President Daniel Dermer’s Inaugural Speech

Good Evening ladies and gentlemen,

Twenty years ago on a night very much like tonight, in a room filled with people just like yourselves, I took the oath of office as Council President for the first time. Things were different back then. I had hair and it wasn’t gray.   Our Council was small, not more than a hundred or so members.   We supported only the Katherine Walker and as a result we ranked 3 or 4 out of the 12 Councils in New Jersey.   Had it not been for the foresight of officers like Ed Troche and others before him, our ranking would have been significantly lower.

Back then, those officers took a chance on an unknown to be President.  Yes, that was me.   Sure, I knew how to raise money, I had been President of my fire department and its youngest Chief but I had no military background. I had recently learned that word left has four letters just like port on a ship.   So I could tell you which side of the Katherine Walker I was on but only if I could figure out where the bow was. John Nedzwicki taught me that you cook in the galley and eat on the mess deck.  But I was clueless about ranks. I couldn’t tell a LT JG from a LT Col or even a corn kernal.   So it should come as no surprise that I referred to a Vice Admiral, from the Joint Chiefs of Staff as General.   Yes folks, they had elected an idiot.

Bill Aitken liked to say that those first six months were really tough and it took a while for Dan to find his footing.   But when he did, he took off ! Together with many in this room, I set a frenetic pace and we began to reach out to any Coast Guard unit in need.  We opened our doors to Naval Weapons Station Earle and we never looked back ! We would ship hundreds of supplies to Iraq and Afghanistan and we adopted the cutters Sailfish and Bainbridge Island. We became the envy of Navy League National Headquarters right up until I changed our motto.  You see National has everything scripted and in this case, the motto, the principles, or everything you needed to know was printed on a little laminated business card.  It was the 3 minute elevator speech. So lets think about this, they wanted me to talk about my passion in less than 3 minutes…….Have you met me!!!! I can’t even say hello in less than 3 minutes.  So when I changed our motto to non-military families helping military families, boy did I get in trouble.  But the results were clear,  at the end of three years, that little Council who could had become one of the top twenty in the world.  Not the State and not the Region…in the world folks.

Presidents would come….and go.  We would grow, we would adopt more units and accept more responsibilities and we never looked back.  No matter what, WE continued to focus on our adopted units and their families.  Our Angel Program grew to give over a thousand gifts to military children and others.  And then Superstorm Sandy hit. That storm ripped across Sandy Hook, the pier at Earle and across New Jersey and more.  It was as if God himself waved his hand and stripped Sandy Hook Point clean while doing 35 million dollars in damage to a concrete pier at Naval Weapons Station Earle. This Council was shaken and knocked to its knees.  The Angel Program, like half of the Navy League Councils in NJ never recovered.  Over the last 12 years, those Councils would close, and their responsibilities would become ours.  The challenge before this Council was enormous and the officers and members of this Council met those challenges head on. As those other Councils closed, their members would become ours.  Their adopted units and responsibilities were now placed in our hands.  All told 15 adopted units and a membership of of almost 500.  

And then a Global Pandemic. Over the next three years, our council would lose over a third of its membership.   Months would pass without meetings or events.  Our Council, like the world would shut down. But those who wore the uniform didn’t.  Those who worked the piers and the decks, never, ever stopped doing their job. That fog has now lifted, the devastation that lies in its wake is as evident as that which our Council experienced post super storm Sandy.  So here we are and here I stand before all of you!  Behind me is a TEAM of dedicated and experienced officers. AND I am no longer that young naive man with thick black hair.  THAT young man is long gone but I am no less committed to being in service to all of you as I was so long ago.  It is no longer good enough to be non-military families helping military families. 

That credo is now replaced to being a commitment to being IN SERVICE TO THOSE WHO SERVE.  It needs to be plain and simple so as to remove all doubt that we will never again be sidetracked, diminished or diverted from our mission, from our commitment to our adopted units. As I stand here representing my officers, my colleagues and this Council,   I pledge to you my unwavering loyalty and support.  ALL of our resources and ALL of our energies shall be focused on you who serve and to your families. Ladies and Gentlemen, that little Council who could, that little Council that was merged with so many others, who endured Covid and more is BACK ! We are back to serve those who serve , we are back to serve YOUR families and we will never go silent again.

Ladies and gentlemen, 20 years ago, on a night very much like tonight,   Bill Aitken and I drove back from Gibbs Hall at Ft Monmouth and as flurries fell on that cold dark evening….I said,  “I could really go for a milkshake”  Imagine that, asking for a milkshake at midnight on a cold winters night.  20 years ago, that tradition started and Covid almost killed that also.  So tonight,  because all of you will not go with me to the diner down the street for milkshakes at midnight, I have brought milkshakes for all of you ! So when we are done here, please join me for that simple guilty pleasure.  I also want everyone to remember tonight, so here is a small plastic tab from Wendy’s.  Each time you present it, you can have yourself a small shake and remember what we said here tonight. Our tradition of milkshakes at midnight is back, our focus on the mission is back and we, the Central Jersey Council are back.

Thank you everyone, God Bless you all and God Bless the United States of America.

Delivered at the Installation Dinner February 3, 2024