NJ Cops March2018 | Page 4

The President ’ s Message

NEW JERSEY STATE POLICEMEN ’ S BENEVOLENT ASSOCIATION EXECUTIVE BOARD
PATRICK COLLIGAN State President
MARC KOVAR Executive Vice President
Peter Andreyev 1st Vice President Henry Werner 2nd Vice President Michael Pellegrino 3rd Vice President Mark Aurigemma 4th Vice President Eugene Dello 5th Vice President Richard Kott 6th Vice President Frederick Ludd , Sr . 7th Vice President Luke Sciallo 8th Vice President Frank P . Cipully 9th Vice President John Cernek 10th Vice President Ed Carattini , Jr . 11th Vice President Michael Freeman 12th Vice President
Michael Kaniuk Financial Secretary Margaret Hammond Recording Secretary John Monsees Treasurer
Bryan Flammia Trustee Robert Ormezzano Trustee Terrance Benson , Sr . Trustee Rodney Furby Trustee
Charles Schwartz Trustee Patrick Moran Trustee Joseph A . Macones Trustee
Sean Plasket Sergeant-at-Arms Michael Tardio Sergeant-at-Arms Michael Heller Sergeant-at-Arms Keith Curry Sergeant-at-Arms Christopher Ricciotti Sergeant-at-Arms
John Granahan Sergeant-at-Arms Andrew Pacucci Sergeant-at-Arms Joseph Nigro Sergeant-at-Arms

Remembering Bobby Smith and matters related to PFRS

The big winners

Patrick Colligan
Another Mini Convention is in the record books . And so is the first Mini Convention PBA charity hockey game , played against the Philly Police . If you didn ’ t get to attend the game , a quote from the late Jim Carr might just sum it up : “ I don ’ t want any of you youngsters out there to get the idea that this is the way to play hockey .”
If Jim Carr didn ’ t sum it up best , then maybe Holmdel Local 239 State Delegate Mike Michalski ’ s quote might help . At 6:54 of the first period , Mike asked , “ Can we get two people in one ambulance ?” I ’ ll just leave it there until the statute of limitations runs out or TMZ gets the chance to leak the medical records .
I know you can read more about the game in this issue ( see page 64 ), but I want to applaud Mike Schulze and the entire team for doing some incredible charity work . To date , the team has raised more than $ 80,000 for a myriad of charities . And this team is not only raising money . If we can forget the first period of the Atlantic City game for just a minute , the members of the PBA Hockey team are letting the public see the great things we do every day in this state . Oh , I forgot to mention the final score was PBA 9 , Philly Police 4 .
The real winners were the NJSPBA Survivor & Welfare Fund , the Josh Vadell Foundation and whatever Atlantic City Medical Center made from the Blue Cross / Blue Shield claims . Overall , a great afternoon of hockey .
Speaking of Josh Vadell , we got to hear his incredible story of survival once again . Now that the Josh Vadell Foundation is up and running , we will be able to see and hear a lot more from Josh . We are committed to helping Josh , his wife Laurie and his three daughters continue their path to recovery . We are also committed to helping Josh further his foundation ’ s mission to help fellow officers who have been injured in the line of duty . Josh left the stage with a generous gift to his new foundation .
We also heard the incredibly powerful story of Mallory Grossman from her mom , Dianne . I ’ m not sure anything can capture the story quite like hearing it from Dianne herself , but check out the Mallory ’ s Army website at mallorysarmy . org . Mallory ’ s Army was the recipient of a $ 12,200 donation from the PBA Hockey game played against the NJ State Police in December . Her story inspired State Corrections Local 105 , the NJ FMBA , the State Police NCO and STFA , and Port Authority Local 116 to wage a donation contest , with Mallory ’ s Army emerging as a big Atlantic City winner .
The Mini was rounded out with appearances by new Attorney General Gurbir Grewal , new U . S . Attorney Craig Carpenito and a video message from Governor Phil Murphy , who was busy coordinating the response to the latest Nor ’ easter . We were schooled on the unique Social Security implications on our profession and heard from CBS News representatives about the Ford Explorer carbon monoxide issue that Ford sill won ’ t admit to . Add all the other Mini Convention speakers , and overall it was another successful – and record-setting – convention . The governor is scheduled to come to our April meeting , as is Steve Kalafer from Flemington Car & Truck Country , who also could not make it to the Mini because of the storm .
Finally , a special thank-you to those who took time to march with me at the Nutley St . Patrick ’ s Day Parade on March 3 . You all looked great and made me look like I had a lot of friends . Thanks for taking time out of your Saturday . I sincerely appreciate it . d
4 NEW JERSEY COPS ■ MARCH 2018 NEW JERSEY COPS ■ OCTOBER 2016