July 14th has come and gone, and we had a good turnout at the luncheon. There was a lot of back-slapping, elbow bumping and handshaking among people who have not seen each other for a long time. The lunch choices were the same as they were in March of 2020, so let me know if there are other choices that you would like to have considered. There was minimal concern regarding our necessary price increase, and it looked to me like everyone had a good time. Of course, I am only slightly biased regarding my expectations. We will continue to meet on the second Wednesday of the month after the August picnic.
People appeared comfortable, and we did not discuss any changes of venue or menu. I was finally elected to be the President, and Mike Carmichael became VP. Jill Richards was acknowledged as the new Blue and Gold Area Coordinator and was elected to be a member of the Council. Again, we congratulated Butch Bewick for his incredible impact on both the Oregon Blue and Gold and the resulting outstanding Candidates / Midshipmen that the State has produced.
We finalized the information and expectations for the Picnic on August 21, and sent invitations to our membership as well as the memberships of USMA, USMMA, USAFA, and USCGA. I’m proposing a silent auction as a fund raiser and I would like to get some feedback regarding that. If you have something that might just be someone else’s treasure, let me know if you would be willing to donate it.
Regarding the Delta Variant of COVID, I asked for advice from the Council as to whether or not the picnic, as planned, should proceed. Our “Counselor in Chief,” David Lutes said, “John, each one of us can decide to attend or not attend depending on our particular situation.” Since this includes me, that took a load off my mind and let me know that we will have the picnic unless the State or compelling information from the CDC makes us cancel.
Here are how the attendance numbers look right now, and it is early, but not impressive:
10 responses representing 12 adults and 2 young children. Mike and I are the only council/past presidents to sign up. So, I will send a note to them to please sign up if going and to volunteer to call USNA alums in their area and remind them to sign up. Mike can provide a listing and phone numbers for any city/zipcode.
Read your invitation or go on the website for the information you need. A registration is embedded in the invitation, and you may have to press CTRL at the same time you click on it to get it to appear.
We believe that we will continue to have Happy Hour on Wednesday evenings at 1800 until at least the end of the year. Please join us if you are so inclined. Mike Carmichael is in charge of our Zoom subscription, and he asked that all of you are informed of its availability for your individual group needs. It is a very nice option to have at our disposal, and he will accommodate you if at all possible.
Go Navy,
John Adams ‘69, CDR, USN (Ret)