1. If you have not done so already, please vote as soon as possible in the Western Regional Trustee election for the Alumni Association Board of Trustees there is still a short time to do it in April.  As I said last month, I won’t tell you how to vote, but I believe that Steve Hall has done a good job in his first term and would be even more effective in a second term.
2. Our April meeting is at 1130 on 11 April at the Old Spaghetti Factory.  We will conduct officer elections and transition at the same meeting.  I will be installed on the Board of Trustees in May and it will be useful if Mike Carmichael is already installed as president before we go to Annapolis.  John Adams is running for vice president, but WE STILL NEED SOMEONE TO RUN AS SECRETARY.
3. The May meeting will be 9 May and will be run by John Adams, since Mike and I will both be in Annapolis that week.  The meeting may be a “sea story” gathering unless someone wants to volunteer to do a review on a military related book.
4. The chapter picnic will be at the Port of Camas/Washougal this year on 4 August 2018.  There will be a special Council meeting at Doug Bomarito’s office on 5 May devoted to the picnic.  If you want more information or would like to help, please attend that meeting.
5. This is important, so I am going to repeat it:  We really need someone willing to run as secretary.  Pete Crystal has graciously continued as secretary emeritus pending replacement, but that can’t last much longer.

1. 1. Please vote as soon as possible in the Western Regional Trustee election for the Alumni Association Board of Trustees.  I won’t tell you how to vote, but I will point out that Steve Hall has done a good job in his first term: worked with alumni association to change the website platform for alumni chapters, classes and special interest groups and supported the chapter in updating to the new website platform.   Also, his opponent is from the San Diego chapter  – which already will have a member on the board as one of the nine large chapters.  If the candidate from San Diego wins, San Diego will in essence have double representation on the board.  The candidate trustee out of San Diego this three year term is actually one of my classmates.
   2. Our March meeting is at 1130 on 14 March at the Old Spaghetti Factory.  We have had another last minute cancellation of our program, so at this writing we don’t know what the replacement for the VA update will be.  The VA update will be in April.
   3. The April meeting will be 11 April.  Chapter elections will occur at that meeting.  If you want to throw your hat in the ring for either secretary or vice president please let us know ASAP.  As referred to in paragraph 2, the VA update may also occur at that meeting.
   4. The chapter picnic will be in a new format and location this year on 4 August 2018.  Please stay tuned.  But in the meantime, there will be a special Council meeting on 5 May devoted to the picnic.  If you want more information or would like to help, think about attending that meeting.  There will be more information about the meeting later.  We again give our thanks to the Kohls and Bewicks for hosting and sponsoring the event for so many years.
   5. Jim Hough had a good suggestion for short notice programs when we have last minute cancellations as has occurred this month.  He suggested that anyone who feels inclined to be able to discuss a favorite military history book with minimum notice/preparation time.  If you would like to be on a list of such standby program presenters, please let the vice president Mike Carmichael know.
   6. John Adams will be running the 9 May meeting because both Mike Carmichael and I will be in Annapolis that week.

1. The semi-annual Council meeting will be at Doug Bomarito’s office at 1000 on Saturday 24 February 2018.  You do not need to be a member of the Council to attend the meeting, but please let either Doug Bomarito or me know if you are not a member and plan to attend.  In this connection, we need someone who would be willing to be the chapter secretary.  Pete Crystal served well past the end of his term, but he would really like to be relieved.  Also, my term as president will be coming to an end, and Mike Carmichael, my VP, will take over.  I believe that John Adams has agreed to stand for election as VP/President-elect. If you are interested in running (probably unopposed!) for Secretary, please come to the meeting.
2. Our February meeting will be an evening Valentine related meeting.  Remember: This will be on 7 February rather than what would be our regularly scheduled meeting on the 14th.   Cocktails will start at 1830 with the meal commencing at 1900.
3. The March meeting will be a lunch meeting on 14 March 2018.  We now have confirmation that we will have a representative from the VA for the annual VA update as the program.
4. Please check out the links to the Portland LCI and PT Boat organizations if you are looking for an opportunity to be involved with naval history preservation in the Portland area.
5. Don’t forget that the USS Portland (LPD27) is being commissioned in Portland in April 2018.  If you want more information, check out the website for the Portland that is listed in the links on our chapter website.
6. We have been informed that the Navy Concert Band is coming to Portland for a free concert at Cleveland High School (3400 S.E. 26th Avenue, Portland) at 7:00 p.m. on February 17th

1. We had invited MGEN Scott A. Spellmon, Commander Northwestern Division, US Army Corps of Engineers to speak at our next meeting  (January 10, 2018), but he had a conflict come up and had to decline the invitation.  We have not been able to get a replacement program, so we will have a social/sea story meeting this month. After the December meeting, getting finished by around 1300 may be a relief.

