Patriot Guard members and associates:

As the Flag Captain, my goal is to coordinate the logistics of flags for our missions and flag lines.  We are seeking volunteers to help us coordinate the logistics of the flags.  We have had two members volunteer so far.  Our goal is to strategically locate the flags throughout Connecticut, in key locations, i.e. Police Departments, member homes, etc.  The volunteers will help transport the flags to the missions.  Please contact me directly to learn more about our needs and how you can help with the logistics of flags.

Thank you,

Don Camden

dcamden@snet.net

860-301-0873

Greetings Patriot Guard, Friends and Associates:

I hope this statewide message finds you all doing well in the 1^st quarter of 2012.

First, I’d like to once again thank each and every one of you for what you do for our Veterans, 1^st responders, and their families! Our services make a huge difference to those we serve and while it is at times easy to lose sight with all that we have going on in our personal and professional lives, each and every mission you can make, help with an event, spread the word of PGR and be an advocate, is mission critical to our success for PGR of CT and again, I appreciate what you do!

Important information

· Our main fund raiser for PGR of CT that enables us to help our Veterans and 1^st responders, is coming up on April 28^th and 29^th with a two-day International Chili Cook off to be held in Somers CT.  We hope to see you there.

· CT PGR Website (www.ctpatriotguard.com) If you have not already done so, please take a few moments to look at this terrific site (thanks to Carol Casey). Personally, I love the calendar feature where you can get a snapshot of upcoming missions and events. Please feel free to spread the word on this site to friends, families, Veterans and 1^st responders.

· New Leadership role: I am pleased to announce Don Camden will be taking on the new role of Flag Captain. In this role, Don will be responsible for: flag design, maintenance, staging, transports (and, we very much need volunteers to help us get flags to missions). Flags are paramount to all that we do and this role will provide leadership and effective planning in this area.

· Leadership: PGR of CT is a professional organization. While we are all volunteers, we are 100% dedicated to providing the very best services with respect, honor and with a philosophy of “standing for those who stood for us”. The leadership team of PGR of CT is always looking for feedback on how we can improve to better provide our services. I wanted to share with you that we take this responsibility very seriously and to this end, our leadership team will be meeting shortly to review our strategies, priorities, resources, how we can more effectively engage our membership on missions and events, and how we can lead more effectively. If you have feedback for us, please contact any of the leadership team (listed on the website) or speak with a Ride Captain on a mission. We want to hear from you!

Whether you make one mission, one event, or many….I appreciate your time and efforts and I am proud to be a part of such an honorable organization.

With thanks,

Gregg

Gregg “Flag 7” Barratt

Patriot Guard Riders

Connecticut State Captain

www.ctpatriotguard.org

greggbarratt@gmail.com

203-921-8255

From our own Ride Captain – Michael Freedman

What a day yesterday huh kids? All of the ICS cooks coming together to help a great young man, Greg Caron. Over $8,000 was raised in 4 short hours. So many stories to tell from that short time period. I never wanted the focus to be on Kat or I….it was all about Greg Caron and all of our wonderful cooks and judges. What an absolutely beautiful day for everyone. Not one person didn’t have a smile on their face..all day! Thanks to all of you for all of your help and support. I hope we did Greg and the ICS proud.

For one really incredible day, ICS cooks came together to help an injured Marine that needed our special brand of help. We had a few ICS World Champs cooking ,5 rookies, and a total of 32 cooks from 8 different states. Kat and I never wanted any of the focus to be on us for setting up this event in under 8 weeks.

The focus was certainly on Greg Caron, a Marine that was wounded on 11-11 and is now learning to walk again on “new” legs. The focus was also on every one of the 32 cooks and their efforts for Greg. There were a few glitches here and there, however, I don’t think anyone noticed except me.

Mike and Mary Alice Kropp should be commended for all of their hard work in the tightly run judging area. I only went in the judging area once at the judges meeting to thank the judges I had recruited. They should all be proud of their hard work as well.

