United Civil Servants Association, Inc.

Dear Brother and Sister UCSA Members,

Thanks again for yet another great “Blaze on the Beach” supporting two of our own.  Although the total number of attendees was a little low, we did manage to raise a lot of money to support a brother and sister firefighter, and had a blast doing it.

First and foremost, I would like to thank everyone who attended, and I would also like to thank the following people for their help during the event.  Thank you to Antonietta and Maria Cirasella for assisting with t-shirt sales.  I would also like to extend my gratitude to retired Chief Damian Emerick for helping with t-shirt sales and admittance.

Next year will be our 20th anniversary of the “Blaze.”  Although Bar A has been a great venue for the past 4 years, we will consider a return to the “beach” based on our members’ suggestions.

As of now, it seems split between those who love Bar A and wish to stay there and those “old time Blaze folks” who would rather drink and eat with their feet in the sand.  Donovan’s Reef should be up and running by end of this summer, and there is also a new place on the beach that I’ll be checking out.
Other than that, I would like our members and Blaze attendees to remember the businesses that support the event year in and year out (EVERY YEAR), and keep them in mind when you decide to shop and dine.  We have discount coupons (15% off ALL merchandise) from Modell’s that will be available at all firehouses.  Modell’s has been our biggest sponsor for the past 15 years and always steps up.  This year they donated almost $600 in door prizes raffled off at the Blaze.

Please seriously consider Modell’s for your sporting goods (clothes, as well as equipment) and use the coupons! After we reach $1000 in combined sales from using coupons, Modell’s then donates 5% back to the Blaze!

Other businesses who also donate and support our cause are: Dinosaur BBQ, Kilkenny’s Ale House, McGovern’s, Krug’s, Joe’s Crab Shack, Seabra’s, Mercato’s Tomato Pie (next to Dino BBQ), our newest supporter, Duke’s Restaurant on Clinton St downtown (tremendous food!), and Mike Delia (a good friend of Al and myself), who owns Retro Fitness in Jersey City, and donated a membership as a door prize.

As always, a big thank you to Angela Anemoyanis from Muse Marketing Group for not only a generous donation, but for her tireless work in promoting this event.  Thank you to Steve Deceuster and the Michael J. Delane Fund for always contributing.  Thank you to the Newark Firefighters Union and Officers Union, Newark Firefighters Credit Union and of course all the members of the United Civil Servants Associaton for their hard work in selling hundreds of raffle tickets which raised nearly $4000 to the cause.  GREAT JOB!!

I would also like to extend my gratitude to brother firefighters like Mike Guinta (Bayway Caterers), Vinnie Mautone (Mautone Electric) and Don Meier (Meier Plumbing) for always contributing. Thank you guys!

Another great thing about holding this event is the growing number of brother and sister firefighters from other departments.  Big thanks to our comrades from Passaic (always supporting NFD causes!) and a contingent of colleagues from Paterson, as well as our volunteer members from Jackson and Sea Bright Fire!

This day isn’t possible without the tremendous work of the Blaze Committee and our family and friends, who donate their time during the day to sell t-shirts and raffle tickets, and take some of the event day pressure off of Al and myself! Thank you to the Newark Firefighters Pipe and Drum Band (love those guys!), and Eddie Boa and Del Carr, who stepped up BIG TIME in the absence of Ray Montalvo as DJ this year.  I hope they will remain with us moving forward to plan the biggest Blaze bash ever for our 20th Anniversary next summer with a tentative date Friday July 7^th. I apologize, I know that it’s 4th tour working again but, it’s the only Friday in July that works with our schedule.

By the way, Al “the t-shirt pimp” Carlucci sold nearly 60 dozen Blaze shirts this year!  It is not his all-time record which was nearly 70 dozen, but it’s still A LOT of work to raise close to $4000 for the Blaze!

As always a big thanks to JoAnn and her crew at Bar A for rolling out the red carpet for us.  If you’re in the area, pop in for a few to support those who support us

We’d like to recruit more bodies to help out next year and we’ll discuss this at our September UCSA meeting tentatively scheduled forWednesday September 7. More to follow.

Thanks again to all attendees for another successful year!!

Yours in camaraderie,

Danny