Gino J. Merli Center Celebrates 30 Years on Veterans’ Day

The Gino J. Merli Veterans’ Center will celebrate both its 30th anniversary and Veteran’s Day weekend by lighting up the sky with a drone display. This is the first drone display of this magnitude in the City of Scranton.

The event will take place at the Gino J. Merli Center in Scranton on Friday, November 8, 2024 at 7pm. Sponsors and donations are gladly accepted, and proceeds benefit the Gino J. Merli Resident Welfare Fund.

Please contact Volunteer Resource Coordinator Janice McAllister for more information at (570) 961-4380 or janmcallis@pa.gov

Marywood University Veterans Day Ceremony

In commemoration of Veterans Day, Marywood University’s Office of Military and Veteran Services and its Student Veteran Alliance (SVA) will honor those who are serving and those who have served our country on at an 11 a.m. ceremony on Thursday, November 10, 2022, at the Marywood’s Veterans Resource Center, 2236 N. Washington Avenue, Scranton, Pa., on the University’s campus.

Sister Mary Persico, IHM, Ed.D., Marywood University’s president, will offer remarks. Peter Howey, a recent Marywood alumnus and a Navy veteran, will serve as guest speaker. “Echo Taps” will be played by two student trumpeters from Marywood’s Music, Theatre, and Dance Department, Isiah Ortiz and Zachary Houston, while Marywood student vocalist Leanne Onofrio will sing “The Star-Spangled Banner.” The ceremony site will feature Flags for the Fallen, an outdoor display of thousands of U.S. flags that honor those who have fallen while serving our country. Raul E. Santana Nuñez, M. Ed., Marywood’s director of military and veteran services, is coordinating the event, which is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be served following the ceremony at the Veterans Resource Center, Noon-3 p.m.

“Veterans Day gives the Marywood community and the public the opportunity to pray, reflect, and honor those who have served or are serving, with special recognition of and respect for those service members who have made the ultimate sacrifice,” said Mr. Santana Nuñez. 

Boback Announces the Unanimous Passage of Veterans Bills Package by the House

Rep. Karen Boback (R-Lackawanna/Luzerne/Wyoming), majority chairman of the House Veterans Affairs and Emergency Preparedness Committee, announced the unanimous passage of the Veterans Day package of bills through the House today.

“Just in time for tomorrow, Veterans Day, we took action this week in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives to support our veterans and their families,” said Boback. “This package of bills that passed through the House today will enhance the lives of our veterans community across the Commonwealth.

“The package seeks to improve professional licensure provisions, increases the blind and paralyzed veteran pension program and provides for improvements to the Pennsylvania National Guard Life insurance program. It also allows for further protections in military discharge records and the care of veterans graves. Additionally, we took action to create a recognition day for veterans of the Persian Gulf War and the Global War on Terrorism, in which many of my House and Senate colleagues valiantly served. Lastly, we passed a resolution I authored with the minority chair of the House Veterans Affairs and Emergency Preparedness Committee to commemorate Veterans Day 2021 in Pennsylvania.

“I am grateful to my colleagues in the House for their support of the legislation that was before us this week. I look forward to continuing to provide veterans throughout Pennsylvania with the benefits and services they so rightfully deserve.”

The Veterans Day package of bills includes House Bills 1055, 1220, 1612, and 1868; House Resolution 153; and Senate Bills 248 and 550.

For more information on the legislation, go to www.legis.state.pa.us.