. Your typed  signature in the fillable block is acceptable. Email your completed voucher to: 
myvoucherpayment@gmail.com 
The NEW fillable voucher form is available on our website by following the below link: New Expense Voucher with Digital Signature
D E T A C HM E N T O F N E W Y O R K N E W S LE T T E R PAGE 6 
Public Relations…by Joe Guidice 
Fellow Sons, 
 Welcome to the Mid-Winter issue of our newsletter! I hope you all enjoy it. This is YOUR newsletter and  in order for it to be successful we need to hear from YOU! I know you’re out there doing great work with  your squadrons, counties, districts, and your committees and commissions. Share your success! We want  to let everyone know what you’re doing. So please send in your photos and articles for the newsletter.  
 This year we will again have our Public Relations table at the Desmond during the Mid -Winter Confer ence and we will again be running a “Booster” fundraiser for the Child Welfare Foundation. Last year we  raised $600.00 for CWF in just a few hours! Please consider coming over and volunteering an hour of your  time to help staff the table. This year we’ll be in a new and much more visible location, and we’re hoping to  provide some great info to our visitors on all the great work we do and talk about the value that a Squad ron can bring to a post. Come help be part of that message!  
 One final note: As you all know, our website is undergoing many changes and updates. Our webmaster is  working hard to make sure the site is user-friendly and has all the necessary forms, documents, and infor mation that you need. Many of our forms were badly out of date, and our Adjutant has been working dili gently along with our webmaster to update those forms and get them uploaded to the website in an easy to-find locations. Please bear with us during this time as we continue to improve! 
For God and Country, 
Joe Guidice 
Public Relations Chairman 
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D E T A C HM E N T O F N E W Y O R K N E W S LE T T E R PAGE 7 
Wreaths Across America 
Submitted by William McCormack, Squadron 1075, Katonah, NY. 
 On 12/16/23 my family had the great honor to place wreaths for veterans with Wreaths Across America at  Buxton Cemetery in Bedford Hills,NY. Over 50 veterans are buried there ,including twelve American Revolu tionary soldiers. Among them is Lt. Cornelius Clark whose house along with the entire town was burned  down by the British. 
Why is December 16 significant? 
On December 16th, 1773, 250 years ago, The Sons of Liberty carried out the Boston Tea Party in Colonial  Massachusetts. Three activities in the American Colonies occurred prior to the Declaration of Independence  in 1776. The Tea Party was the culmination of resistance to British taxation and control of the colonies. The  American patriots viewed it as a violation of their rights and opposed “taxation without representation”. In  1774, British Parliament responded harshly to what they viewed as treason. They passed laws referred to  collectively as the Intolerable Acts, which blockaded Boston Harbor, prevented commerce, and ended local  self-government in Massachusetts. The Boston Tea Party, and the British response, inspired protests  throughout the 13 colonies and rallied support for the American Revolution.  
Grave of Lt. Cornelius Clark
L-R William & Elizabeth McCormack, Cynthia Nighe 
Alex Nighe, Eva , Kevin 
V O L U M E 1 3 IS S U E 3 D E T A C HM E N T O F N E W Y O R K N E W S LE T T E R PAGE 8 
Share The Pride-Build the Pride  
 The Sixth Ddistrict hosted their annual Christmas give  
away for the residents of the New York state veterans home  
in Oxford. Saturday December 9’th the sixth district Le 
gionnaires, Sons and Auxiliary members attended. There  
were thousands of items for the residents to choose from to  
give to their loved ones or for themselves, there was even a  
gift-wrapping area where members wrapped the gifts for  
the residents. A good time was had by everyone that partic 
ipated and the residents enjoyed being able to shop for the 
gifts. 
Oriskany Squadron 1448 member Bob Gondek  
receiving the award for our Squadron being the  
Top Veteran Fundraising Team during the 2023  
Great America’s Greatest Heart Run & Walk. Bob  
raised $1850.00 representing the Team for the  
event. He raised $1675.00 in 2022. 
 Kings County  
Candor Squad ron 907 hosted  their 8th annual  Holiday parade  on November  25th 2023. This  was their largest  parade to date  
Sons of the  
American Legion  members gath ered at the Mi chael A Rawley,  Jr.Post 1636 in  Brooklyn for the  annual Toys For  Tots party on  December 9th.
Have some news or event you’d like to Share?? We want to hear from you!! 
Squadron Commanders, County and District Commanders, ALL members of the Sons, please let us know what you are do ing and what you have accomplished in pictures and in words. We don’t need long essays, just captions to pictures showing  your members in action. (PLEASE: Send pictures in .JPG or .PNG format, and make them individual image files, not in col lage or combined formats). SEND SUBMISSIONS TO PR CHAIRMAN JOE GUIDICE libertysalnyeditor@gmail.com