Governor James E. McGreevey attends Dedication and Ribbon Cutting Ceremonies for the Old Glory Wing at the Veterans Memorial Home at Menlo Park.

As hundreds of guests looked on today, Governor James E. McGreevey helped cut the ribbon to officially open the Old Glory Wing at the Veterans Memorial Home at Menlo Park. Residents began moving into the Wing earlier this month, when it opened its doors for the first time. The Old Glory Wing is a secure unit that provides a safe environment and the highest quality care for our special needs, Alzheimer, and dementia related residents. This Department is extremely proud and honored to be able to provide these services to the State ’s veterans who so bravely served our Country.

“Salute the Troops” ceremony scheduled for Sovereign Bank Arena tomorrow.

BG Glenn K. Rieth, The Adjutant General, invites all employees and their families to join with him tomorrow morning, Saturday, 1 May 2004, at the Sovereign Bank Arena in Trenton, NJ to honor the more than 650 citizen-soldiers deploying to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. There will be an official deployment ceremony and a parade of troops from the following deploying units: 50th Brigade Headquarters; 2nd Battalion, 113th Infantry; 2nd Battalion, 102nd Armor; and the 50th Finance Detachments. The festivities will begin at 1 p.m. (doors open at 12 noon). Bring the family and salute NJ’s finest as they deploy to Cuba.

Jersey City’s Family Assistance Center opens this weekend.

Another New Jersey National Guard Family Assistance Center will open this weekend at the Jersey City Armory. Ribbon cutting ceremonies will take place on Sunday, 2 May 2004, at 11 a.m.

DMVA participates in “Take our Daughters and Sons to Work Day. ”

On 22 April 2004, the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs hosted our annual “Take our Daughters and Sons to Work Day.” Fifteen children of DMVA employees received an official greeting and a Certificate of Participation from The Adjutant General. The children toured the Homeland Security Center of Excellence and participated in a mock emergency exercise. During the exercise, the children learned the roles of the Governor, Federal Emergency management Agency (FEMA), New Jersey State Police and the National Guard during an emergency. After lunch the children traveled to Fort Dix to tour the Training and Training Technology Battle Lab (T3BL). At T3BL they learned where and how some of our soldiers are training prior to deployments. Thank you to all of the DMVA staff who participated on the Committee and assisted to ensure that the children had a wonderful time.

First New Jersey Korean War Commemorative Medals awarded.

In a ceremony marked with honor and military decorum, Brigadier General Glenn K. Rieth, The Adjutant General, assisted by Brigadier General Maria Falca-Dodson, Deputy Adjutant General, and COL (Ret) Emil H. Philibosian, the Deputy Commissioner for Veterans Affairs, 43 Korean War Veteran residents of our Menlo Park Veteran Memorial Home were presented with the New Jersey Korean War Commemorative Medal. BG Rieth saluted these veterans for their service and sacrifice on behalf of all citizens of our great state and nation. COL (Ret) Philibosian noted that veterans, whose military service was within 23 June 1950 through 31 January 1955, are eligible to receive this prestigious medal. For further information, contact a NJDMVA Veteran Service Officer or call 1-800-624-0508.

Veterans to be honored at upcoming Medal Ceremonies.

The following ceremonies have been scheduled to honor our State’s veterans.

Armory Happenings – Check to see what’s happening at an Armory near you.

NJ Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial and Vietnam Era Education Center’s upcoming event schedule.

For more information about any of these events, please call the NJ Vietnam Veterans Memorial Foundation office at (732) 335-0033.

7 May, 11 a.m. - New Jersey Vietnam Veterans Remembrance Day ceremony at the NJ Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial

8 May, 1 p.m. - Film presentation of the stage play, Home of the Brave, with discussion by the director, Trish Kinney, and military consultant and /Vietnam Veteran, Walter Kudlacik.

31 May, 11 a.m.- Memorial Day Ceremony

Come out and support the troops.

