Birthday Ball
Shown at the Mon Valley Leathernecks’ 30th anniversary ball are, from left, Leathernecks Commandant Howard Weber, chaplain and emcee Larry Maggi, Mary Jeanne Maggi, retired Marine Corps Col. Nancy Anderson, Westmoreland County Commissioner Chuck Anderson, the Rev. Pierre Falkenhan Jr. of Our Lady of the Valley Parish in Donora and Leathernecks Adjutant Wally Fronzaglio.
From left, Herman Bigi, Larry and Mary Jeanne Maggi, Patti Bigi, retired Marine Corps Col. Nancy Anderson and Westmoreland County Commissioner Chuck Anderson are shown at the Mon Valley Leathernecks’ 30th anniversary ball.
Three generations of Marines: Grant Loether, Jay Kline and Ted Kline
The U.S. Marine Corps is having its 241st birthday on Thursday, and a local group of Leathernecks wasn’t going to let the occasion pass by without staging a celebration.
Tracing its institutional roots back to the Continental Marines of the Revolutionary War, the Marine Corps was born on Nov. 10, 1775, when Capt. Samuel Nicholas, following a resolution of the Second Continental Congress, raised two battalions of Marines. That date has since become the Marines’ official birthday.
Locally, the Mon Valley Marine Corps Leathernecks celebrated the Marine Corps’ founding a bit early, on Saturday, staging its 30th annual Birthday Ball at the Donora fire hall.
“It’s a Marine tradition that, for the birthday, there’s a cake and formal cake-cutting ceremony everywhere there’s a Marine, even in a combat zone,” said Larry Maggi, Washington County Commissioner, former Marine (1969-71) and master of ceremonies for the birthday ball for the past 18 years.
The Mon Valley Marine Corps Leathernecks got its start in 1986 when about 10 Marine veterans decided they wanted to form a group specifically for Marines apart from veterans organizations like the Veterans of Foreign Wars or American Legion.
“After we decided to have our own organization, I went to the local recruiter, who helped me locate area Marine veterans,” said Manny Yocolano, 83, of Monongahela, one of the organization’s 10 founding members. “I also went to the Charleroi radio station and asked former Marines to join.”
Yocolano said membership grew rapidly, and, early on, included a World War I veteran, Joe Short of Eldora. Since its start, the Mon Valley Leathernecks have met at the Black Diamond VFW. Meetings are held at 7 p.m. the third Monday of every month. Annual dues are $10, and members come from beyond the Mon Valley.
“We had our highest membership numbers in the 1990s and, at one time, had 135 members,” said Maggi, who joined the group in 1994 and serves as the group’s chaplain. “Currently, we have about 90 members.”
According to Maggi, the Mon Valley and Southwestern Pennsylvania are heavily populated with ex-Marines and also have the highest per capita percentage of veterans in the nation. Washington County alone can claim 20,000 veterans.
Besides the ball, the Leathernecks plan for a variety of other activities. Years ago, Yokolano initiated the group’s annual Toys for Tots campaign, which is now overseen by Wally Fronzaglio of Donora. To collect toys for less-fortunate children, the Leathernecks place collection boxes in various parts of the county and will distribute the toys to children from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Dec. 17 at the Donora fire hall.
Members also raise money for various veterans causes, march in the Canonsburg Fourth of July Parade and the Veterans Day Parade, stage picnics and attend services for deceased Marines.
“I try to go to parades and anything else I can, but haven’t been able to go much recently due to my health,” said Yocolano, who spent three years in the Marines after joining in 1955 and was subsequently stationed in Korea. Yocolano said he attended every ball for the past 29 years, but missed this year’s 30th due to ill health.
Saturday’s Birthday Ball began with hors d’ouevres and cocktails at 6 p.m., followed by a solemn cake-cutting ceremony in which the oldest and youngest Marines present were recognized. Guest speaker Col. Charles Anderson, Westmoreland County supervisor, cut the cake with a sword. During the event, he also addressed the audience of more than 200, speaking about the Marine Corps and its history and current activities.
“The ball is something all our members look forward to each year,” Yocolano said. “It gives us a chance to see one another as well as those we rarely see throughout the year.”