Gen. Smedley D. Butler Detachment's Annual Christmas Party and Monthly Meeting

Last evening December 1, at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Newtown Square, the General Smedley D. Butler Detachment of the Marine Corps League and the Detachment’s Ladies Auxiliary held their monthly meetings. The Detachment elected officers to serve in 2016 who will take their oaths of office at the January meeting. The December meeting is special also for its recognition of the Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots program. The Detachment assists in the program by setting up collection boxes in numerous locations in the Newtown Square vicinity and by getting the toys from the boxes into the distribution pipeline, and eventually to the needy children for whom the program was created. And as the “price of admission” to last night’s meeting and party, everyone brought at least one new unwrapped toy for Toys for Tots. They were piled high. A highlight of the meeting was the presentation by Commandant Paul Ferguson of a Detachment check for $2000, payable to Toys for Tots, to GySgt Jesus M. Melendrez, Operations Chief, Bridge Company B, 6th Engineer Support Battalion, 4th MLG and to Sgt Travis Romenesko of that unit which is headquartered at the Folsom Marine Corps Training Center. They are pictured in the above photo left to right.

At the conclusion of the meetings, the Auxiliary joined the Detachment in the K of C’s main room for the Annual Christmas Party. All enjoyed a catered buffet soup-to-nuts dinner before the party ended.