Southern Tier Young Marines

10/11/2026

🇺🇸🥾 COMMUNITY SUPPORT MAKES ALL THE DIFFERENCE! ❤️🤍💙

Our Southern Tier Young Marines’ “Ruck in My Boots” 5-Mile Ruck March may be behind us, but we’re not finished recognizing the incredible businesses and community members who helped make this event such a success! 🙌

One thing we continuously teach our Young Marines is the importance of community, leadership, service, and giving back. And what better way to reinforce those values than by showing them firsthand what it looks like when a community comes together to support its youth?!

Today, we want to shine the spotlight on THREE wonderful local businesses that stepped up for our Young Marines! 🌟

🏎️🧽 TURN1 DETAILING – ELMIRA, NY

📍 1870 Davis Street, Elmira, NY
📲 Call or Text: 607-846-8353

Fall is officially upon us! 🍁🍂 And you know what that means… FOOTBALL SEASON! 🏈

Those Boys of Fall are back at it, and if you’ve got a football player in your family, you KNOW those muddy cleats, grass stains, and whatever else they manage to drag into your vehicle are making themselves right at home! 😂🤦‍♀️

Sounds like it’s time to show your ride a little TLC!

Give the folks at Turn1 Detailing a call or text and get your next auto detailing scheduled! 🚘✨

Thank you, Turn1 Detailing, for supporting our Young Marines! We appreciate you!

🌽🌱 Banfield-Baker Corporation – HORSEHEADS, NY

📍 2512 Corning Road

DID YOU KNOW?! 🤯

Banfield-Baker has been serving the Elmira–Horseheads community since 1880! That’s 146 YEARS of local history, dedication, and service! 👏

Specializing in high-quality seeds, fertilizers, and outdoor resources, they’ve been helping our community grow for generations! 🌻🌾

And with harvest season upon us, what better time to stop in, say hello, and support a business that has been supporting our area for well over a century?!

A HUGE thank-you to Banfield-Baker for investing in the next generation of community leaders! 🇺🇸

🛒🥤 Weis Markets – NORTH MAIN STREET, ELMIRA

HYDRATION IS KEY! 💦🥾

And when you’ve got a group of determined Young Marines tackling a FIVE-MILE RUCK MARCH, you can bet they’re going to work up quite a thirst! 😅💪

Thanks to the generosity of Weis Markets on North Main Street, our Young Marines had PLENTY of drinks to keep them hydrated throughout the event and afterward!

We cannot thank you enough for helping us take care of our Young Marines! ❤️

And while we’re talking about Weis, be sure to check out the events and specials they’ve got going on!

🎃👻 COMING UP: TRUNK OR TREAT!
📅 Saturday, October 17th
📍 Weis Markets Parking Lot – North Main Street, Elmira

Be sure to stop by and check it out!

After all, who doesn’t love a place where you can “Eat Better, Spend Less!” 🛒💰

🇺🇸❤️ WHY DOES COMMUNITY SUPPORT MATTER SO MUCH?

Because these businesses aren’t simply supporting a fundraiser or a five-mile walk.

They’re helping us build something bigger.

They’re supporting young people who are learning what it means to lead with integrity, show respect, practice discipline, serve their communities, and become responsible, compassionate citizens.

Every donation, every sponsorship, every act of kindness is an investment in our youth and the future of our communities.

And we want our Young Marines to understand something equally important: When a community shows up for YOU, you show up for THEM! ❤️

So we’re asking our friends, families, and followers to return that kindness whenever possible. Shop local, support these businesses, spread the word, and let them know their generosity doesn’t go unnoticed!

🇺🇸🥾 WANT TO SUPPORT THE SOUTHERN TIER YOUNG MARINES?

We’d LOVE to have you become part of our growing Young Marines family!

Whether you’d like to make a donation, pay a registration fee, or learn more about joining or volunteering, we’ve made it easy!

💙 DONATIONS & REGISTRATION:
https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/ticketing/young-marines-of-the-marine-corps-leagues-memberships-3

❤️ INTERESTED IN JOINING OR VOLUNTEERING?
https://members.youngmarines.org/unit/southerntier/JoinVolunteer

👕 COMING SOON! We’re working on getting our Southern Tier Young Marines supporter merchandise store up and running! You’ll soon be able to purchase supporter gear and proudly represent our organization while helping support our mission! Stay tuned!

