By Bob Hersey
pease.greeters@hotmail.com
August 28, 2010
PEASE ANG BASE __ Colonel
Paul Hutchinson Commander,157th Air Refueling Wing presented the Pease
Greeters with the prestigious Hometown Heroes Award at a ceremony on
Friday, August 27, 2010. Pease Greeters Chairman, Chuck Cove
accepted the award on behalf of the Greeters. The Greeters
received a standing ovation when the award was
announced. The ceremony took place in hanger 254 at the Pease Air
National Guard Base.
By Bob Hersey pease.greeters@hotmail.com
August 20, 2010
PORTSMOUTH __ Beloved
Pease Greeter, Anna Labrie is turning 90 and you're invited to celebrate
with her at a brunch reception at the Portsmouth Elk's Lodge (Jones
Ave.) on Sunday, September 12th at 11:00 AM. RSVP to kemosabe1@comcast.net
or call (603)
436-7946. More
to this story here.
Photo by Cherie Herne
Gov.
Lynch Recognizes Pease Greeters July
28, 2010
MANCHESTER, NH
— NH
Governor John Lynch presented an award to the Pease Greeters at a ceremony on
Wednesday, July 28 at the NH Army National Guard Armory,
Manchester. A
large gathering of Pease Greeters assembled in the armory and listened to Governor Lynch praise
them for their service to the troops who pass through
Portsmouth International Airport on their way overseas and on their return
home.
In return, the Pease Greeters presented Gov. Lynch with a
sweatshirt signed by the Greeters. A sweatshirt, like the one presented to the governor, is presented to the senior ranking officer of
each flight met by the Greeters. The tradition started when Pres.
George W. Bush was presented a similar shirt in March, 2008.Director and
Chairman of the Pease Greeters, Chuck Cove accepted the award on behalf
of the Greeters. More
to the story here.
Chuck Cove New Pease
Greeters Chairman
July 9, 2010
Article by: Chuck Cove, Chairman
Dear
Fellow Greeters,
As
many of you have already learned Ed Johnson, who has been the Pease
Greeter Chair since its inception in 2005, has decided to step down as
Chairman and member of the Pease Board of Directors.Also since 2005, I have been fortunate enough to serve the
Greeters and our Troops as the co-Chair.I am now pleased to announce that I have taken on the role as the
Chairman of the Pease Greeters.
I
think it is safe for me to say that Ed Johnson will be greatly missed by
the Greeters, but mostly the loss of his presence on the Board will be
felt by me.Ed Johnson is a
highly decorated Korean War Veteran that brought great insight to our
troops, both departing and returning home to American soil, and he
offered tremendous leadership to the Greeters.He has left me with very large shoes to fill.Shoes I am proud to walk in.Ed Johnson exemplified all that an American Veteran should be –
always faithful, always.He
has been there for me and for my family as I know he has been for many
other Greeters.Ed is
more than just a fellow Greeter to me, he is my best friend.Semper Fidelis, Ed. More to the
story here.
Greeters
Give Troops A Star-Studded Sendoff & Welcome Home
By Pat Remick, Writing For AARP
Bulletin Today They’re small tokens—a homemade
hat and an embroidered star from a retired flag—that rest on each
passenger seat aboard the chartered flights that carry troops to
deployments in Iraq or Afghanistan. They represent a little piece of
home that the servicemen and -women get to take with them from a hearty
group of New Hampshire volunteers.
Complete Story
Pease Greeters
Honored As Heroes. November 8, 2009 The Great Bay Chapter of the
American Red Cross, at its 7th Annual Heroes Breakfast, honored the
Pease Greeters of Portsmouth, NH on Nov. 5th, 2009. Accepting the honor
for the dedicated veterans, men and women who meet and greet our brave
soldiers as they deploy to overseas assignments and who return home
after their mission is complete is Captain Ed Johnson, Director, a
former Marine who served in Korea.
PORTSMOUTH
. . . 12 year old Pease Greeter Andrew Trainor of Somersworth, NH
has a great idea.Why not have a postage stamp to commemorate the work of the
Pease Greeters.To that end, Andrew, along with his dad Tim have drafted a
proposal letter requesting the US Postal Service Citizen’s Stamp
Advisory Committee to consider issuing a Pease Greeter Stamp.
Andrew’s
idea has the full support of the Pease Greeters and he and all the
Greeters would encourage you to take a few moments of your time to
download the Proposal Letter, sign your name and address and mail
it to the Post Office address on the letter’s header.
Since
2005 the work of the Pease Greeters has not gone unrecognized.In fact, the Pease Greeters have been honored by local and
national organizations from all backgrounds.The list is too numerous to mention.Andrew felt that it would be appropriate if the US Postal
Service would join those organizations and recognize the Greeters
with a personalized, commemorative stamp, a very fitting tribute
to the work of the Pease Greeters.Won’t you support Andrew’s initiative and download the proposal
here.It would be so special for us as Greeters to point to the
stamp and say with pride, “That’s our stamp”.
Cellphones
for Soldiers is a national initiative to bring telephone calling cards to our
troops overseas, particularly in Iraq and Afghanistan. This
program, started by a brother and sister from Norwell, MA, is now
part of a Pease Greeters initiative. The program came to
Pease International Airport on December 11th, 2009.
The program seeks to collect old, unused cellphones and turn them
in for cash. The cash is then used to purchase calling cards
that are mailed to our troops overseas. In support of this
program The Pease Greeters have made available a drop-off site to
turn in cellphones regardless of their age or condition.
Look for the collection point at the airport adjacent to the
coffee table.The drop-off box is a permanent fixture
at the airport. So far, over 2400 phones have been dropped
off at the airport for this project. If you have an old cell
phone, consider donating to this worthy cause.
Care Packages
Under
the direction of Pease Greeter, JoAnne Schottler, 20,000 pounds of
sundry items have been collected and shipped to our troops
overseas as Care Packages, a long standing tradition among
military supporters that dates back to our nation’s early wars.
Under
Schottler’s leadership, the Pease Greeter’s initiative began
in September, 2008 is now part of a program to bring our service
men and women a little bit of home at their overseas assignments.
Items have been generously donated by area residents and include a
wide variety of goodies.