Nov. 5 may have been Bank Transfer Day but management at the $985 million AmeriCU of Rome, N.Y., knew about some other priorities — supporting the troops and its members by taking part in the re-organized Central New York Veterans Day Parade & Expo.

As a sponsor for the day-long Syracuse event, AmeriCU dispatched staff including Judith Repass Cowden, vice president-member relations/marketing, to a new fairgrounds site. In past years the veteran's event held in downtown Syracuse had seen dwindling attendance.

“On behalf of everyone at AmeriCU Credit Union, I want to thank you for helping us honor our veterans today and this is especially important to us because AmeriCU has a 60-year history serving members of the military,” Cowden told the crowd.

AmeriCU, in particular, said Cowden seeks to honor “three members of the AmeriCU family who have just returned from a one-year deployment in Afghanistan with the 10^th Mountain Division.” The division is based at Fort Drum in Upstate New York.

“The 10^th Mountain Division is one of the most deployed divisions in the Army today and being able to help the families stay connected is a great way for AmeriCU to give back,” Cowden said.

Though AmeriCU was closed Friday for Veterans Day, AmeriCU said it has already begun preparations for its annual holiday participation in “Operation Best Wishes,” the video recording service broadcasting the interactive messages from home. The program is now in its fourth year at AmeriCU, said Tina M. Wildhaber, the credit union's regional manager at Fort Drum.

“Last year we held Operation Best Wishes as part of the Fort Drum MWR Christmas Party and  all of the time slots were filled with families (and some pets)  coming in to record a holiday message to their deployed family member,” said Wildhaber.