By: John Lenotte – October, 2013 As a continuation from last month, there are a few additional items of note from the American Legion National Convention in Houston, TX. One is the national oratorical champion. In addition to monetary winnings at the district/county and state level, Agnes Rieger of Kansas City received $18 thousand […]
By: John Lenotte – American Legion – March, 2013 Recently I had the opportunity to travel as part of a group from Massachusetts to attend the annual American Legion Washington Conference. We were joined by other Legionnaires from across the country. There were a number of committee meetings and I attended the Legislative Commission meeting […]
The Valley Patriot newspaper has announced the nominees for the 2016 Valley Patriot BASH Awards. Winners will be announced at the Valley Patriot’s 12th Anniversary BASH ceremony on March 25th at the Firefighter’s Relief In, 1 Market St in Lawrence at 7PM. (Get Tickets HERE) OFFICER TOM DUGGAN SR. LAW ENFORCEMENT AWARD On March 16, 1990, Lawrence Police Officer […]
By: John Lenotte – May, 2015 Memorial Day is again approaching. That time for the unofficial beginning of Summer. And after this last Winter, we are all looking forward to sun and warm weather. As I do every year, I will ask you to take a few minutes to think about those who made sacrifices […]
The Valley Patriot newspaper has unveiled the nominees for the 2015 Valley Patriot Awards. Each Year the Valley Patriot gives awards at the annual BASH to members of the community and members of The Valley Patriot family. The winners will be announced on March 20th at the Firefighter’s Relief In (Get Tickets HERE) VALLEY PATRIOT […]
Hard to believe another year has come and gone. Time again for our New Year’s resolutions. Hopefully I can stick with most of them! Some are the usual ones: lose weight, exercise more, work to be more healthy overall, spend more time with family and friends, take more vacation time and be a bit more […]
By: John Lenotte, American Legion December, 2014 As the Christmas and New Year’s holidays are upon us, let us not forget the men and women in our military, most of who will not be with their families this season. This is a sacrifice that most cannot imagine unless they have been through it. Ask what […]
The last two months I have been mentioning the general elections which will be held on Tuesday, November 4th. We will be voting for the top state officials including Governor, Lt. Governor, Treasurer, Auditor and Attorney General. We will also be voting for US Senator: Senator Markey is up for re-election. And we will be […]
By: John Lenotte – June 2014 American Legion I am sure that most of you are aware of all the problems with the VA Health Care System. This has been all over the news for the last few weeks including the resignation of VA Secretary Shinseki. I will give him credit for his outstanding military […]
By: John Lenotte There has been some shocking news recently about the treatment of veterans in some VA medical centers. It appears that 40 veterans died because of lack of care at the Phoenix Arizona VA Medical Center. There was a secret list of appointments that administrators were maintaining which delayed medical appointments. This comes […]
By: John Lenotte – March, 2014 As we start to turn the corner to Spring (I HOPE!!) members of the American Legion and other veterans service organizations look to arrive in Washington, D.C. to discuss legislative issues with members of Congress. I will report more on this in next month’s issue. I am often asked […]
By: John Lenotte – February, 2014 There have been a lot of news stories about the computer security problems at Target and other stores. Have you heard much about the computer problems with the Veterans Administration? A software glitch allowed users to access one another’s private information. The government wants veterans to file online, but […]
By: John Lenotte, American Legion – July 2013 First, let me congratulate Congressman Ed Markey for his election victory and becoming our next U.S. Senator from Massachusetts. Also, to Gabriel Gomez for stepping up to the plate and running as a candidate. I will let the political analysts debate about the significance or lack thereof […]
ALL PHOTOS (C) COPYRIGHT RON MUSHOW PHOTOGRAPHY & THE VALLEY PATRIOT (PHOTO GALLERY) More than 400 people tuned out Friday night to attend the Valley Patriot 9th Anniversary BASH where the editors of the monthly newspaper (Tom Duggan, Dr. Charles Ormsby and Ralph Wilbur) honored police officers, firefighters, veterans, and those who […]
By: John Lenotte – American Legion – January 2013 Here we are again, another year has passed. And for the short term, a fiscal crisis has been averted. At least depending upon which news analyst you read or listen to. Congress still has a lot of work to do and I hope you will […]