Presidents Report July 2026
Presidents Report for July 2026
On 22 June, Doc Carson and I went to Upper Elementary School in North Hanover and the Marcus Newcomb Middle School in Pemberton. We presented gift card awards to the winners and runner-up students who participated in the T. B. McGuire essay contest. The winners had read their essays on “The Price of Freedom” at the Parade of Wreathes ceremony May 21st. The awards at Upper Elementary School was in front of a full student assembly and many parents attended. I was very impressed by the enthusiasm of the student body, lots of excitement and support for their classmates as they were called to the stage. It is refreshing to see the children so supportive of their classmates.
On 25 June, I attended the Joint Base Commanders luncheon at the Robins Nest in Mt. Holly. Key Commanders from all the services were in attendance and spoke about the mission of Joint Base, discussing each element’s role in the support of our current conflict. I met the new Commander of the 514th Air Wing, Col. White who came to us from the 305th Air Wing. As the Honorary Commander of the 514th , he and I discussed the AFHM/ McGuire Foundation and our support for the mission. More to come on the 514th activities.
We were scheduled to attend the 250th celebration in Riverside, NJ on June 27th but it was canceled due to a weekend rainout.
We installed the updated center panel in the mobile museum to improve the visual of the famous painting of “Washington Crossing the Delaware”. It is no longer hidden behind the reader rail and looks much better. The ace team from M & C Graphics installed the panel for us. They also brought the new signs that John Lowden and I installed on the overhead doors. A great improvement!
We had another weather issue for the Ewing Fireworks due to the extreme heat, the feels like temperature was forecast to be around 115 on July 2nd. Sandra and I made the difficult decision not to attend, I did want the responsibility of anyone getting sick on my watch so it was the prudent thing to do. Bob Gray was there taking over Bob Dutko’s job of making sure all the vendors were in the correct spot. Bob told me half the vendors did not show and the crowd was thin. This was an event I did not want to miss but the weather did not work. Bordentown also rescheduled their fireworks for August 4th due to extreme heat.
10 July, I attended the formal Change of Command at the 514th Air Wing. Colonel White took over the Wing from Col. Amundson who will stay on as Deputy Commander. Colonel Amundson will return to his job as lead pilot for American Airlines and be at the Air Wing as a Reservist flying the C-17 cargo planes on drill weekends. He did a great job over the last year, balancing the Commander position and keeping up his flying hours at American, a very tough task but well done. The dedication of our Military personnel makes us all proud.
Later that day, I attended the ‘Hail and Farewell’ to welcome new leaders and meet with personnel from the Joint Base. I was surprised by the new Commander and Command Sgt. Major of the 514th recognizing me as last years Honorary Commander with a beautiful memorial eagle with an inscription thanking me for my service. The real shock of the day was when Pikkwan Boston from Public Affairs told me that I had been picked by the Commanders to be an Emeritus Honorary Commander. They picked two from the entire group and I am so honored to be one of them. This means I will still be a part of Community involvement at the base. The Emeritus team meets with the Joint Base Commander often to discuss items the civic leaders can help with. This will also help keep the AFHM and McGuire Foundation active in supporting the Military.
Saturday the 11th, we took the Mobile Museum to the Florence Fireworks event. It was a beautiful weather night with a huge crowd to enjoy all the food trucks, activities and fireworks. We had many positive comments on our museum upgrade and how it tells the story of the Ten Crucial Days. We all had an opportunity to meet and talk to dozens of people. We sold some 50/50s and received some donations and above all got to sample some of the food truck offerings!!!
The next event is July 21-25th at the Burlington County Fair Grounds. I will take the trailer this weekend and get it in place. Bob Grey is going to go with me to oversee the set up and be ready for the event next week. I am leaving for vacation on Tuesday (scheduled last December) so there is a need for extra support for every night. The 80th Farm Fair starts Tuesday night and runs through Saturday. They are expecting 80,000 attendees so we have a great opportunity to meet the public. If you can attend every night or one night please reach out to Sandy and let her know.
We have been invited to bring the trailer to Springfield Twp. for Sunday August 9th. The event starts at 3pm. More to come on the details.
We have a Mobile Museum event at Princeton Battlefield on September 20th. I will get more information and let everyone know times for the event.
Adventure Crossing at Lake Juliana is August 22, a really great fun event supporting special needs and Veterans in need. I leave the armory at 0700 to get our place at the lake. The event really gets going around 1000 for those who can come help out.
