Tailgate Update for Homecoming Game

Email sent 10/18/2017

Class of ’85,

Thanks to those of you who have signed up for coming to this weekend’s game and tailgate. We are around 60 people signed up for the tailgate Saturday. We could use a few more volunteers for bags of ice and a few more volunteers for tear down duty. This is a catered tailgate, so if you are coming and have not signed up at:

http://www.signupgenius.com/go/5080a48abab28aaf49-navy1

PLEASE PLEASE go and sign up right now! If you want to bring some food, go ahead please, but we will have a full catered BarbBQ menu from Mission Barbecue as well as beer and wine. Set up at 11:00, tailgate starts at 11:30 with food around 12:30. The tailgate will go for an hour or so after the game as well. As always, we will have our class donation box, to help us cover this weekend’s catered event, I am suggesting a $25 per person donation to the box (Thank you!) We look forward to seeing everyone again this week as Navy Football attempts to rebound from a tough loss at Memphis. UCF is a good team, so I am sure Navy will be ready for redemption and prove their toughness for the home crowd.

Friday night is our Class 32nd Reunion party at the Chesapeake Brewing Company. 114 W. Street, Annapolis. We will gather there at 7:00 pm and have our own area reserved for the rest of the evening. If you can come, that would be great, we hope to have a good crowd that evening as USNA ’85 celebrates another year in the books after graduation. We thank Dave and Carolyn Marquis for hosting our class, they will have some snacks, food items from their menu and beers and drinks available from the Beat Army Bar. If you have any questions about this weekend, please text me at: 502-432-6185 or email at: robertsmith5@att.net

Go Navy and Beat UCF and Army (Air Force taken care of!)

Regards and safe travels,

Bob Smith ’85

Classmate Rick Campbell at USNA Book Store Homecoming weekend

Email sent 10/10/2017

Classmates,

For those of you who do not know this, our classmate, Rick Campbell, has become a best-selling author of military thrillers with favorable comparisons to Tom Clancy. I have now read his latest Book Blackmail and can tell you, it is perhaps his best in a list of really amazing books (I have read them all!). I pick up one of his books and cannot put it down… PERIOD! Rick will be at the USNA Midstore from 19-21 October doing book signings and as he has done in the past, he will donate a percentage of the proceeds to our Class of ’85 Fund. Last year, that was over $600 and was very much appreciated. Here is some info on Rick’s books:

Author of military thrillers published by Macmillan / St. Martin’s Press.  Find out more at –  rickcampbellauthor.com
PRAISE for Rick Campbell books  Barnes & Noble Top-20 Bestsellers!
— TRIDENT DECEPTION:  “The best submarine novel since Tom Clancy’s classic The Hunt For Red October.” — Booklist
— EMPIRE RISING:  “Another riveting thriller by Rick Campbell. A MUST READ!” — Publishers Weekly
— ICE STATION NAUTILUS:  “Exciting and intense! When I finished, I realized I’d been holding my breath for way too long.” — BookLikes
BLACKMAIL – on sale June 27th, 2017 at bookstores everywhere (hardcover, eBook, and audiobook).  
— Available at Barnes & Noble, select COSTCOs, Books-A-Million, Amazon, Apple iTunes, GooglePlay, and many more!
— “The submarine and surface-ship battles are pitch-perfect, and readers will shudder with every missile strike and exploding depth charge.” — Publishers Weekly
As you can see, his list of books is growing as well as his accolades. Like I said, if you have not read any yet, go ahead today and buy them or download them. If you do not enjoy any of his books, I will refund your money myself, as I am a HUGE fan of Rick’s work. As notable, Rick has been very generous with the proceeds from his books donating to many groups supporting our soldiers, sailors and marines. Thanks Rick and we look forward to seeing him in Annapolis. He will be join us for the Homecoming game class events.
Get out there today and support a great classmate, better yet, get some reading that you will truly enjoy no matter what your military background is or was and have some of your proceeds go to great causes. Go Navy and support Rick today!!
Bob Smith ’85

Weekly Class Tailgate Update

Email sent 10/10/2017

Greetings ’85,

After what turned out to be a spectacular tailgate and an even better game against Air Force this past Saturday, we are 5-0 and setting our sites on American Athletic Conference foe Memphis in Memphis this weekend. Classmate and FedEx Pilot Dave Island will be hosting an away tailgate at his truck in the Tiger’s stadium parking lot. He will establish himself in the parking lot that morning and you will have to text or call him at: 214-912-4848 to get that location, or email him in advance and coordinate at: disland31@yahoo.com Please offer to bring some food or beverages and help Dave out for this tailgate. I think Dave will have cold beers and I thank him for doing this and hope some of you can make this game and cheer Navy on to a key win in our conference and quest for an AAC western title.

