The Marine Corps Birthday luncheon was our biggest and best yet since we have resumed our monthly meetings. The Marine guests included a 2-star, former Mayor of Lake Oswego, former Mayor of Portland and former Oregon Supreme Court Justice. We had close to 30 in attendance. Congratulations to the coordinators of the effort and it bodes well for increased attendance at further luncheons. The Army-Navy Game looms large on the horizon on December 11th, and we will once again be asking Big Al’s to host the combined Alumni Associations. This has traditionally been a large, well-attended event, and we are hoping for a similar, pre-pandemic, group of football fans in Portland.
I would like to bring to your attention a few postings that are available from the Alumni Association and the Academy. I sat in on a Zoom meeting with the coordinators of the construction of the new Alumni Association and Foundation Center and it was quite impressive. This is a $36M project, constructing a 65,000 square foot building with associated patios, grounds and parking. I thought that construction had already begun, but there were many details associated with getting the property ready and soon they will be demolishing the old laundry. It is expected to be completed in the fall of 2023. This is right across the street from the baseball stadium, but not on Academy grounds. You can find out more on www.usna.com. The front page of the website has updated renderings, a live camera feed to the work site, and a description of how to become a plank owner. Naturally, they are continuing to seek more alumni funding.
Another interesting posting to YouTube, under USNA, can be found a 30-minute summary of the most recent Plebe Summer. I was impressed with the holistic organization of the daily activities, the emphasis placed on physical fitness, and what seemed to be a lessening of reliance on the creativity of the upperclassmen to provide the training. There is still a lot of yelling and stressfulness, but things have changed. Whether or not it is for the better is for you to determine for yourselves. And, lastly, I found interesting in the same collection of videos, the regulations for women’s hair styles. There are very specific details associated with creating the bun that so many women officers/midshipmen with long hair have. Why did I not think there would be?
Soon we will be deciding whether or not to continue our Wednesday evening Happy Hour on Zoom. I have always been a big fan of the occasion and look forward to it, but it does have limited participation, usually consisting of the same people. If you would like to see what it is like, please tune in.
Go Navy,
John Adams ‘69, CDR, USN (Ret)