The U.S. Postal Service Unveils the General George S. Patton Commemorative Envelope and Cancellation Stamp by Artist Nicolosi

November 11th is a very special day for our country.  Veteran's Day has been observed in our country since 1919.  General George S. Patton was born on the same day 34 years prior.

Thanks to artist, Nicolosi and the USPS, this very special commemorative envelope and cancellation stamp will be unveiled on November 11th in Green Bay, Wisconsin. 

November 11th is a very special day for our country.  Veteran's Day has been observed in our country since 1919.  General George S. Patton was born on the same day 34 years prior.

Thanks to artist, Nicolosi and the USPS, this very special commemorative envelope and cancellation stamp will be unveiled on November 11th in Green Bay, Wisconsin. 

We will be joined by General Patton's Grandson, George Patton "Pat" Waters and the artist, Nicolosi.  Both will be signing the signing the envelopes which will be 

General Patton's Grandson, George Patton Waters

available for purchase.  Part of the proceeds will go to Brian's Foundation!  

Green Bay's Post Master will also be there, as well as, a representative from the Czech Embassy and other local dignitaries.  

The public is invited to the unveiling on November 11th right before the United Patriotic Society of Green Bay's program at 10:00 am at Shopko Hall, 1901 S. Oneida St. Green Bay, WI 54304.  

This commemorative piece will be signed by both Nicolosi and Pat Waters.  If you can't make the unveiling, you can purchase online here.

ONE month from today!!

In just ONE month we will gather for a very special evening in downtown Green Bay!

Yes, the date is 11.12.13, because that is what we do. Some of you may remember our events on 9.9.99 and 11.11.11, but this one is unlike any we have ever attempted.

We have so many exciting things planned for the night, but to truly feel the impact, we highly encourage you and your family to be there!

A few highlights to expect on November 12th

• More details on the General George S. Patton Scholarship of Honor we established in Pilsen.  This year we were grateful to Bob Nueske for the opportunity to have WLUK Fox 11's very own Mark Leland and Tim Flanigan document Pilsen's Liberation Festival.

 11.12.13 will be the premiere viewing of a very special documentary on Pilsen, its  citizens and the love they have for America to this day.

• You will hear from 'ordinary people' who have gone on to do extraordinary things across this great land, including some of the Foundation's past scholarship recipients and Czech Republic dignitaries. 

• The Green Bay Preble High School Vocal Ensemble which includes former scholarship recipients will perform throughout the evening.

• Jaw-dropping entertainment by magician Justin Flom will leave you in awe. At 26 years old, Just in Flom is known around the world for his magic. Growing up in the Midwest, he started performing at a young age. After high school he toured with professional magicians and now regularly takes the stage at Hollywood's Magic Castle and has performed in 26 countries and on the Ellen DeGeneres show.

Tickets are going incredibly fast!  Get yours now at meyertheatre.org or at 800-895-0071

Across the Ocean...

I am excited to share a wonderful opportunity I had with you.  Thanks to a generous personal gift from my Aunt Sue LeTourneau, who is also a board member of Brian's Foundation, I was able to visit and meet with the Nidzica Community Foundation (Nidzicki Fundusz Lokalny) in Poland.

What a special time!  We partnered with the Nidzica Foundation 10 years ago and this year we presented our 60th scholarship there, totally $41,000.00.    

This was our first visit to meet them and after communicating with them through email for years, I was grateful for the chance to shake their hands, look them in the eyes and see their life.

These two great men picked me up from the airport...

Andrzej (my 'go to' for the past 10 years) and his son Lukasz.  They made me feel welcome the minute I stepped off the airplane.

I was able to spend three days with them... they showed me the area (which was beautiful), introduced me to so many remarkable people and on the last day, I had a chance to meet with past and current scholarship recipients and take part in the scholarship presentation.  

This is their Foundation headquarters.  Isn't it beautiful?  

It is in this sweet, collaborative pottery village which included other organizations. Did I mention that I learned how to make pottery for the first time from someone who spoke entirely in Polish?

Oh and umm, this is where I stayed...in the castle hotel, which is from the 13th century!

But one of the most joyous things for me was meeting the recipients and being part of the scholarship presentation.  