2. The semi-annual Council meeting will be at Doug Bomarito’s office at 1000 on Saturday 24 February 2018.  You do not need to be a member of the Council to attend the meeting, but please let either Doug Bomarito or me know if you are not a member and plan to attend.  In this connection, we need someone who would be willing to be the chapter secretary.  Pete Crystal served well past the end of his term, but he would really like to be relieved.  Also, my term as president will be coming to an end, and Mike Carmichael, my VP, will take over.  If you are interested in running (probably unopposed!) for Vice President/President-elect, please come to the meeting.

3. Our February meeting will be an evening Valentine related meeting.  Out regular scheduled meeting would be the 14th, but since that is Valentine Day, we anticipate having a problem reserving the room that evening.  Accordingly, the meeting will be the evening of the 7th.  Cocktails will start at 1830 with the meal commencing at 1900.

4. The March meeting will be on 14 March 2018.  Tentatively, we will have the annual VA update, although that program could slide to April.

5. Please check out the links to the Portland LCI and PT Boat organizations if you are looking for an opportunity to be involved with naval history preservation in the Portland area.

6. Don’t forget that the USS Portland (LPD27) is being commissioned in Portland in April 2018.  If you want more information, check out the website of the Portland Council of the Navy League of the US.

–Doug Ballard ’74

1. This month’s lunch meeting on 13 December will be our annual Pearl Harbor/WWII/Greatest Generation commemoration meeting.  We already know that there will be at least 3 WWII veterans, but please be sure to invite any additional WWII veterans you know.  Our program will be a presentation about the Battle of Midway by Don Bourgeois.  His bio is included with the newsletter/meeting announcement.
2. The semi-annual Council meeting will be at Doug Bomarito’s office at 1000 on Saturday 17 February 2018.  You do not need to be a member of the Council to attend the meeting, but please let either Doug Bomarito or me know if you are not a member and plan to attend.  In this connection, we need someone who would be willing to be the chapter secretary.  Pete Crystal served well past the end of his term, but he would really like to be relieved.  Also, my term as president will be coming to an end, and Mike Carmichael, my VP, will take over.  If you are interested in running (probably unopposed!) for Vice President/President-elect, please come to the meeting.
3. Our February meeting will be an evening Valentine related meeting.  Out regular scheduled meeting would be the 14th, but since that is Valentine Day, we anticipate having a problem reserving the room that evening.  Accordingly, the meeting will be the evening of the 7th.  Cocktails will start at 1830 with the meal commencing at 1900.
4. Of course, before all of the above we have the Army game on 9 December.  See you at Big Al’s at noon on the 9th.

Semper Fi!  Beat Army!

1. This month’s lunch meeting, the annual Marine Corps Birthday celebration, will be November 8th at the Old Spaghetti Factory.  Social time will begin at 1130, and because of the expected length of the program, I plan to start the meeting a little before noon.  I have asked OSF to commence serving the meal right at noon.  In addition to the birthday cake cutting ceremony, Col. Mike Howard, USMCR (Ret) of the Marine Corps Coordinating Council will tell about the MCCC and give a presentation about the history of Marines in Oregon. More specifically, he will be talking about the the first arrival of the U.S. Navy and Marines in the period of 1838-1842.
   • If you have invited any local Marines please make sure you include them in the RSVP.  Also, if you have invited any WWII Marines, it may save some time determining the oldest Marine if you could be aware of the age of your guest(s) and get that information to me.

2. If you know any WWII veterans, be sure to invite them to our December meeting on December 13th.  We had invited as a guest speaker an active duty admiral, but he was unable to make that date.  At this point we do not have a replacement, although there is one possible replacement.  If you have a suggestion for a program, especially a Pearl Harbor or WWII related idea, please let us know ASAP.