From our Unit Commander, Adult Volunteers, Instructors, and especially our Young Marines…

THANK YOU, TURN1 DETAILING, BANFIELD-BAKER, AND WEIS MARKETS! 🇺🇸❤️

Your generosity helps us do what we love most — invest in our youth, strengthen our communities, and help build tomorrow’s leaders TODAY! 🫡

🇺🇸

10/05/2026

10/03/2026

🧩 HERE’S A RIDDLE FOR YOU…

What do your Instructors have their Young Marines do just 7 DAYS after completing their own 5-mile Ruck March? 🤔🥾

Why, go out and support the 2026 Fabric of Strength 5K, of course! 😂🏃‍♀️🏃‍♂️💪

Because apparently 5 miles last weekend just wasn’t enough! 😜

💜 Emmi Saufley is the incredible face behind Fabric of Strength, and our own YM Private Vanderhoff had the opportunity to get a picture with Emmi after earning an impressive 3rd PLACE 🥉 finish in the run!

👏 Congratulations, YM Private Vanderhoff! Way to represent Southern Tier Young Marines!

But the day wasn’t over yet…

After the race, our Privates grabbed a quick bite to eat before preparing for a small ceremony of their own. 🎖️🇺🇸 We had some well-earned promotions to recognize and a couple of special awards to present!

🎖️ PROMOTIONS & RECOGNITION

⬆️ YM Corporal Whitney was promoted to
YM Sergeant Whitney!

⬆️ YM Private Dye was promoted to
YM Private First Class Dye!

🏅 YM Private Vanderhoff received the Young Marines Achievement Ribbon in recognition of being honored by New York State Attorney General Letitia James with a Civic Ambassador Award!

💰 YM Private Butler received the Outstanding Salesmanship Ribbon after bringing in an incredible $921 for our Ruck March! 😳👏

We are incredibly proud of the effort these Young Marines continue to put forward—not only within our unit, but also by showing up and supporting the organizations and people doing great things throughout our community. ❤️

And speaking of community…

If you haven’t had an opportunity to check out The Taylor Foundation, we encourage you to do so! They do so much within our community and have an amazing way of bringing organizations, families, and community members together for meaningful causes.

One week after a 5-mile ruck and these Young Marines were right back out there—running, supporting others, earning promotions, receiving awards, and representing their unit.

That’s leadership. That’s service. That’s community. 🇺🇸💪

Congratulations to all of our Young Marines! We couldn’t be prouder of you! ❤️🤍💙

09/27/2026

Thank you Chad for the wonderful montage of our Ruck March event! It is very much appreciated!

09/27/2026

🥾🇺🇸 WHERE DO WE EVEN START?! 🇺🇸🥾

After such a successful, meaningful, educational, and downright incredible weekend, finding the words to describe how proud we are is harder than completing the five miles!

This was so much more than a 5-mile Ruck March for our Southern Tier Young Marines. ❤️🤍💙

This weekend was about personal growth, leadership, teamwork, responsibility, resilience, camaraderie, community, and learning what it means to keep moving forward together — even when things get hard.

Their time together actually began Friday evening with a team-bonding event and sleepover. Along with having some fun together, our Young Marines learned about the duties and importance of Firewatch — responsibility, accountability, and looking out for one another.

Then it was up bright and early Saturday morning to prepare for the 5-mile Ruck! 🥾🎒 Thank you Tanglewood Nature Center for once again supporting our Young Marines and hosting us while we stepped off from your location!

To say we are proud of these Young Marines would be an overwhelming understatement.

As instructors, we’re still trying to find the words to adequately express what we witnessed. We watched them encourage one another, laugh together, push through fatigue, accept responsibility, work as a team, carry each others packs without hesitation and cross that finish line together.

Every single one of them gave us something to be proud of. 🇺🇸

And an event like this simply does not happen without a COMMUNITY standing behind its youth. We have so many people to thank.

🚧 Marty Vanderhoff, Highway Superintendent — thank you for helping lead our Young Marines safely throughout their entire five-mile journey.

🚒 Elmira Heights Fire Department — one of our constant community supporters — thank you for following our Young Marines and helping ensure their safety throughout the entire ruck. Your continued support of our program and our youth means more than you know.

🖤 Elmira Correctional Facility CERT Team — thank you for not only helping lead the ruck, but for putting boots on the ground and marching right alongside our Young Marines. And yes… even getting a few push-ups in thanks to Irish! 🍀🤣💪 We’re pretty sure she enjoyed that part a little too much!

💙Iron Hill Blue Sisters & Blue Brothers LEMC Iron Hill— thank you for your constant support of our Young Marines and for making sure everyone was well fed with some delicious food after those five miles! 🍔🌭

💙Blue Brothers & Blue Sisters National Chapter — THANK YOU for everything you did behind the scenes and throughout the event. We truly could not have been nearly as successful without your help and support.

