Sent 8/16/2017
Greetings Class of ’85,
It is that time of year to announce the kickoff of the Navy Home Football Season on September 9th against Tulane at 3:30 PM at NMCS, tailgate opens at 11:30 AM. Class of ’85 will be unveiling the new class tent that many of you so generously donated to purchase, as well as our new Class of ’85 Party trailler that will house a large flat screen TV and sound system that will be part of all home games this season (weather permitting). Charlie Smith and I have been working behind the scenes to take our class tailgating experience to the next level and you will see that when you attend our class tailgates this year. I appreciate Charlie’s support and if you care to volunteer this season to assist Charlie set up and take down for any of the games, please reach out to him at: charles.m.smith@gmail.com so he can get you on his schedule. The first game will be catered by Chris Hannan ’94 (Chris owns Bo Brooks catering and now McGarvey’s), he will be working with us again this season to provide catering for select tailgates starting with the opening game. Our menu will be his Place Kick Picnic and consist of:
Grilled ½ lb. Hamburgers
Grilled ¼ lb. Hot Dogs
Power Blend Cole Slaw
Potato Salad
Old Bay Chips with onion dip
Chocolate Chip Cookies
Chocolate Chunk Brownies
Rolls and Condiments
We will once again be serving Beat Army Lager courtesy of Classmate Dave Marquis and The Chesapeake Brewing Company as well as wine and limited non-alcoholic beverages. We will ask all those in attendance to donate at least $25 per person to the class donation box if you choose to eat and drink that day. I will not be collecting admission for our class tailgates, but in order to keep up the quality of class tailgating, I will ask those of you who attend to keep up with the spirit of class giving and the honor code and put your money into the Class donation box. If you like what we are doing and have not contributed toward the class tent or new Tent/TV/Trailer/Sound System/Tables…. feel free to throw some extra money in the box, it will be put to good use.
Charlie and I are going to have a special theme for every home game and will soon be purchasing a gas grill to have at certain tailgates so that people can bring their own meat and let our guest grillers do the cooking and everyone signs up to bring side dishes according to the theme for that week. Looking ahead, we will do a Fried Chicken Day for the Air Force game on 10/7 and will do another fully catered tailgate at Homecoming on 10/21. That leaves us two more games for BYOF (Bring your own food) and we will announce those themes as we get more into the season. Charlie will be adding a sign up site so people can sign up to bring needed sides, this helps us get the right mix of food for those attending and not a 1000 bags of chips and no desserts. Unless you do not like burgers and dogs, just bring $25 to the first game.
I do need a head count for the first game, however, so if you are planning to attend, please shoot me a text or email with the number attending in your group: 502-432-6185 or robertsmith5@att.net so I can order the right amount of food and beverages. Remember to contact Charlie if you wish to help him out this season on our tailgate committee.
Looking ahead, we plan on having a tailgate at the Army Game in Philadephia at the Holiday Inn Stadium Sports Bar as we have in past years, more to follow. Sign ups continue for the 2018 Notre Dame game in San Diego. Here is the link to reserve your rooms: https://www.starwoodmeeting.com/events/start.action?id=1707110058&key=22EF9EF9 I have several reservations already made, so thank you. Looking really far down the road, I have contracted for the 2020 Class Reunion with the Westin Hotel. I will announce the date soon so you can make your long term plans. We will hope to once again raise the bar of excellence we set at the 30th Reunion.
For now, please respond to me about the opening game against Tulane and enjoy the rest of your summer. Go Navy, Beat Army and Tulane!! Regards, Bob Smith ’85