3. We have invited MGEN Scott A. Spellmon, Commander Northwestern Division, US Army Corps of Engineers to speak at our January 10, 2018 meeting.

4. Our February meeting will be an evening Valentine related meeting.  Out regular scheduled meeting would be the 14th, but since that is Valentine Day, we anticipate having a problem reserving the room that evening.  Accordingly, the meeting will be the evening of the 7th.  Cocktails will start at 1830 with the meal commencing at 1900.

The Class of ’81 is sponsoring the laying of wreaths in USNA cemetery on December 16th.

     This will be the 6th year to fill the cemetery with wreaths in honor of those that have gone before. Many have classmates, shipmates, loved ones, and dear friends at the USNA cemetery. USNA has 2300 wreaths to place to include the columbarium. Please help to reach this goal and to honor these treasured men and women.

Wreaths are $15/wreath but with the code MD0011 for every 2 purchased we will get 1 free.

The Ceremony will be held at 0930 on Friday December 8^th, 2017 at the Cemetery for those that live nearby and would like to help in the wreath laying ceremony.

To Donate:

wreathsacrossamerica.org

RED “DONATE” BUTTON
SCROLL DOWN A LITTLE AND CLICK THE GREEN “SPONSOR A WREATH WITH A LOCAL FUNDRAISING GROUP”
SEARCH BY TAB TYPE IN “MD0011” CLICK ON USNA CEMEMTERY TAB
HIT RED “VIEW”
CLICK ON RED “DONATE”
CHOOSE THE AMOUNT YOU WOULD LIKE TO DONATE (REMEMBER BUY 2 GET 3^RD ONE FREE AUTOMATICALLY) HIT RED
“NEXT”
FILL OUT YOUR INFO, DON’T FORGET TO HIT “AGREE” TAB AND THE RED “FINISH” ON NEXT PAGE

If you would like to donate the old-fashioned way, by check, that can also be done. Send to:

Wreaths Across America
PO Box 249
Columbia Falls, ME 04623

Please place the MD0011/MSUSNA in the memo section so they will know whom to credit with the order.

Volunteer to lay wreaths

On the website you can also volunteer: locally wreaths will be laid at Willamette National Cemetery, Veterans Memorial Park  and Camas Cemetery.

Portland Rotary Club is hosting a reception and talk by former POW  LtCol (USAF Ret) Tony Marshall in honor of Veterans Day.

Reception for Lt. Col. Tony Marshall

Veterans Day – Tony Marshall

SPEAKER: TONY MARSHALL

1. This month’s meeting on 11 October will be the Navy Birthday celebration.  It will be an evening meeting at the Old Spaghetti Factory starting at 6:30 p.m.
2. Our 8 November lunch meeting will be our annual Marine Corps Birthday celebration.  Please invite local Marines whom you know.  We have scheduled Co. Mike Howard, USMCR (Ret) of the Marine Corps Coordinating Council to give a presentation about the history of Marines in Oregon.
3. If you know any WWII veterans, be sure to invite them to our December meeting on December 13th.  We have invited a guest speaker, but do not have confirmation that he will attend.  Because we don’t have confirmation, I am not giving his name, but will say that he is an active duty admiral.
4. We have invited MGEN Scott A. Spellmon, Commander Northwestern Division, US Army Corps of Engineers to speak at our January 10, 2018 meeting.
5. Our February meeting will be an evening Valentine event on Wednesday, February 7th.

1. At this month’s meeting, Col Steve Easterday, USMCR (Ret), the president of the Portland Council of the Navy League and CAPT Anthony A. Sebbio, MSC USN (Ret) Head of the Outreach Committee of the Navy League’s USS Portland (LPD27) Commissioning Committee, will provide an update on the plans for the commissioning of the USS Portland in April 2017.  They will also give us information about how our chapter can assist with that evolution.
2. Don’t forget that the October 11th Navy Birthday Celebration meeting will be an evening meeting at the Old Spaghetti Factory.
3. It is not too early to begin inviting local Marines to the our traditional USMC Birthday celebration at our November 8th meeting.
4. If you know any WWII veterans, be sure to invite them to our December meeting on December 13th.
5. We have invited MGEN Scott A. Spellmon, Commander Northwestern Division, US Army Corps of Engineers to speak at our January 10, 2018 meeting.