Join us and show your support for our Troops and honor our Veterans for their service to our Country. The Rotary Club of Mullica Hill Area welcomes, Veterans, Active Military and their families to enjoy an afternoon of celebration, music, live entertainment, exhibits and lunch, free of charge on 31 July 2004, from 3 p.m. – 7 p.m. at the Gloucester County 4-H Fairgrounds, Route 77, Mullica Hill, New Jersey. For additional information, call Bernadette Blackstock at (856) 694-1933.

Discounted tickets for My Fair Lady available for State employees.

McCarter Theatre in Princeton is generously offering a special discount to State employees. All tickets for performances of the classic Lerner and Loewe musical, My Fair Lady, playing May 4 – June 27, can be purchased for $15. If you are interested in obtaining discounted tickets, please contact the Department of Personnel at their website, http://www.state.nj.us/personnel, for additional information.

State Library’s Book Sale is scheduled for next week.

The NJ State Library will conduct its Spring 2004 Book Sale on 5-8 May 2004 on Level 2 of the NJ State Library, 185 W. State Street, Trenton, NJ. Sale hours are as follows: Wednesday through Friday, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. Saturday – 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. Please call 609-292-7441 for additional information.

National Cemetery Administration – Nationwide Cemetery Locator.

The Information Systems Service is pleased to announce the launching of the web-based (Internet) Nationwide Grave Locator (NGL) system on April 8, 2004. The NGL has the ability to search some three million interment records contained in the Burial Operations Support System (BOSS) database (National and State Veterans cemeteries, as well as Arlington National Cemetery), and provide query results based on simple or advanced search criteria. The database that supports the NGL will be updated on a daily basis. The NGL is being widely publicized in an effort to inform the general public of this highly valued-searchable repository of interment data. Linkage between the NGL and individual cemetery web pages has also been established, which will provide an interested party with specific information about the cemetery where a veteran or other family member is interred. Please visit the NGL site at http://www.cem.va.gov and then click on the Nationwide Gravesite Locator link.

Today in History…

Today is Friday, 30 April 2004 and the 121st day of the year. There are 246 days left in the year. On this day…

* 1812 – Louisiana admitted as the 18th U.S. state.

* 1889 – George Washington’s inauguration became the first U.S. national holiday.

* 1931 – The George Washington Bridge opened, linking New York City and New Jersey.

* 1945 – Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun committed suicide. They had been married for one day. One week later Germany surrendered unconditionally.

* 1948 – The Organization of American States held its first meeting in Bogota, Columbia.

* 1970 – U. S. troops invaded Cambodia to disrupt North Vietnamese Army bases. The announcement by U.S. President Nixon led to widespread protests.

* 1975 – Communists North Vietnamese troops entered the Independence Palace of South Vietnam in Saigon. The 11 Marines who lifted off of the U. S. Embassy were the last soldiers to evacuate.

* 1980 – Terrorists seized the Iranian Embassy in London.

* 1998 – NATO was expanded to include Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic. The three nations were formally admitted the following April at NATO’s 50th anniversary summit.

New $50 bill debuts next week.

The $50 bill is getting colorized, the second of the nation’s paper currencies to sport new hues beyond the traditional black-ink fronts and green-ink backs. The makeover, set for unveiling Monday, is part of an effort to make U.S. bills harder to counterfeit. The redesigned $50 is the same size and still features Ulysses S. Grant on the front and the U. S. Capitol on the back. The Bureau of Engraving and Printing expects to print 76.8 million new $50s this year. The new bills should start showing up in cash registers this fall.

Fun Food Facts –

* The estimated number of M & M’s sold each day in the United States is 200,000,000.

* Grapes explode when you put them in the microwave.

* The only food that does not spoil is honey.

* Rice is the main food for half of the people of the world.

* Herring is the most widely eaten fish in the world.

* The five favorite U. S. school lunches nationwide, according to the American School Food Service Association are, in order, pizza, chicken nuggets, tacos, burritos, and hamburgers.

* Spam stands for Shoulder Pork and hAM.

* There are reportedly more than 1,750 “O’s” in a 15-ounce can of SpaghettiOs.