Welcome to the Emerald Society – County Gloucester, NJ

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HISTORY
Emerald Society – County Gloucester, NJ

GCES – History

The Gloucester County Emerald Society was founded in May, 2000; after the four founding members (*) joined the Camden County Emerald Society and were given the idea by their President, Rich Desmond (who is also a charter member of GCES).

The first meeting was held on June 14, 2000 at the Highland Chemical Engine Company in Pitman. An interim executive board was appointed – (*Jack Manning, President; *Michael McEnery, Vice-president; *Jim Hogan, Secretary; *Jack McEnery, Treasurer) and the newly formed organization broke for the summer in order to get the proper paperwork in order. One week later, the Gloucester County Emerald Society was accepted as the 13th Chapter in the Grand Council of the New Jersey Emerald Societies.

In July, we were officially incorporated in the State of New Jersey.

In September, the first regular meeting was held at Highland Chemical. By this time we were 65 members strong. At this meeting, the membership approved the first GCES logo. The logo/artwork was designed by, charter member, Chris Taylor. Our first beef and beer fundraiser was held on October 6th at the Almonesson Lake Fire Company in Deptford. It was a great time and very successful.

In January of 2001 we were accepted into the National Conference of Law Enforcement Emerald Societies (NCLEES).

In March, the first executive officers were elected and by our first anniversary, June 14, 2001, we had 85 members. Not bad for our first year.

In June, the GCES tartan, called “Memoriam” was designed by founding member, President Jack Manning, and submitted to the Public Registry for registration. Each color in the tartan represents the emergency services professions that make up the Society and is transected by a single black line in memory of those who have fallen. The colors are surrounded by green which signifies our common bond, our Irish Heritage.

July of 2001 found us traipsing around Gloucester County collecting playing cards and enjoying great food and beverage during our first “Pub Rally”, an annual tradition that has become well known for its good times and plenty of stories…..

Following the tragic events of September 11th, the membership established the Emergency Services Relief Fund and rose over $7,000 for police, fire and EMS survivors in New York City. A Halloween party, dubbed the “Green Halloween” was held and all of the proceeds benefited the fund. In addition, GCES members and Glassboro Police officers spearheaded the Project Patriot initiative and outfitted all police, fire and EMS vehicles in Gloucester County with a uniform reflective American flag decal.

2002 saw an important change to our logo, the addition of the star of life. Also in 2002 and 2003 the addition of our Honor Guard was noted with the purchase of all of the necessary flags and remaining equipment, complete with the purchase of our first kilts. We have participated in parades, opening ceremonies, National Night Out festivities, memorial services and funerals of fallen brothers.

In November 2003, the Society recognized the need to provide monetary support to the survivors of police, fire and EMS personnel from Gloucester County, lost in the line of duty. After reaching out to other representatives of the county’s emergency services, the dormant Gloucester County Hero Scholarship Fund, Inc. was resurrected.

In 2004 Members traversed the county once again during our 3rd and most successful Pub Rally. Our Honor Guard attended several line of duty funerals as well as EMT and Fire Academy graduations.

With 2005 Upon us, we are looking forward to celebrating our 5th birthday with a St. Patrick's Day Pub Crawl and are also attempting to organize the Pipes and Drums Band.

If you are interested in being a part of the band, please email President Jack Manning - president@gces.org