We are getting ready for the UCF game on 10/2, our Homecoming weekend. We will be at our usual spot tailgating for the 1530 game. This game is a fully catered tailgate, but we still need volunteers and people to bring a few items such as drinks and ice. Please sign up no matter what, if you can bring something or volunteer or just “I’m coming”, so we can get an accurate head count. Here is the Sign up link: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/5080a48abab28aaf49-navy1 We will have Mission BBQ providing food for us (pulled pork, brisket, chicken, smoked sausages and sides). We will have beer on tap and other drinks as usual. The suggested donation is $25 per person to help us cover the cost of food and beverage, our donation box will be by the beer tap and we appreciate everyone attending helping us to pay as we go.

Thanks again to Charlie and Kathleen Smith for being amazing tailgate hosts, thank them if you get a chance for all their hard work in setting this up, storing and stocking our tailgate trailer and cooking food. Remember to go to the USNA ’85 website at: http://1985.usnaclasses.net to reserve your room at the Westin Gas Lamp District San Diego for the Navy v. Notre Dame game 2018 on Oct. 27. We will have a full weekend of events and an amazing tailgate. For now, get your room and I will be putting up sign ups for the golf outing, Friday cocktail reception, tailgate, tickets and bus transportation by the end of the year. If we sell out our 50 room block early enough, I can get more rooms. So, if you know or even think you are going to San Diego, get a room now. You can get a refund if you to cancel up to a month prior or transfer to another classmate. I have also entered into an agreement with the Marriott Waikiki Beach for the Sept. 1, 2018, game against Hawaii in Honolulu; I will soon have a link for room reservations and some classmates are staying the Hale Koa, these hotels are not far apart and we will most likely have an event at the Hale Koa Tiki bar on the beach the night before the game. Stay tuned but start clearing your calendar. Several of us will be leaving the Sunday after the game for a Marriott Resort near Barber’s Point for a few bonus days, so we will announce this as well.

Wow, a lot to digest, but all good! So, get in touch with Dave Island if you are going to the Memphis game for his tailgate. If you are coming to the UCF game, please sign up today. If you have any extra tickets, please contact me and I can hook up classmates in need of tickets. That is all for today, have a great week and I will do an update next week after we beat Memphis and prepare for UCF. Go Navy, Beat the Tigers!  Bob Smith ’85  robertsmith5@att.net or c:502-432-6185

PS: Did anyone see a small hearing aid that was lost this past weekend? Let me know if you did. We sill start having a lost and found box for future games for items left behind by accident.

USNA Class of ’85 Tailgate Update

Email Sent 9/28/2017

Greetings ’85,

We are coming off a great win against Cincinnati last weekend and another successful ’85 tailgate. Charlie Smith and his crew had the grill fired up and the brats and Chili were served up with cold beers. We are looking ahead to the Air Force home game on October 7th. We will be in full force next weekend in Annapolis. Here is a note from Charlie regarding our plans:

Classmates, it looks like fall is finally coming to the East Coast and Navy is preparing to face Air Force on October 7th.   We had a good turnout for the Cincinnati game and expect to have an even larger turnout for the Air Force game.  The theme for this tailgater will be FRY the FALCONs but we will be cooking chicken since Falcons are hard to come by.
The grill will be hot and the beer will be cold.  If you plan to attend, please use the signup list to let us know what you plan to bring but feel free to bring something else.  The sign up list can be found at: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/5080a48abab28aaf49-beat
Looking ahead, we will have a fully catered tailgate for the Homecoming weekend game on October 21st against UCF and I will be looking for get an accurate head count closer to that game. We are planning an ’85 get together Friday night the 26th to celebrate our informal 32nd Class Reunion at the Chesapeake Brewing Co. owned by classmate Dave and Carolyn Marquis, stay tuned for more details and a sign up soon. As always, please see the USNA ’85 website for travel information for the 2018 season and our trips to Hawaii and to San Diego: http://1985.usnaclasses.net
Thanks in advance for your support in making the ’85 tailgaters great again.  If you have any questions or suggestions, please contact Charlie Smith at charles.m.smith@gmail.com or me at (502) 432-6185.  As always, donations are appreciated in our game day collection box that go towards covering the cost of the beer and wine and our tailgate equipment and tent.  I also appreciate all the assistance with setup and tear down. Go Navy and Beat Tulsa on the road and come into the Air Force game ready and undefeated. If anyone has extra tickets they need to sell, I have classmates who need them, so PLEASE contact me directly and I will broker a deal. Regards,  Bob Smith ’85