Sent 8/7/2017
Class of ’85,
It is only a few weeks away from the kickoff of the 2017 Navy Football Season. As always, we look forward to another great year for our Mids and another great year for the Class of ’85 and fall tailgates. It has become a great tradition for our Class to get together now at all the Navy home games and as many away games as we can. I appreciate the generosity in the off season to fund the new class tent. We will have our tent up at all home games this year and hopefully it will be used more to block the the sun than shelter from rain or cold weather. In any case, we will be fully ready this year and are now an “All Weather Class”. The first home game is a 3:30 pm game on September 9th against Tulane. We will do a catered tailgate to kick off the season and to welcome classmates in town for a memorial golf tournament honoring Kevin Bianchi and his family. I am in the process of arranging the menu, but the food will be good and we will have cold beer on tap and a small wine selection as well. As we get closer, I will publish more details on each tailgate and will have news up on the class website and via social media. I will ask that we continue the tradition of putting money in our cash box at each home tailgate to help pay as we go for the food and beverages that the class and class fund will help provide again this season. If anyone has interest in coordinating a tailgate at any away games, PLEASE contact me and I will provide full support.
I am proud to announce the kickoff for registration for the Navy v. Notre Dame Game in San Diego 2018. The game itself is October 27, 2018, and our Class will have a full weekend of events in addition to the game itself. So far, I have a block of 50 rooms at the Westin San Diego Gas Lamp District from Thursday the 25th through Sunday the 28th. I have personally visited this hotel and it is a beautiful facility in the heart of the Gas Lamp District. We will have a Friday evening cocktail party at an outdoor space at the hotel and will also have a pre and post game tailgate party at the Quad Ale House only a block from the hotel starting Saturday morning. I will get a block of tickets from NAAA as well as bus transport to and from the Quad Ale house. You can reserve rooms in our Class Block (room rate of $249 per night plus fees and taxes) at the following link: https://www.starwoodmeeting.com/events/start.action?id=1707110058&key=22EF9EF9 As we get closer to the event, I will be running a sign up for the Friday night party, the Saturday tailgate and game, game tickets, bus transport and I am hoping to put on a golf outing either Thursday or Friday before the game. We may also do a kickoff event on Thursday at a local pub (and there are quite a few!). When you reserve your room DO NOT input your SPG ( Starwood preferrred group) info into this website, just register without adding this information and you can arrange your stay credits and points with the hotel closer to or at check-in. Doing so will cause an issue with completing your registration. (The Westin knows about this and are working on it). By next year, this hotel will be under the Marriott Brand and you will be able to collect Marriott points, but wait until next year.
I am currently coordinating with the Waikiki Beach Marriott in Honolulu for hosting our Class gathering in Hawaii for the September 1, 2018, football game in Oahu vs. the University of Hawaii. There will be a full week of class events we are currently working on and I will be sharing details as soon as I have them. So, mark your calendars and get your plans in place to travel next season; both to Hawaii and San Diego. For now, register for your room in San Diego so if I need more rooms I can get them before they sell out. There is a large medical convention in town that week in San Diego and it was a chore to find a place to host this event as many of the large hotels would not work with me for that reason. Good news, the Westin will and and it is a GREAT hotel, GREAT location. This will be an extremely fun weekend!
More news coming soon about the Class election, Tom Plofchan will be forwarding me the nomination info soon and I will turn things over to USNAA to assist with the actual ballot procedure. For now, make your plans to be at the Navy home opener in September and get your room in San Diego reserved now. As always, you may contact me with anything you need or questions about anything Class of ’85 related: 502-432-6185 or robertsmith5@att.net or on Facebook. Go Navy, Beat Tulane!
Bob Smith ’85