We have three incredible family sponsors (The Robert D. Nueske Family, Dr. and Sue Smullen and the Weyers Family Foundation)who award two scholarships a year to recipients in the Nidzica area.

Here are the names of this years' recipients and their field of studies.

Mateusz Smoliński Management and production engineering, Main Agriculture-School in Warsaw         

Krzysztof Szczephkowski Applied Linguistics, University in Gdansk

Renata Bruzdziak-Finance and Accounting-Main Trade School in Warsaw (School of Economics)

Małgorzata Młyńska--Environmental Protection, University of Warsaw

Daniel Traczewski-Economics/Finance and Accounting/Computer Science and Econometrics, University in Warsaw

Aneta Rudzińska-Materials Engineering, Politechnic in Gdansk

And the man on the left, Jarosaw Pluciennik, was our first scholarship recipient in Poland!  He now helps with their foundation.

I am so happy to share a small part of this visit with you.  Their kindness, graciousness and positive spirit will remain with me always.

Thanks to the Green Bay Press Gazette for covering our story...

AUGUST 18th--Doug LaViolette looks back 70 years at the carnage wrought by the Second World War and sees the good in humanity. “Look at the terrible things humanity has gone through and survived, and gone on to do good things in places where terrible things occurred,” he said. “I’m very optimistic and very moved.”

The Brian LaViolette Foundation was formed in the memory of Doug’s son, who drowned in August 1992 near Chambers Island. He was buried on Aug. 17, 1992. One of the more recent scholarship addition helps people in a Czech Republic city that still celebrates, and honors, the veterans who helped liberate it from the Germans in 1945.

 For the past two decades the foundation has been offering up scholarships to hundreds of area — and international — students. By the end of the year the foundation will have awarded 583 scholarships. “It’s not just the 583, it’s not just them that have been moved,” Doug Laviolette said about the impact of the scholarships from...continue reading article here: Two decades later, LaViolette scholarship program still touching lives and communities

Words from Brian himself

When Brian was in 8th grade, his class had the assignment of writing an autobiography. It has been fun for us to reference back to it over the years. 

  

  

Today marks the day Brian died 21 years ago.  In preparing to share something with you about Brian as a person, I went back to his own words.  

We hope you enjoy a few excerpts from his autobiography..

"Enough about me, let's talk about my dad.  His childhood reminds me of Tom Sawyer's.  He stole his neighbor's raspberries, threw pumpkins through city hall and wasn't a very good student.   You may be wondering why I chose to tribute him.  Well, he puts everything he's got into everything he does.  He had a paper route that still puts a spark in his eye.   Out of all these reason, the main reason I wrote a tribute to my dad is because I love him."        "My mom didn't let me have cap guns, so I used wooden spoons.  'Buffalo Bill" is what my parents used to call me.  I'd shoot down those imaginary buffalo so fast you couldn't even see it.  (I know it's sick humor)"      "Even though my room is my favorite place, I probably only spend about one-half hour of my waking hours in it. Where I spend most of my time is in the city where I live.  One thing I really like about the city is you can walk to some of your neighbor's houses and get some type of game going.  There is always something to do in the city."   "One thing I never get tired of is playing soccer.  I love soccer more than any other sport there is.  It was my first league sport and I'm glad it was.  I started in kindergarten and I'm still playing."      "Let me tell you about a person who was, and is, very special to me.  This person I owe my life to, and I'm not exaggerating one bit.  She brought me into this world.  She has taught me right from wrong and always finds a way to make me grin.   One thing that she has taught me that I will never forget is the value of trust.  That five letter word has helped me throughout my life.  Even more important than trust is a four letter word that will always be between us...love."   "It happened in kindergarten during the morning announcements.  Many of you may think this was no big deal but I was the first kindergartner picked that year.  I also beat out the whole school!  At first I didn't know who to react, it was as if a freight train had just hit me.  I was picked for Winner of the Week!"   "Being the oldest of the siblings in our family isn't too bad.  My sister and I don't fight, she does what I tell her but I don't boss her around a lot.  Our parents treat us generally the same too.  I just hope the rest of my life will be this nice."      "This autobiography has dusted off my shelf of memories, and that I am glad of.  I just hope you enjoyed reading this more than I did writing it."