🎶🎤 A HUGE thank you to Dynomite from the National Chapter, who graciously donated DJ services for our event! You kept the music going and the atmosphere fun. If you ever need a DJ, give Dynomite a shout — they’ll come a-callin’… and apparently they LOVE some karaoke! 😂🎤🎶

❤️ Thank you to our instructors; Empower Federal Credit Union and parents (you know who you are) who donated raffle baskets, food trays, drinks, supplies, time, energy and countless other things to make sure this event went off without a hitch. So much happens behind the scenes that nobody ever sees, and we appreciate every bit of it.

🏠 A very special thank you to Elmira Correctional Facility, Superintendent Kevin McCarthy, and all of the staff involved in making the clubhouse available to us. The facility donated use of the clubhouse to our organization, giving our Young Marines and their families a safe, warm place to gather, celebrate, rest and recover after completing their ruck. We could not be more thankful for that generosity.

📸 Thank you to CMD Group for, once again, supporting our Young Marines, participating in the ruck AND capturing so many photographs along the way. Those pictures will allow our Young Marines and their families to hold onto the memories of this weekend for years to come.

🍦 Manic Sundae — THANK YOU for all that delicious ice cream! Apparently, five miles makes you crave ice cream because it was the FIRST STOP for quite a few Young Marines as soon as they crossed that finish line and were released to their families! 😂🍨 We can’t say we blame them!

🌸 Thank you to Lacey Mae Blooms for bringing your beautiful flower cart and joining us for this special day. We love supporting those who support our community, and we were so happy to have you there!

👕 A HUGE thank you to Patriot Design & Apparel for our AMAZING Ruck March T-shirts! Rob and Nichola put in a tremendous amount of time and effort to make sure those shirts were ready for the event, and they turned out fantastic!

And don’t worry if you didn’t get one! 👀 An online order form is being created and will be posted shortly so you’ll still have an opportunity to order your own Ruck March shirt! 🇺🇸🥾

👏 Thank you to Mark Margeson for taking the time to stop by and see our Young Marines as they crossed that finish line. Having members of our community show up for these kids matters.

And last — but absolutely NEVER least — thank you to our parents, grandparents, families, friends, supporters and community partners. ❤️

Whether you put on a ruck and walked the miles, volunteered, donated, cooked, escorted, took pictures, played music, brought something for a raffle, helped behind the scenes, or simply stood at that finish line and CHEERED…

YOU were part of this.

When our Young Marines came around that final stretch and saw people waiting for them, cheering them on and celebrating what they had accomplished, they got to see something incredibly important:

Their community believes in them.

That matters.

We may have called this event Ruck in My Boots, but these Young Marines walked away with much more than five miles behind them.

They walked away stronger.

They walked away closer as a team.

They walked away knowing they can push themselves farther than they thought.

And hopefully, they walked away knowing just how many people are standing behind them, rooting for them to succeed. ❤️🤍💙

Southern Tier Young Marines could not be more proud.

To our Young Marines: YOU DID IT. FIVE MILES. MISSION COMPLETE. 🥾🎒💪🇺🇸

Now rest those feet… because knowing your instructors, we’re pretty sure this won’t be the last time somebody says, “Grab your gear!” 😂

THANK YOU, SOUTHERN TIER! 🇺🇸

09/18/2026

💥🎶 HUGE SHOUTOUT & THANK YOU TO DYNOMITE ENTERTAINMENT! 🎶💥

The Southern Tier Young Marines and our Ruck in My Boots March would like to send a HUGE thank you to Dynomite Entertainment for stepping up and generously volunteering their time, equipment, energy, and talents to help make our event even more special! 🇺🇸❤️

They’ll be providing some AMAZING musical entertainment for everyone to enjoy while we celebrate our Young Marines after they complete their 5-mile ruck! 🎤🎶💥

When members of our community step forward and donate their time and talents to support our youth, it means more than we can possibly say. Your support truly makes a difference, and we are incredibly grateful to have Dynomite Entertainment joining us! ❤️🤍💙

🥾🇺🇸 COME OUT AND JOIN US! 🇺🇸🥾
📅 Saturday, September 26th
⏰ Join us around NOON!
📍 Elmira Clubhouse
Upper North Hoffman Rd., Elmira, NY 14901

Come cheer on our Young Marines as they finish their ruck and then stick around for:

🍔🌭 Food
🎤🎶 Entertainment by Dynomite Entertainment
🎟️ Basket Raffles
💰 50/50
🎯 Games
❤️ Great company & an even better cause!

