A guide to resources for honoring Memorial Day 2026 on LI. Plus, we can’t think about Memorial Day on LI without remembering Gus Scutari.
Continue readingMemorial Day 2026: Meaning, Events, Remembering “Mr. Memorial Day”
3rd Annual General Needs Gala
General Needs: People Who Provide the Basics
We remember when Lonnie Sherman was first struck by the number of veterans he’d met who were lacking the most basic items. His first response was to run out and buy a whole bunch of socks and underwear to donate. We met him soon after at a Huntington Rotary Meeting, when he had then committed to sharing his experience and asking others to join him.
That effort has blossomed into General Needs, a Northport-based nonprofit distributing necessary clothing, toiletries and other basic items directly to veterans. Since inception distributions have increased from sporadic to quarterly to monthly. According to the Long Island Times, by March 2025, the organization has donated 9,029 coats, 55,555 pairs of socks, 3,300 pillows and 10,224 boots.
Beyond their direct services, General Needs provides a helpful resources page on their website with links to other public and private organizations designed to help veterans. Check it out, there’s a lot there.
Upcoming 3rd Annual Gala
To support future distributions and to learn more about General Needs, you may join in their Annual Gala happening this June. Honoring Paule Patcher, Navy Veteran Mike Sweeney and giving out The Kathy Gibson youth award, General Needs will offer “an extraordinary dining experience with hand crafted cocktails where you will journey on the path showcasing how we support our veteran’s needs.”
The event will specifically support “The Welcome Home Project,” which provides household supplies and support to veterans. Your attendance helps ensure these veterans receive the stability, dignity, and support they deserve.
Tickets range from $200 for general admission to $1,750 for a table of ten. Veterans pay a discount price of $150.
It’s all for an amazing cause. We encourage you to click below and see more.
When: Friday, June 12th, from 6:30-11
Where: Leonard’s Palazzo, 555 Northern Boulevard, Great Neck, NY 11021
For More Information: Click here to visit General Need’s Website
To Purchase Tickets: Click here
Upcoming: Wounded Warrior Amputee Softball Game
This June 12-13, look out for the 11th USA Patriots Amputee Softball Team’s, a.k.a. The National Wounded Warrior Amputee Softball Team game to be played on Long Island. Put on by Long Island local Joe Bartumioli, and split up over 2 days in June, “Impactful Friday,” and “Super Saturday” are all about veteran amputees demonstrating perseverance in action.
Continue readingPal-O-Mine Events!
Pal-O-Mine Equestrian is celebrating 30 years of service! Since 1995, they’ve provided a comprehensive therapeutic equine program, using horses to facilitate growth, learning and healing among children and adults with disabilities, survivors of trauma and abuse, the military and the impoverished. Their J-STEP program goes further, using the more agricultural aspects of the farm setting to serve young adults with disabilities by teaching job-readiness skills such as teamwork, communication, problem-solving, and entrepreneurship, as well as independent living skills including organization, hygiene, finance, and nutrition.
They invite you to Save the Date for a number of upcoming events that offer opportunities to connect with and support their work. First up is an Open House happening September 7th, 11am-3pm. Open to the public, this a great way to learn about Pal-O-Mine and how they may help. For those who already understand the deep value, please consider supporting Pal-O-Mine’s 30th Anniversary Celebration, which is occurring Saturday September 20th at 4:30pm. Additional fundraisers specifically to support work with Veterans and NYPD folk will occur October 19th at 10am. A truly lovely holiday event, Their Winter Wonderland will be happening December 5-7.
Visit the Pal-O-Mine Equestrian website to learn more!
Memorial Day 2025: Meaning, Events, Remembering “Mr. Memorial Day”
A guide to resources for honoring Memorial Day 2024 on LI. Plus, we can’t think about Memorial Day on LI without remembering Gus Scutari.
Continue readingThe Gus Scutari Challenge Coin
Photo of Gus Scutari Challenge Coin by Katheryn Laible
Thank You Gus
I always mention Gus Scutari on Memorial Day as coordinating that parade down Jackson Avenue in Syosset was very important to him. It was also how most of the broader community got to know him. Maybe, though, the 4th of July is an even better time to talk about him.
