May is upon us and we are anticipating a very active summer. New Plebes are accepting their appointments and there will be a Parents Club Picnic for them on June 5th. Attendance at luncheons is increasing, plans are moving forward for the elusive ORSWW Chapter, All Academy Picnic on 23 July, and we continue to look for new ways to engage alumni, midshipmen and their parents, and supporters of the Academy in our activities.
Captain Walsh was unable to make his presentation in April because of an injury, and he will be rescheduled, hopefully, in the fall. In May, we currently do not have a presenter, so I will talk a bit about plans for the Chapter Picnic and what we have done so far. July 23 will be here before we know it, so mark the date on your calendars.
At the June Luncheon, Captain Gillian Richards, USN, our Blue and Gold Area Coordinator, will speak to us about the Class of 2026, and we should have a few of those new Midshipmen attending. Without stealing her thunder, here are a few of the statistics for Oregon: 58 quality candidates completed applications. 4 have been offered appointments and accepted, while 4 have yet to accept their offers. Another 4 have offers to NAPS, and another 6 are on wait lists. Since acceptance rates at USNA are traditionally less than 10%, this is a good result for Oregon.
Doug Bomarito and Doug Ballard wish to share pertinent items, if you or an organization to which you belong are interested. Doug Bomarito is the current CEO and President of the Oregon Vietnam Veterans Memorial, and says, “Every Memorial Day from approximately 10 AM to 1 PM we have our ceremony honoring our Vietnam veterans. It is at the 11-acre site just north of the World Forestry Center and close by the Zoo. Our ceremony is open to the public and I invite everyone to attend. Additionally, if at least five people want a private tour on a specific date and time I’d be happy to conduct it.”
And Doug Ballard is a member of the McMinnville, Oregon Band of Brothers where tours are sponsored at the Air Museum in McMinnville. Monthly they have meetings which have various themes of interest to us in the Northwest and as members of the military. We are considering the possibility of joining them for one of our luncheons, then going to a nearby restaurant to have a meal.
After an initial push, things are pretty quiet around myUSNA.com. If you have a chance, log onto myUSNA.com, register with the chapter, fill out some personal information if you desire, and browse around the site.
Please be sure to respond on line to the invitation to our luncheon, or send me a text/email if you cannot get the system to respond. Our restaurant appreciates an accurate estimate of attendees. We hope to see you there May 11, and the second Wednesday of each month thereafter. Exceptions will be made for July when we have the picnic and for times when we schedule special events.
Go Navy,
John Adams ‘69, CDR, USN (Ret)