A few noticeable items for you. We were joined by Gary and Doreen Caron, Greg’s parents and his twin brother Jon. They were blown away by the dedication of the ICS cooks. They said that everyone they spoke with was so friendly and giving. I personally met so many military folks.They were thrilled that our community came together to help Greg.

We had well over 1,000 people attend an indoors event. One man came up to me at one point and said,” I don’t any special recognition”. He handed me a wad of bills then left. I opened it…and found 10 $100 bills and would have fainted if not for the support of one of our really big Air Force friends. For me…one of the most special moments was when my son-in-law placed 3rd in Verde…I don’t know who was more surprised, he or I.  I guess he listened to the old man after all.

Greg Caron Regional Chili Cook Off OFFICIAL results:

Greetings PGR of CT
I hope you are enjoying a great start to 2012! In an effort to keep you all informed of various PGR happenings, I wanted to share with you some upcoming events and exciting news!

Upcoming Events:
Northeast Bike Expo where PGR will have a booth this Saturday the 21st and Sunday the 22nd at the XL Center (formerly the Civic Center)

Honor Mission Sat 21st:
Norwich, Herbert H. Willey Jr, who served our country honorably in the U.S. Navy during WWII. Staging 1330hrs, Church and Allen Funeral Home, Park in lot across from funeral home.

Dual special missions Sat Jan 28th: (statewide missions to follow)Danbury- Escort and Flag Line for a fundraiser for US Army Green Beret SFC Mark Holbert. 0845hrs stage escort, 0915 stage for flag line.

Somers- Flag line at the Chili Cook-Off to benefit the Greg Caron Foundation, USMC from Ellington severely injured by IED, 1100 stage for flag line.

Exciting news and changes:

The PGR of CT website is up and running! www.ctpatriotguard.org. Please take some time to look at this great communication tool. For those of you on Facebook, you may have noticed we have consolidated our multiple pages and are attempting to streamline our communications and also move some things to the new website.

After doing a TERRIFIC job as Social Media Manager, Carol Casey has decided to take on a new role and that is the Web Design Coordinator and I would also thank her for her work thus far on our new website.

I am pleased to announce that our own Laurie Gadbois will be filling Carol’s shoes as the Social Media Manager and I thank her for stepping up to take on this important role.

Other:
If you run full flags on your bike or cage and have not already done so, please drop me a line so I can include you in special escorts where we may be limited in numbers of members. 

We are still looking for folks who might be willing to transport flags to missions. Keep in mind that we now have most of our flags in two-piece sections rather than the old 10 foot ones, so they are easily placed in a personal vehicle.

If you are looking for PGR of CT stickers, please either see Jack Casey or myself on a mission for them.

Just a reminder while on the flag line:
♦ No smoking on the flag line please
 ♦ Once the family/others begin to arrive, limit your conversations
♦ Please dress for the weather; while I try as I may to control Mother Nature,
♦ I need you all healthy and safe while out there on the flag line.

As always, I want to thank each and everyone of you for what you do for others. You Do make a difference and I wish you all the very best in 2012!

Gregg “Flag 7″ Barratt
Patriot Guard Riders
Connecticut State Captain
greggbarratt@gmail.com
203-921-8255

Show your support for a Connecticut Marine!

The 1st Annual International Chili Society Greg Caron Chili Cook Off

1/28/2012,  11 AM to 4 PM  

Pleasant View Cafe & Golf Center

463 South Road (Rt 83)

Somers, CT

Admission $5

for more information please contact:

madmike@chilict.com

On 11-11-11 Cpl Greg Caron of Ellington, CT stepped on an explosive device in Afganistan. He suffered the loss of both of his legs, his trigger finger, shrapnel to the right side of his body and a broken collarbone.

for a full size poster use this link:   http://tinyurl.com/Caron-Chilli-Cook-Off