Here is the story I was blessed to write with Gus. I share it often because I think what Gus had to say was important, that the impact he had on people was incredibly positive, and that his brand of patriotism is among those I most deeply appreciate. I also find that, the more I read those words, which are mostly his, the more I learn.
Gus was friendly, and witty. He knew how to have a good time, and how to make other people feel seen and heard. He felt very strongly about the American Flag, and honoring our Nation’s Veterans. At the same time, his patriotism was very personal. Gus cared about the big systems and decisions, for sure, but what he really emphasized was the importance of the individual; the everyday choices we make as citizens, and the idea that America will only ever be as good as we, its people, will.
Gus wanted folks to give it their best and to think for themselves. He wanted people to be good to each together. Mostly, he wanted us to give it our best to be worthy of so many who give so much, and to let the world know that most of the folks he met in this life seemed to agree. For this, he was deeply thankful.
Honoring Good Citizenship
I wrote recently about Max becoming an Eagle Scout. One of the things a parent is instructed to do when their child earns this honor is to alert all the localities’ elected officials and other key civic associations, all the way up to the President and whomever else, that someone has basically just earned a degree in good citizenship. Everyone has their own way of responding and you end up with this pile of certificates that I find fascinating.
By far, the most meaningful token came from the local VFW, Post No. 6394, recently named the “Gus Scutari” Post in Syosset: A Gus Scutari Challenge Coin. This coin speaks not only to who Gus was as a person, but to the impact he had on those around him; an impact perhaps most directly illustrated in this very endeavor by our local veterans to imbue Gus’ joyful, earnest civic spirit in others. It’s what Gus did himself, after all, for so many years with whomever caught his eye and returned his friendly smile.
In addition to his nickname, “Mr. Memorial Day,” Gus was also the “Americanism Chairman of Nassau County.” A proud booster of the Scouts, he attended ALL local Eagle Ceremonies. He was known for his entertaining, thoughtful speeches, and for his way of pinning a US flag on the kid’s chest as a badge of good citizenship and a reminder to keep it up.
I don’t think Gus ever left the house without his VFW hat. He was known as a WWII hero, though he’d tell you over and again, he got lucky. When he told the Vietnam Veterans and so many others that their own service was at least as honorable, thank you for doing the best you could figure how, it meant a very great deal. Every Memorial Day, Gus encouraged folks to make the best of things; to be good citizens worthy of the fact that young people give their lives for them. Gus was a great booster for both the VFW and the American Legion in Syosset and beyond. Moreover, he was an incredible ambassador and a proud, responsible member of the United States. If you asked, many who knew of him would tell you that Gus was The Community Spirit of Syosset, if not America herself.
Because it’s up to US
Gus advanced the Patriot Pen and Voice of America Scholarship Programs and would regularly talk to young and old alike about history and current events, honoring people for their service and asking folks to think about things and consider what it is best We the People do.
Why? Because the basic message from Gus is that we have the freedom to make what we will of this Nation, and that, yes, the grand actions of leaders and heroes are important, but it’s how everyday people choose to conduct themselves that makes a difference, and that sometimes it may seem like a crazy thing to do, but doing the right thing seems to work out pretty well most of the time. Even when it doesn’t, it’s still the right thing to do.
It was an honor for Max to receive this coin, and I am blessed that he shares it with me and that together we can offer it to you. May we go on out there, try to stand up straight and make the best of whatever life hands us. May we take it at least as well as we give it, give it our best to be decent and honorable, and remember, whatever happens, to laugh.
May God Bless America.
Memorial Day 2024: Meaning, Events, Remembering “Mr. Memorial Day”
A guide to resources for honoring Memorial Day 2024 on LI. Plus, we can’t think about Memorial Day on LI without remembering Gus Scutari.
Continue readingHeroes Among Us: Fireman Ralph Tiso
This story isn’t really about 9/11, though it kind of started and ended there…it’s about Ralph Tiso, one of the “Heroes Among Us”
Continue readingDear Veterans: Thank You For Your Service
Thank you to all who served. In honor of Veterans Day 2023 we offer deep gratitude, good resources and indelibly moving stories.
Continue readingHeroes Among Us: “Hey, I Know That Guy…”
Heroes Among Us. You may recall that we hosted a show of previously unshared works by Photojournalist Peter Foley. Soon after it opened, Firefly Steve Walker came in and saw his neighbor.