Bring the family, bring some friends, and come spend part of your Saturday with us! Help us show these Young Marines—and the incredible people and businesses who support them—just how strong our Southern Tier community can be. 🇺🇸

RUCK. LEARN. LEAD. SERVE. 🥾
Building character, leadership, and a brighter tomorrow—one Young Marine at a time. ❤️🤍💙

💥🎶 THANK YOU, DYNOMITE ENTERTAINMENT! We can’t wait to have you there! 🎶💥

🇺🇸🥾🎶❤️

09/13/2026

🇺🇸 JUST ANOTHER BUSY SATURDAY WITH THE SOUTHERN TIER YOUNG MARINES! 🫡

Our Young Marines packed a whole lot into one training day!

💪 PT to get everyone moving and motivated.

🧭 Land Navigation Training — building confidence, teamwork, and learning skills that require patience, attention to detail, and a good sense of direction!

And then came a little surprise that one of our Privates was NOT expecting… 👀

🏅 Private Butler was called forward and informed that not only had he PASSED the Young Marines Uniform Inspection during our last training — he was the ONLY Young Marine to pass the Unit Commander’s inspection!

Now, for anyone unfamiliar with our Unit Commander, understand something:

The man has STANDARDS. 😂

We’re talking “Is that a speck of dust from three rooms away?” standards.

A loose thread? He’ll find it. 🧐
A wrinkle? Don’t even try it. 😂
And those boots?!

✨ HAVE YOU SEEN THE MIRROR FINISH ON HIS BOOTS?! ✨

We’re fairly certain he doesn’t actually own a mirror. He just looks down. 🤣🤣

So when Private Butler found out he was the ONLY ONE who passed the Commander’s inspection… the look on his face was PRICELESS. 😳🫣

He was completely shocked — and the rest of us couldn’t have been happier for him!

That recognition was earned through attention to detail, discipline, pride in his uniform, and putting in the work. Outstanding job, Private Butler! 🫡🇺🇸

But our Saturday wasn’t over yet!

After wrapping up training for the day, Private Dye and Corporal Whitney joined Instructors Sabatini, Paciorek, LaValle, and our Unit Commander at the Elmira Hibernian Center of Chemung County for the retiring of their colors. 🇺🇸 🇮🇪

It was an incredible evening and a beautiful event, and we were honored to be included.

To everyone at the Elmira Hibernian Center of Chemung County and Department of New York Marine Corps League Commandant, David Wiggs, THANK YOU for welcoming the Southern Tier Young Marines and, most importantly, for supporting the youth in our community. Organizations and individuals who take the time to invest in young people help make programs like ours possible.

From PT ➡️ to land navigation ➡️ to a well-earned surprise ➡️ to serving our community…

That’s a Saturday well spent. 🇺🇸🫡

09/11/2026

🇺🇸 NEVER FORGET — SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 🇺🇸

Today, the Southern Tier Young Marines pause to remember a day that forever changed our nation.

We remember the 2,977 lives taken far too soon. We remember the families whose lives were forever changed. We remember the firefighters, law enforcement officers, military personnel, first responders, and ordinary Americans who ran toward danger when every instinct told them to run away.

And we remember those who survived.

Some walked away from September 11th carrying wounds the world could see. Others carried wounds that could never be seen at all. Some stood amid the devastation that day. Others answered the call in the days, months, and years that followed. Many have spent the last 25 years quietly carrying memories and burdens most of us will never fully understand.

Some of those men and women eventually became our neighbors, our parents, our coaches, our teachers, our community leaders—and our mentors.

Our Young Marines are fortunate to learn from men and women who understand that service does not always end when the uniform comes off.

Sometimes service becomes something else.

It becomes showing up for a child who needs direction.
Teaching discipline when it would be easier to stay home.
Passing along lessons in leadership, integrity, courage, and accountability.
Giving your time to your community.
Choosing, day after day, to keep moving forward and to use the life you have been given to make someone else’s life better.

Our Young Marines may never completely know the roads their instructors traveled before standing in front of them. They may never know every sacrifice made, every memory carried, or every difficult day overcome simply to continue serving others.

But someday, they will understand the lessons those experiences helped create.

That may be one of the greatest ways we can honor those we lost on September 11th: by living lives worthy of remembering them.

Twenty-five years later, we still remember.

We remember the lives lost.
We remember the heroes.
We remember those who survived.
We remember those who answered the call.
And we are profoundly grateful for those who continue answering that call today—not because anyone asks them to, but because service became part of who they are.

To the members of our Southern Tier Young Marines family who carry a personal connection to that day: you never have to tell your story for your service to matter. We see the difference you continue to make.

May we teach the next generation not only what happened on September 11, 2001, but what America showed the world on September 12th:

Courage. Unity. Service. Sacrifice. Resilience.

🇺🇸 We Remember. We Honor. We Will Never Forget. 🇺🇸

🇺🇸